10 wives six too many for Malay man

10 wives six too many for Malay man

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Six Moslem women pleaded not guilty in a Malaysian court yesterday to charges of illegally marrying and having sex with a religious teacher from Singapore, who already had four wives.

The four legal wives also pleaded not guilty to charges in the Syariah (religious) court in Malaysia's southern Johore state that they endorsed their husband's marriages with the six knowing it was against Malaysia's Islamic laws.

Abdul Talib Harun, 34, who has 17 children from his unions with the 10 women, was charged earlier this month in the same court for breaching Islamic laws which allow a Moslem to have only four wives at one time.

He also faces charges of being involved in deviationist Islamic teachings.

All the women, aged between 24 and 34 years, are from Singapore and were alleged to have committed the offenses in Johore between December 1992 and April 10 this year, Bernama news agency reported from Johor Bahru, Johore's state capital.

Malaysian authorities arrested Abu Talib, alias Ahmad Habibullah Alsalafi, and the 10 women and confiscated several pornographic videotapes during a raid in Johor Bahru in April.

Judge Zainuddin Munajat ordered the 10 women, who were not represented by lawyers, to stand trial.

Malaysia's Islamic laws govern how, and how often, Moslems marry, divorce and adopt children. The laws also cover Islamic taboos as drinking alcohol and failure to observe the Moslem fasting month of Ramadhan.

But criminal charges, whether against Moslems or non-Moslems, are heard in secular courts under the federal penal code.

Islam is the official religion in Malaysia but non-Moslems, who comprise less than half of the 18 million population, are allowed freedom of worship under the federal constitution.