The enactment of the Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866) (AKDT 2025) marks an important development in Malaysia’s efforts to strengthen online safety through the regulation of harmful content and the imposition of specific obligations on online service providers. Although AKDT 2025 aims to protect users from threats such as cyber fraud, child sexual exploitation and cyberbullying, several concepts and provisions within the Act raise substantive concerns regarding the protection of the right to freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution. This article analyses AKDT 2025 from a human rights perspective by assessing the extent to which its provisions satisfy the three-part test under international human rights law and the principle of proportionality as developed, albeit unevenly, in Malaysian judicial jurisprudence. Through a doctrinal legal analysis, this article demonstrates that, although AKDT 2025 reflects a policy shift towards a preventive approach to regulating online content, its allocation of regulatory powers and its accountability mechanisms continue to raise concerns regarding the adequacy of checks and balances, the interpretative clarity of the term “harmful content”, and the tendency to favour content moderation over content curation. These concerns may have significant implications for the right to freedom of expression. This article therefore concludes that AKDT 2025 could be further improved to ensure greater consistency with the principles of proportionality, the rule of law and the requirements of a constitutional democracy.
This paper examines KH. Bahaudin Nursalim’s (Gus Baha) perspective on a dynamic approach to fiqh, emphasizing the integration of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya and uṣūl al-fiqh. This approach distinguishes itself by providing contextualized responses to contemporary social challenges while maintaining the foundational principles of Islamic law. The study aims to analyze how Gus Baha employs these two disciplines to develop a jurisprudential framework that is both adaptable and relevant to contemporary Muslim societies. Methodologically, the study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, using thematic content analysis of Gus Baha’s lectures available on digital platforms, selected for their topical relevance and popularity. The findings reveal that Gus Baha’s contextual approach helps ensure the continued relevance of fiqh by aligning legal reasoning with contemporary needs, particularly with regard to maqāṣid al-sharīʿa (the higher objectives of Islamic law), such as justice and social welfare. The article also highlights ongoing debates between this approach and more traditionalist perspectives and offers a preliminary framework for institutionalizing Gus Baha’s methodology in educational and religious settings. Furthermore, it proposes both regional and international collaboration and compares Gus Baha’s method with those of Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Abdullah bin Bayyah to enrich contemporary efforts toward fiqh renewal.
The rise of advanced artificial-intimacy devices is not merely a moral concern but also a potential existential threat to the foundational structure of Islamic marriage (nikāḥ). While Islamic legal reasoning may prohibit their use, such a legal response remains inadequate because it does not address the deeper underlying problem. The true crisis is the robot’s function as a technological replacement, a concept termed in this study “Digital Substitution” (). The apparent perfection of the machine threatens to replace the human effort and responsibility from which marriage derives much of its spiritual strength. By demanding little or no relational effort, the robot erodes the human capacity to cultivate essential virtues such as mercy (raḥmah) and patience (ṣabr). Furthermore, the common legal argument that permits the use of such robots as a lesser harm in situations of necessity (ḍarūrah) is critically examined. This study argues that such reasoning constitutes a misdiagnosis because it overlooks the broader systemic harm involved. A comprehensive response is therefore necessary, grounded in the preventive doctrine of sadd al-dharāʾiʿ (blocking the means to harm). This approach requires Muslim states to impose a complete ban on the manufacture and sale of such devices through the authority of siyāsah sharʿiyyah (Islamic public policy). Alongside this prohibition, the Muslim community must initiate an educational movement that restores an appreciation of human struggle and imperfection, thereby protecting the spiritual integrity of the Muslim family from technology’s illusory promises of effortless intimacy.
Zakat serves as a strategic instrument for promoting social welfare economic redistribution within society. Nevertheless, significant disparities in zakat collection persist across regions, including among district and municipal offices of the National Zakat Agency (BAZNAS) in Riau Province. This study aims to analyse the institutional and managerial factors influencing disparities in zakat collection among regional zakat institutions in Riau Province. The research employs a qualitative approach, utilizing primary data obtained through interviews with BAZNAS administrators, community members, and relevant stakeholders, as well as secondary data drawn from official reports and relevant academic publications. The findings reveal considerable disparities in zakat collection capacity across districts and municipalities, as reflected in the unequal amount of zakat funds collected by individual subnational zakat institutions. These disparities are influenced by several key factors, including the limited involvement of local governments in zakat governance, weak regulatory support and institutional coordination, and the uneven implementation of employee zakat-deduction policies across different regions. In addition, low public trust in official zakat institutions has encouraged people to channel their zakat contributions through informal channels, private institutions, and unofficial zakat-collection units. Another contributing factor is the tendency of communities to concentrate their zakat, infāq, and ṣadaqah contributions during Ramadan, thereby affecting the consistency of collections throughout the year.
Over the past five years, corruption cases in Indonesia have shown an alarming upward trend, including corruption that occurs during investigations of corruption cases by law enforcement officials themselves. This phenomenon undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system and erodes public trust in anti-corruption institutions. Although research on corruption has been conducted extensively, attention paid to corruption embedded within the investigative process and the economic motives underlying such practices remains limited. This study aims to analyze the economic motives driving corruption during corruption investigations in Lampung Province, Indonesia. A socio-legal approach is used to examine the interactions between legal norms, institutional practices, and social dynamics that facilitate corruption within the investigative process. The analysis focuses on three corruption cases in Pesawaran Regency and North Lampung Regency involving the embezzlement of funds from the Health Operations Agency (BOK), Technical Guidance for Village Heads (Bimtek), and the School Operations Agency (BOS). The research findings indicate that corruption during the investigation phase is characterized by bribery and extortion, which influence investigators’ decision-making, leading to the unfair identification of suspects and legal discrimination. This study provides relevant empirical evidence for countries facing similar challenges in judicial governance and integrity and highlights the importance of reforming investigative agencies, strengthening institutional oversight, establishing independent accountability mechanisms, and implementing transparent investigative procedures. This study also contributes to the global anti-corruption literature by expanding the analysis of corruption beyond public administration and political institutions to include corruption within law enforcement agencies responsible for combating corruption. These measures are crucial for enhancing the credibility and effectiveness of anti-corruption systems and for supporting the development of more accountable and resilient judicial institutions worldwide.
