Shahnaz Abdul Majid says she tried to settle her divorce from the Sarawak governor’s son amicably but was forced to go to the courts, which today awarded her RM30 million. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, March 10, 2016.Shahnaz Abdul Majid, who was awarded RM30 million in muta’ah (conciliatory payment) following her divorce from Sarawak businessman Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Abdul Taib today, will give one-third of it to single mothers and victims of domestic abuse.
She said she was still digesting the court’s decision today on the payment, which is less than the RM100 million she had originally sought.
“It is still sinking in. If you compare the amount with what he owns, it is a small amount.
“After going through this for four years... it was quite a struggle, I am digesting it.
“But I appreciate that the judge understands what I went through for 10 years,” Shahnaz said, referring to the time she was separated from Bekir before their divorce became official in May 2011.
The former daughter-in-law of Sarawak governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud said the episode has also been tough on her son, Raden Murya, but added that she had assured him he need not “take sides”.
Shahnaz said she had tried “many times” to get the matter of the muta’ah payment settled without going to the courts.
“I even went through my son once, but he was afraid to ask the father.
“Then we went through the lawyers, I always wanted it settled from the start, I didn’t want it dragged through the courts,” she told reporters after proceedings.
She said she might donate the money to refugees and orphans.
“I was thinking if I got RM100 million, I would have given more than half to the underprivileged.
“With this, after paying costs and all, at least one third.”
She added that the court case over the muta’ah was not about taking what belonged to the defendant, but about claiming what her former husband was obliged to give her as a Muslim wife and mother.
Her lawyer, Datuk Akbardin Abdul Kader, said justice was served with the court’s decision.
He also said this was possibly the highest quantum offered by the Shariah Court in a muta’ah claim.
“We have created a precedent and the point is not to underestimate the Shariah Court.
“It has the jurisdiction to give the appropriate sum according to the factual matrix of the case.
“In this case, we have succeeded in showing that Shariah Court has got the authority to award bigger sums.” – March 10, 2016.
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