This is one strange woman

When I read what Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil had to say about the controversy surrounding the proposed amendments to the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) (Amendment) Act 2005 here and here, I was somewhat confused but did not want to blog about it because of this particular sentence that was mentioned here by Jamaah Islah Malaysia women’s chief Dr Harlina Halizah Siraj:-

“The low level of legal literacy among women here also needs to be addressed so that they will be more sensitive to new developments and not be easily fooled by any parties.”

and more importantly this:-

“Those who have been critical of the Bill only exposed their ignorance of the Sources of the Islamic Law, Priorities of the Islamic Law and the Cardinal Principles of the Islamic Law.

“Any criticism and comments on Syariah should only be made by parties who are well versed with the sources of Syariah, namely the Quran, the Hadiths (Authentic Traditions of the Prophet), Ijma’ (Consensus), Qiyas (Analogy) and other secondary sources of Islamic jurisprudence”.

Obviously, since I am a non-Muslim, by implication of the above statement, I really do not have any right to voice my opinion on this issue. Perhaps I should also feel ashamed for daring to do so in an earlier posting here. That was the whole point of this not-so-subtle chiding, wasn't it?

But clearly, there are others who share my sentiments and some one from the Muslim community felt similarly confused and offended enough to write to Malaysiakini here and another letter here from a fellow non-Muslim.

So, what gives, Datuk Seri Shahrizat?