(Sept 23): Malaysia is not ready for the implementation of hudud law, an international activist said, as the country has not achieved the level of “righteousness” needed to practise it.
International Human Rights Committee (HRC) chairman Sir Dr Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz said after a forum last night that Malaysia’s common practice of “rampant corruption” and “practice of falsehood” showed that hudud, or the Islamic penal code, would not be implemented properly if it was made law in the country.
“Malaysia is not ready as the society does not comply with the conditions set in the Quran. Malaysia is rampant on corruption and falsehood is a common practice.
“People tell lies for money,” he told reporters after giving his keynote address at the Kuala Lumpur Peace Symposium last night.
“People are not sincerely devoted to their faith and practice. All this is done like a ritual. The society has yet to achieve the Islamic standard needed to practise Shariah.”
Iftikhar, who is an Ahmadiyya Muslim, said Shariah-based hudud law could only be implemented in Malaysia if the Muslims built up their society.
Shariah laws were meant for “righteous people”, he said, adding that these were people who had the love and fear of Allah in their hearts.
“Otherwise, the hudud laws can be abused. So that is why Malaysia is not ready for it,” he said, adding that Shariah laws should not be imposed on non-Muslims.
“Can the Muslims, if they have hudud, ensure that the rights of the minorities are protected?”
Citing the Constitution of Madinah, the agreement drafted by Prophet Muhammad between Muslims and non-Muslims, Iftikhar said the charter listed out privileges for Christians, including an order by the Prophet not to destroy churches.
“The Prophet also asked Muslims to help build churches. That is the real Islam. But can that happen here?”
Human rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the implementation of hudud in a non-Islamic state would not achieve its objectives including justice.
“Hudud, if implemented in our non-Islamic state, will not achieve justice but will instead, be unjust. Instead, hudud should only be implemented in a state where all the constitutions of the state are in line with Shariah.”
He also quoted former PAS lawmaker and now Amanah member Hanipa Maidin, who said hudud was only capable of dispensing “true and effective justice” if it took effect in a perfect Islamic environment, with good governance.
“On the contrary, in the absence of good governance, hudud law, despite its aim of bringing genuine law and order may be counter-productive, especially if such laws are implemented by a failed state.
“We are not yet a failed state but we are darned close. We have a crisis of confidence in our government. We have a trust deficit,” Syahredzan said, adding that those lobbying for hudud law to be implemented should instead work on ensuring the state upheld all principles of Islam.
Islamist party PAS is trying to amend federal laws to allow the enactment, which includes Islamic capital punishments or hudud, to be enforced in Kelantan, a northeast state in the peninsula where the party controls the state government.
Earlier this year, its legislative assembly passed amendments to hudud laws in the state but these cannot be implemented until changes are made to a federal law.
This is being done through a private member’s bill which has been submitted to the Dewan Rakyat but yet to be debated.
Civil society groups have called the Kelantan enactment unconstitutional as it aims to punish crimes, such as murder and theft, which exist in the Penal Code – The Malaysian Insider