GROUP 3

RELIGION OF THE
FEDERATION
(ARTICLE 3 )
1. Islam is the religion of the Federation , but other religions may be practised in
eace and harmony in any part of the Federation.
2. In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as
the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent
acknowledged and declared by the Constitution, all rights, privileges,
prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion.
3. The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall
each make provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be Head
of the religion of Islam in that State.
4. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
shall be the Head of the religion of Islam in the Federal Territories of Kuala
Lumpur and Labuan; and for this purpose Parliament may by law make
provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council
to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to the religion of
Islam.
 CONSTITUTION OF MALAYSIA

1. The Federal Constitution of Malaya, which came into force in 1957, is the
supreme law of Malaya.
2. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya (in
Malay, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu) and it adopted its present name, Malaysia,
when the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (now independent) became
part of the Federation.
3. The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy
having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State whose roles are largely
ceremonial.
 HISTORY OF CONSTITUTION OF
MALAYSIA

1. Constitutional Conference: A constitutional conference was held in London from 18 January to

6 February 1956 attended by a delegation from the Federation of Malaya, consisting of four
representatives of the Rulers, the Chief Minister of the Federation (Tunku Abdul Rahman) and
three other ministers, and also by the British High Commissioner in Malaya and his advisers.
2. Suruhanjaya Reid : The conference proposed the appointment of a commission to devise a
constitution for a fully self-governing and independent Federation of Malaya. This proposal was
accepted by Queen Elizabeth II and the Malay Rulers.
3. The Constitution came into force on 27 August 1957 but formal independence was only achieved
on 31 August.
4. This constitution was amended in 1963 to admit Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore as additional
member states of the Federation and to make the agreed changes to the constitution that were
set out in the Malaysia Agreement, which included changing the name of the Federation to
"Malaysia".
 CURRENT ISSUES
• A Malaysian parent uploaded a picture of school pupils having meals inside what
looks like a changing room next to a toilet at a school in Selangor on July 22. The
Facebook picture went viral with the suggestion that non-Muslim pupils were
told to eat in the makeshift canteen during Ramadan so as not to offend Muslim
pupils who fast.
• But it is far from over. Parents received conflicting explanations from the school
as to why the canteen was shut down. The episode may be merely a case of bad
school management, but the fiasco has been turned into an issue of race and
religion.