Lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid has lodged three police reports after receiving death threats.
This was after the Federal Court nullified 16 of the 18 provisions of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code following a legal challenge launched by her.
Nik Elin said it was important for the people to read every provision in order to better understand the law.
“I have forgotten the number of threats I have received from individuals who are unable to understand.
“Most of them are just blindly following instructions from their political leaders,” she said.
Nik Elin and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Natasha Tengku Abdul Rahman made the legal challenge on grounds that the provisions were invalid due to the Kelantan State Legal Authority having no power to enact the laws.
In an 8-1 majority decision on Friday, the apex court allowed the application by the mother and daughter who challenged 18 provisions of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 2019.
They argued that these provisions, which included punishments for incest, gambling, giving false evidence, sodomy and sexual harassment, were null and void as they were already covered by federal law.
They also argued that the power to legislate criminal matters belongs to Parliament, as state assemblies only have the right to enact laws related to Islam.
The Federal Court declared 16 of the 18 provisions as unconstitutional.
The only two provisions that remain status quo (constitutional) in the list are selling or giving away a child to non-Muslims or morally reprehensible Muslims (Section 13) and words capable of breaking peace (Section 30).
Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who chaired a panel of nine judges, said the issue at hand was whether the Kelantan State Legal Authority had enacted the impugned law provisions within the ambit of the Federal Constitution.
Nik Elin had said the legal challenge was made not for herself but for everyone despite being vilified, condemned and cursed.
She added the criticisms following the ruling by the Federal Court “has been twisted and manipulated from a competency challenge to Islam.”
“It was never about Islam.”
Pointing to the syariah courts, Nik Elin said: “Syariah courts are good but have a uniform code for the whole of Malaysia.”
“Right now, we don’t have uniformity where each state has different sets of laws.”
Earlier, the syariah trained lawyers said the state legislative assembly is to be blamed for misleading the rule of law.
Nik Elin and her daughter said that they are not attacking the syariah system as many have pointed out and echoed the statement made by Tengku Maimun that the law being challenged was not determined or ordained by Allah.
Tengku Maimun, who delivered the majority judgment ruling, ruled that the essence of these provisions was matters under the federal list, which only the Parliament has the power to make.
Nik Elin also claimed some individuals failed to grasp the motivations behind her petition.
She said that Islam is defined by peace, a concept that contrasts with the actions of certain politicians and their followers.
“Whereas Islam to us is about love, mercy, and peace, their actions are the opposite of this.
“Hopefully, they will open their minds. The politicians are resorting to desperate measures,” she said.
She claimed that certain individuals have politicised the issue, despite its lack of political relevance.
“Now they have even questioned the Prime Minister when it has nothing to do with the Prime Minister or any particular political party.
“This is just our challenge on behalf of Malaysians,” she said.
When asked whether she was prepared to face brickbats in Kelantan, the Kelantan-born lawyer said:
“When I am in Kelantan, I do not get people criticising me. In fact, they support me.
“If there are allegations that I am being condemned (in Kelantan), they are not true, it is just manipulation of facts. There is no problem, and I will be back in Kelantan next week,” she said after the apex court delivered its verdict.