The only time Malaysia seems to get on Digg/Slashdot/Google News these days seems to be when people are shaking their heads at us, so it was a relief to see this piece from Reuters – Malaysia’s top court draws line after Islamic cases:

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s highest court has ruled that legal cases involving non-Muslims cannot be decided by sharia courts, drawing a line after a spate of high-profile cases that left many in legal limbo.

The Federal court, in a landmark judgement, held that disputes between a Muslim and a non-Muslim on family and Islamic matters should be settled in a civil court, the New Straits Times reported on Thursday.

“They (non-Muslims) can’t be present to defend themselves in the sharia courts,” Judge Abdul Hamid Mohamad was quoted by the daily as saying.

The ruling came amid a bitter debate on whether the mainly Muslim nation is an Islamic state. The polemic has exposed religious and racial faultlines ahead of a widely expected early general election.

Preventing a repeat of the Lina Joy and Revathi Massosai cases will be a huge step towards making sense of Malaysia.