The following is the message from President, MICH and former Mayor of Colombo and former Sri Lanka Ambassador to Iran, Omar Kamil on the demise of Sri Lanka’s most eminent jurist and former judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Sri Lankabhimanya Justice C.G. Weeramantry:-
“The members of the Moors’ Islamic Cultural Home join me in expressing our deepest sympathies on the demise of globally acclaimed legal luminary, Sri Lanka’s most acclaimed Jurist, Sri Lankabhimanya Justice Christopher Gregory Weeramantry.
“All people of Sri Lanka are deeply saddened by his demise as he undoubtedly was one of the very few persons among us who was well versed in all the religions and its laws. He was one of those personalities who successfully interpreted the teachings of all major religions, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam in his deliberations as a Judge of the International Court of Justice and was considered as the pioneer in bringing religious jurisprudence in the International Court of Justice.
“The Muslim community all around the world, especially the Sri Lankan Muslims owe him a great deal for his contribution of the book, ‘Islamic Jurisprudence–An International Perspective’ where he was able to wipe out many of the misunderstanding of the Sharia laws due to lack of information for centuries. The Moors’ Islamic Cultural Home has had the privilege of hosting him many a time before a very large and distinguished gathering and his erudite and well illustrated speech on ‘Some Aspects of Islamic Law’ on the 2nd of June 1985, brought about an instant change of the misunderstandings others had on Islamic Law. It was also great to see Justice Weeramantry write in the ‘Visitors Book of the MICH’, that he had studied the Islamic Law and its Traditions with admiration for many years.
“We were also given the honour to publish his speech in 1986 with the permission of Justice C.G. Weeramantry titled ‘International Human Rights – Some Islamic Perspectives’. Even recently as he gave the home the honour to publish his article, ‘Islam and the Judicial Process’ which appears in the MICH Souvenir IX published in 2016.
“On behalf of our members and the entire Muslim community of Sri Lanka we hasten to share your sorrow and convey the deepest sympathies of the Home to the bereaved family.
“May the Almighty grant him a place in the garden of paradise.”