Administration of Muslim Law Act

[1] During this period, Muslims in Singapore have had their own judicial system that involved marriage, divorce and other civil affairs, regulated by the colonial government.

[6] The Court claimed jurisdiction of cases whereby both parties were Muslim who were involved in matrimonial disputes.

[9] In 1960, Minister of Labour and Law K. M. Byrne moved the Bill to the Singapore Legislative Assembly.

[10] This bill was introduced to replace the Muslim Ordinance 1957, strengthen the Shariah court and establish the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS).

[10] The Law Minister established a Select Committee in 1961, providing a platform for the public to submit written representations regarding the bill.

[12] On 30 December 1965, the Administration of Muslim Law Bill was introduced for the second time in Parliament by Minister for Culture and Social Affairs, Othman Wok.

[14] However, AMLA was only established officially on 1 July 1968 after finding suitable candidates for the Majlis President, Mufti and Secretary.

[14] The enactment of the AMLA created three major institutions: the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), the Syariah Court, and the Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM).

[13] MUIS has several key responsibilities mentioned in Section 5, which include: With the enactment of AMLA, the Muslim Ordinance 1957 was repealed.

[17] In 2009, AMLA made the processes simpler for Muslims to implement rulings issued by the Syariah Court.