Malaysians are in a Dilemma

Malaysians are in a ‘Dilemma’

Of late, Malaysia seemed to be plagued by the burning issue of attempting to replace the long standing penal law with the Islamic penal law, the Hudud. Majority of the population non-Muslim and Muslim alike feared that eventually, beginning from the state of Kelantan, other states sooner or later will follow suit and eventually the whole country will adopt the Hudud. With that Malaysia will be noted as an Islamic state. By the by the Democratic system will be automatically unimportant. The Federal Constitution guaranteeing the secular status Malaysia is no more. The question is, with the Islamic state status what will the future of the country be? Of course, no one can say for sure what will Malaysia be but we can still predict the out-come by looking at what had happened to the Middle East countries and of our neighbor Brunei. Brunei has very recently, about a week ago, declared the implementation of Hudud for the country. It shocked the world. The world reaction to this could be said was unfavorable. A certain group of people, formally the supporters of Sultan, withdrew their support and in addition advocated a boycott to all his businesses. In fact, the economy of the Sultan is the economy of the country. To what extend the economy of Brunei will be affected it is left to be seen.

What actually is Hudud? Yes, it is Islamic penal law. But why is it feared? My understanding is that the uneven implementation of punishment is the cause of the fear.

Offences classified as criminal offenses are: (1) Absence from Friday prayer services

                                                                               (2) Becoming pregnant out of wedlock

                                                                               (3) Wearing indecent clothing and for women refusal to         wear a hijab

                                                                               (4) Employing a non-Muslim babysitter

                                                                               (5) The use of the word “Allah” by Christians and the discussion of faith by any non-Muslims

                                                                               (6) Publicly eating and drinking during Ramadan

                                                                               (7) Theft

                                                                               (8) Homosexuality and

                                                                               (9) Adultery

Punishment is imposed to the offender according to his station in life. The same offence committed punishment can be at different levels.  The range of punishment can be from the lightest, this is a fine and to the heaviest, that is stoning to death. In between, there are jail sentence, amputation of limbs and public flogging, all depending who you are or whom you know. 

Judging from the above criminal offences and punishments for them may I ask, can the present modern society whether Muslims or non-Muslims agree and accept them?

Again you may question, where are the Muslim intellectuals? Why are they silent about this issue?

Dr. Chan    15.05.2014