A new law passed unanimously in Kedah, Malaysia says that any fatwa issued by the State Mufti ‘cannot be challenged, appealed, reviewed, denied or questioned’ in any civil or Sharia court.

Yeah so what’s new?

In all this, some women’s rights groups are spending their energy to say that the Mufti’s statements go against Islam’s tenets. But isn’t that religion for you – a set of tenets and dogma that cannot be challenged, appealed, reviewed, denied or questioned?

Whilst I understand why these groups take this position (though I couldn’t disagree more and find it self-defeating), it may be better worth their while to stop wasting their time on theology and instead arguing for secularism and religion as a private affair.

At the very least, it would be more helpful to their work as women’s rights campaigners…