Adakah Malaysia negara sekular?

New Straits Time hari ini (15.01.2008) melaporkan Karpal Singh berkata:-

"We subscribe to a Supreme Court ruling in 1988 that Malaysia is a secular state and the Constitution is a supreme law of the land."

Saya percaya Karpal Singh merujuk kepada kes Che Omar Bin Che Soh v. Public Prosecutor [1988] 2 MLJ 55. Di mana 5 orang panel hakim Mahkamah Agong memutuskan:-

"In our view, it is in this sense of dichotomy that the framers of the Constitution understood the meaning of the word "Islam" in the context of Article 3. If it had been otherwise, there would have been another provision in the Constitution which would have the effect that any law contrary to the injunction of Islam will be void. Far from making such provision, Article 162, on the otherhand, purposely preserves the continuity of secular law prior to the Constitution, unless such law contrary to the latter."

Ini bermakna keputusan Mahkamah Agong itu hanyalah setakat menyatakan undang-undang Malaysia adalah sekular.

Mahkamah Agong tidak memutuskan bahawa Malaysia adalah negara sekular seperti yang difahami oleh Karpal Singh.