PAS’ latest sharia law push signals its Malaysian federal power ambition

Malaysia’s foremost Islamist party has set an early pace ahead of national polls, calling on the country’s Malay-Muslim majority to endorse its renewed efforts to broaden the reach of Sharia law.On Wednesday, the Kelantan state assembly – which is dominated by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) – unanimously passed amendments to the Kelantan-syariah-offences-enactment-bill" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="184554" data-entity-type="topic">Kelantan Syariah Offences Enactment Bill, in a bid to circumvent constitutional barriers that have prevented the criminalisation of certain acts under Islamic law.In 2024, the country’s apex court ruled that 16 provisions in an earlier raft of amendments to the northern state’s Sharia law were unconstitutional as the offences – ranging from sodomy to incest and intoxication – overlapped with common law, the latter of which takes precedence in criminal cases.