PART 2 | Establishment and functions of Majlis |
3.—(1) As from 1 August 1999, the Majlis Ugama Islam, Singapura, continues in existence.(2) It is the function and duty of the Majlis —| (a) | to advise the President of Singapore in matters relating to the Muslim religion in Singapore; | | (b) | to administer matters relating to the Muslim religion and Muslims in Singapore including any matter relating to the Haj or halal certification; | | (c) | to administer all Muslim endowments and funds vested in it under any written law or trust; | | (d) | to administer the collection of zakat and fitrah and other charitable contributions for the support and promotion of the Muslim religion or for the benefit of Muslims in accordance with this Act; | | (e) | to administer all mosques and Muslim religious schools in Singapore; and | | (f) | to carry out any other functions and duties that are conferred upon the Majlis by or under this Act or any other written law. |
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| Majlis to be a corporation |
4.—(1) The Majlis is a body corporate under the name of Majlis Ugama Islam, Singapura having perpetual succession and a corporate seal.| (2) The seal of the Majlis may be broken, changed, altered and made anew as to the Majlis seems fit. |
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5.—(1) The Majlis may sue and be sued in its corporate name.(2) The Majlis may —| (a) | enter into contracts; | | (b) | acquire, purchase, take, hold and enjoy movable and immovable property of every description; | | (c) | erect any building on any property vested in, belonging to or acquired by the Majlis; | | (d) | subject to any written law affecting the same, convey, assign, surrender and yield up, charge, mortgage, demise, reassign, transfer or otherwise dispose of, or deal with, any movable or immovable property vested in the Majlis upon such terms as to the Majlis seems fit and in accordance with the Muslim law; | | (da) | create any wakaf; [Act 4 of 2024 wef 01/08/2024] | | (e) | whether by itself or in association with any other person or organisation, provide to any person or organisation in Singapore or elsewhere consultancy, technical, managerial or other services or products in any area in which the Majlis has skill or experience; and | | (f) | charge fees or commissions for any service or product provided by the Majlis. |
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| (3) The Majlis has power to act as an executor of a will or as an administrator of the estate of a deceased Muslim or as a trustee of any trust. |
| (4) The Majlis may, with the approval of the Minister, form or participate in the formation of any company, or enter into any joint venture or partnership, to carry out any of the purposes of this Act. |
| (5) The Majlis may do any other acts that appear to the Majlis to be incidental or necessary to the discharge of its functions and duties under this Act. |
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| Devolution of rights, powers, duties, liabilities and property of Board under Muslim and Hindu Endowments Ordinance |
6.—(1) All rights, powers, duties and liabilities which were, immediately before 1 July 1968, vested in or imposed on the Board established by the Muslim and Hindu Endowments Ordinance (Cap. 271, 1955 Revised Edition), in respect of endowments in land or money given or to be given for the support of any mosque, school or other Muslim pious, religious, charitable or beneficial purposes are, on 1 July 1968, vested in or imposed on the Majlis, except insofar as may be repugnant to the provisions of this Act.| (2) All property, movable or immovable, which was, immediately before 1 July 1968, vested in the Board established under the Muslim and Hindu Endowments Ordinance (Cap. 271, 1955 Revised Edition) for purposes relating to the Muslim religion or on trust for religious or charitable purposes for the benefit of persons professing the Muslim religion are, on 1 July 1968, without any conveyance, assignment or transfer whatever, to vest in the Majlis for the like title, estate or interest and in the like tenure and for the like purposes as the same was vested or held immediately before 1 July 1968. |
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7.—(1) The Majlis consists of —| (a) | a President of the Majlis to be appointed by the President of Singapore; | | (b) | the Chief Executive, if he or she has been appointed to be a member under subsection (6); | | (c) | the Mufti; | | (d) | not more than 7 members to be appointed by the President of Singapore on the recommendation of the Minister; and | | (e) | not less than 7 members to be appointed by the President of Singapore, from a list of nominees to be submitted by the President of the Majlis. [35/2005] |
| (2) The list of nominees to be submitted by the President of the Majlis to the President of Singapore under subsection (1)(e) shall consist of persons nominated by such Muslim societies as are prescribed for the purpose by the Majlis. |
| (3) Subject to the provisions of this Act and unless the contrary intention appears in the instrument of appointment, the appointment of members of the Majlis, other than the Mufti, is for a period of 3 years from the date thereof. |
| (4) The members of the Majlis are eligible for re‑appointment. |
| (5) No person may be appointed a member of the Majlis unless he or she is a citizen of Singapore above 25 years of age and is a Muslim. |
| (6) The President of Singapore may appoint the Chief Executive to be a member of the Majlis. [35/2005] |
| (7) If the President of the Majlis dies or has his or her appointment revoked or otherwise vacates his or her office before the expiry of the term for which he or she has been appointed, a temporary President of the Majlis may be appointed by the President of Singapore for such period as the President of Singapore may determine to carry out the functions and duties of the President of the Majlis. |
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| 7A.—(1) There must be a Chief Executive of the Majlis, whose appointment, removal, discipline and promotion must be in accordance with the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018. [5/2018] (2) The Majlis may, subject to the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018, appoint an individual to act temporarily as the Chief Executive during any period, or during all periods, when the Chief Executive —| (a) | is absent from duty or Singapore; or | | (b) | is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of the office. [5/2018] |
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| 8. [Repealed by Act 33 of 2017] |
| Determination of appointment |
9. Without affecting sections 7(3), 10 and 11, the appointment of any member of the Majlis determines —| (a) | upon his or her death; | | (b) | if, by writing addressed to the President of Singapore through the Chief Executive, he or she resigns the appointment; or | | (c) | if he or she is absent from Singapore, without written permission from the President of the Majlis on behalf of the President of Singapore, for a period exceeding 3 months. [33/2017] |
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| Cancellation of appointment |
10. The President of Singapore may cancel the appointment of any member of the Majlis —| (a) | if his or her conduct, whether in connection with the duties of the appointment or otherwise, is in the opinion of the President of Singapore such as to bring discredit upon the Majlis; | | (b) | if for any reason he or she becomes unable to carry out the duties of his or her appointment properly; | | (c) | if he or she, without due cause to be approved by the President of the Majlis, absents himself or herself from 3 successive meetings of the Majlis; or | | (d) | if the President of Singapore considers it desirable in the public interest to cancel the appointment. |
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11.—(1) In the event of the temporary absence or incapacity of any member of the Majlis, the President of Singapore may appoint a person to act temporarily on his or her behalf.| (2) Such temporary appointment determines when the substantive member gives notice to the President of the Majlis of the resumption of his or her duties as a member of the Majlis. |
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| Appointments to be notified |
| 12. All appointments made under this Part must be notified in the Gazette. |
13.—(1) The President may invite to any meeting of the Majlis any person who is not a member of the Majlis if the business before the meeting renders the presence of such person desirable.| (2) Any person so invited is entitled to take part in the proceedings of the Majlis, but does not have the right to vote. |
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14.—(1) The President presides at all meetings of the Majlis.| (2) In the absence of the President, the Majlis may elect any other member to act as chairperson. |
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15.—(1) No business, with the exception of adjournment, may be transacted and no resolution or action of the Majlis is valid unless at least one-third of the members is present at the meeting.| (2) The Majlis may, subject to subsection (1), act despite any vacancy in its membership. |
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16.—(1) The corporate seal of the Majlis must not be used except in pursuance of a resolution of the Majlis.| (2) The corporate seal of the Majlis must be affixed in the presence of the Chief Executive and 2 members of the Majlis who must sign as witnesses. [33/2017] |
(3) The following documents must be executed under the corporate seal of the Majlis:| (a) | documents requiring registration under any written law; | | (b) | documents authorising any person to act for any particular purposes on behalf of the Majlis; | | (c) | any other documents or classes of documents that the Minister may direct. |
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17.—(1) Subject to this Act, all business of the Majlis must be conducted at a meeting thereof regularly convened and by resolution of the majority of those present and entitled to vote.| (2) A written resolution signed by all members of the Majlis, unless in any special case or class of cases the President of Singapore otherwise directs, has the same effect as a resolution duly passed under subsection (1). |
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| 18.—(1) All meetings of the Majlis must be summoned by the Chief Executive. [33/2017] | (2) The President may at any time direct the Chief Executive to summon a meeting. [33/2017] |
| (3) Any 4 members of the Majlis may at any time in writing require the Chief Executive to summon a meeting of the Majlis, but must upon doing so inform the Chief Executive of the purpose for which they desire the meeting to be so summoned. [33/2017] |
| (4) The Chief Executive must within 7 days of receipt of a direction or requisition under subsection (2) or (3) summon a meeting. [33/2017] |
| (5) At least 7 days’ notice in writing must be given of any meeting except that in an emergency the President may direct that notice be dispensed with. |
| (6) Any such notice may be sent by post addressed to a member at the member’s last known place of residence and is deemed to have been served in the due course of post. |
| (7) No notice of meeting is necessary in the case of any member for the time being out of Singapore. |
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19.—(1) The President has general control of all deliberations and proceedings of the Majlis.| (2) The President must not absent himself or herself from Singapore for more than the specified days without the prior permission of the Minister. |
| (3) In subsection (2), “specified days” means such number of days as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, specify. |
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| Duties and powers of Chief Executive |
20. Subject to such directions as may be given to him or her by the President, the Chief Executive is to —| (a) | have charge of all correspondence and documents of the Majlis, including all books of account thereof and all title deeds and securities; | | (b) | be generally responsible for the proper collection of, accounting for and disposal of all funds of the Majlis; and | | (c) | in all other respects, carry out such duties as may be imposed upon the Chief Executive by this Act or allotted to the Chief Executive by direction of the President. [33/2017] |
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| 21.—(1) The Majlis must ensure that minutes of every meeting are kept in the national language or in English. [33/2017] | (2) At every meeting, the minutes of the previous meeting must be read and confirmed, subject to any amendment which may be required. |
| (3) Such minutes must include a full record of every resolution of the Majlis. [33/2017] |
| (4) A copy of the minutes must be sent to the President of Singapore. |
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| Order of business and voting |
22.—(1) The chairperson must determine the order of business at any meeting.| (2) The chairperson may decide in what order members may address the meeting and may at any time require any member to cease addressing the meeting. |
| (3) The chairperson is entitled to vote and, if upon any resolution there is an equality of votes, the chairperson is to have a casting vote. |
| (4) The proceedings of the Majlis must be conducted in the national language or in English. |
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| Certified copy of resolution |
| 23.—(1) A copy of any resolution certified by the Chief Executive to be a true copy of the resolution is sufficient evidence thereof. [33/2017] | (2) All courts are to take notice of the signature of the Chief Executive. [33/2017] |
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| Appearance by Majlis, etc. |
| 24.—(1) The Majlis may appear in any court by its President or Chief Executive or by any person appointed for the purpose either generally or in any particular case under the seal of the Majlis. [33/2017] | (2) Despite any written law to the contrary, where the Mufti has been summoned to attend before any court to give an opinion or evidence relating to Muslim law, the Mufti may, if the Mufti considers that the circumstances of the case do not require the Mufti to appear in court in person, certify the Mufti’s opinion to the court or appoint any person to appear in court on the Mufti’s behalf, unless the court subsequently directs otherwise. |
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| 25.—(1) In any case of emergency the President may, after consultation with the Mufti and the Chief Executive, do or direct to be done on behalf of the Majlis any act or thing which might lawfully be done by resolution of the Majlis. [33/2017] | (2) In any such case, a meeting of the Majlis must be called within one week thereafter for the purpose of ratifying and confirming the action taken and, if the Majlis declines to ratify and confirm the same, the Minister may give such directions thereon as he or she thinks fit. |
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26.—(1) The Majlis may, subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Majlis may impose, delegate to any member or committee of the Majlis or any person all or any of its functions and powers vested by or under this Act or any other written law, not being judicial or quasi‑judicial powers.| (2) Any function or power delegated under subsection (1) may be performed or exercised by such member, committee or person in the name and on behalf of the Majlis. |
| (3) It is the duty of every member, committee or person to whom any power of the Majlis has been delegated to inform the Majlis of all acts and things done by him, her or it pursuant to the delegation. |
| (4) For the purposes of this section, the powers conferred on the Majlis by sections 32 and 33 are deemed to be quasi‑judicial. |
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27.—(1) The proceedings of the Majlis are to be secret.| (2) No member or servant of the Majlis may disclose or divulge to any person, other than the President of Singapore or the Minister or any member of the Majlis, any matter which has arisen at any meeting unless he or she is expressly authorised or allowed by the provisions of any written law to do so. [5/2018] |
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| 28. [Repealed by Act 5 of 2018] |
| Majlis may prescribe own procedure |
| 29.—(1) The Majlis may, subject to the provisions of this Act and the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018, determine all questions relating to its own procedure and practice. [5/2018] | (2) All communications from the Majlis to the President of Singapore must be forwarded through the Minister. |
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30.—(1) The President of Singapore may, after consultation with the Majlis, appoint a fit and proper person to be the Mufti of Singapore.| (2) Such appointment must be notified in the Gazette. |
| (3) The Mufti is to be ex-officio a member of the Majlis. |
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31.—(1) There is to be a Legal Committee of the Majlis, consisting of —| (a) | the Mufti; | | (b) | 2 other fit and proper members of the Majlis; and | | (c) | not more than 2 other fit and proper Muslims who are not members of the Majlis. |
| (2) The members of the Legal Committee, other than the Mufti, must be appointed by the President of Singapore on the advice of the Majlis for such period as he or she thinks fit. |
| (3) A notification of every such appointment must be published in the Gazette. |
| (4) The Mufti is to be the chairperson of the Legal Committee. |
| (5) The President of Singapore may appoint another person recommended by the Majlis to be the chairperson of the Legal Committee in the absence of the Mufti or if the Mufti is unable to act for any reason. |
| (6) The chairperson and 2 other members of the Legal Committee, one of whom must not be a member of the Majlis, form a quorum. |
| (7) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Legal Committee may regulate its own procedure. |
| (8) The members of the Legal Committee are deemed to be public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code 1871. |
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| Ruling of Legal Committee (Fatwa) |
| 32.—(1) Any person may, by letter addressed to the Chief Executive, request the Majlis to issue a fatwa or ruling on any point of the Muslim law. [33/2017] | (2) On receiving any such request, the Chief Executive must forthwith submit the same to the chairperson of the Legal Committee. [33/2017] |
| (3) The Legal Committee must consider every such request and must, unless in its opinion the question referred is frivolous or for other good reason ought not to be answered, prepare a draft ruling thereon. |
| (4) If such draft ruling is unanimously approved by the Legal Committee or those members thereof present and entitled to vote, the chairperson must on behalf and in the name of the Majlis forthwith issue a ruling in accordance therewith. |
| (5) If in any such case the Legal Committee is not unanimous, the question must be referred to the Majlis, which must in like manner issue its ruling in accordance with the opinion of the majority of its members. |
| (6) The Majlis may at any time of its own motion make and publish any such ruling or determination. |
| (7) If in any court any question of the Muslim law falls for decision, and such court requests the opinion of the Majlis on the question, the question must be referred to the Legal Committee which must, for and on behalf and in the name of the Majlis, give its opinion thereon in accordance with the opinion of the majority of its members, and certify such opinion to the requesting court. |
| (8) For the purposes of subsection (7), “court” includes the Syariah Court constituted under this Act. |
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| Authorities to be followed |
33.—(1) Subject to this section, the Majlis and the Legal Committee in issuing any ruling must ordinarily follow the tenets of the Shafi’i school of law.| (2) If the Majlis or the Legal Committee considers that the following of the tenets of the Shafi’i school of law will be opposed to the public interest, the Majlis may follow the tenets of any of the other accepted schools of Muslim law as may be considered appropriate, but in any such ruling the provisions and principles to be followed must be set out in full detail and with all necessary explanations. |
| (3) In any case where the ruling or opinion of the Majlis or the Legal Committee is requested in relation to the tenets of a particular school of Muslim law, the Majlis or the Legal Committee must give its ruling or opinion in accordance with the tenets of that particular school of Muslim law. |
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