Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rashid

Mr Abdul Aziz graduated with a law degree (with honours) from the National University of Singapore in 1991. Mr Abdul Aziz entered private practice after several years in the civil service and a public-listed company.

To-date, Mr Abdul Aziz has accumulated more than 17 years’ experience in Syariah law work, including advising and representing clients in matrimonial proceedings (divorces and marriages), probate matters (inheritance and succession) and estate planning (drafting of Muslim wills (wasiat), gifts (hibah) and vows (nazar). His work has brought him to appear before the Syariah Court, the Appeal Board, the State Courts, the Family Justice Courts and the High Court.

Among the novel and complex issues of law dealt with by Mr Abdul Aziz in the cases handled by him was the issue of whether the ruling of the Singapore Court of Appeal in UDA v UDB [2018] SGCA 20 relating to the power of the court to deal with non-party interests in divorce proceedings in the civil courts should be applied to divorce proceedings in the Syariah Court. Both the Syariah Court and (on appeal) the Appeal Board decided this issue in favour of Mr Abdul Aziz’s client.

In another case, Mr Abdul Aziz successfully argued that a female Muslim convert who, at the time of her conversion to Islam, was still married in accordance with her previous (non-Muslim) faith, must observe a waiting period of 3 months from the date of her conversion before marrying a Muslim man. The failure to observe this waiting period would nullify the Muslim marriage. This is on the authority of Surah Al-Mumtahanah (Chapter 60 of the Holy Quran).

A number of Syariah cases handled by Mr Abdul Aziz have been published in the law reports. These include Hosairi Bin Kalil v Zaliha Bt Othman (2009) 2 SSAR 187; [2009] SGSAB 4 (Appeal No. 12 of 2009); AA v AB (2011) 6 SSAR 120; [2011] SGSAB 12 (Appeal No. 15 of 2010) and BM v BN (2014) 7 SSAR 1; [2014] SGSAB 5 (Appeal No. 7 of 2014).

From 2019 to 2022, Mr Abdul Aziz was appointed Senior Partner and Head of Muslim Law Practice in a mid-sized law firm. During these 3 years, Mr Abdul Aziz supervised and trained a team of Syariah lawyers, including their paralegals and secretaries. He also took on the lead role in several complex Syariah cases which the firm had conduct of. As department head, Mr Abdul Aziz held regular training sessions touching on both substantive and procedural law, wrote and published practice guides for the team and authored 15 articles discussing various subjects and issues of Muslim matrimonial and inheritance law. These articles were all published on the firm’s website for public reference.

As one of the founding members of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, Mr Abdul Aziz was entrusted with the task of drafting the association’s constitution. In 2008, Mr Abdul Aziz launched the “Legal Clinic @ Mosques” scheme which provides monthly free legal consultation and advice at 5 mosques situated at various locations across Singapore. Mr Abdul Aziz has spoken on various Syariah law subjects and issues on Mediacorp’s “Warna 94.2” radio station and in seminars and talks organised by various organisations in Singapore, for example, AWARE Singapore and Pertapis. Mr Abdul Aziz is also an Assigned Solicitor appointed by the Legal Aid Bureau of the Ministry of Law, Singapore.

To-date, Mr Abdul Aziz has advised and acted for many clients from all walks of life. He offers his very best in every case he handles, big or small, complex or simple. Mr Abdul Aziz constantly employs his vast arsenal of knowledge and professional experience to achieve the best outcome for every client whom he is given the privilege to counsel and represent.