Not only hudud can be implemented on sultans and Malay rulers, constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari holds they can also be dethroned, if they do not comply with present Islamic laws or have committed major sins.
Aziz said this is implicit in the Federal Constitution and some of the details are spelt out in the respective state constitutions.
“The sultan may be dethroned should he commit acts that are considered as uzur sharie, that reveal personal defects, from the Islamic point of view.
“This factor is also crucial to determine whether the heir apparent can succeed in being appointed as a ruler.”
Aziz said the problem today is the council of succession of the respective states have, over the years, overlooked this provision.
This, he added resulted in the prevalence of rulers whose personalities are not in full accord with strict Islamic and moral codes.
Aziz concurred with the views aired by Umno Youth exco member Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya, who said yesterday that hudud can be implemented on the sultans and Malay rulers, and that there is nothing in the Federal Constitution that prevents that.
“As heads of Islamic religion, it goes without saying that sultans are the first to be subjected to Islamic law. That means the application of hudud. As such the sultan cannot commit major sins which include adultery, theft and drinking liquor,” Aziz told Malaysiakini.
The constitutional expert pointed out that a 1993 amendment to Article 182 of the constitution, which allows the formation of a special court, has removed
the immunity of the rulers and they can be subject to civil laws.
“It is to be noted that the privilege of being immune or exempted from legal proceedings is quite alien to the notion of equality in Islam. From this point of view, the special court is an anomaly as it puts the nine rulers above civil law, so to speak,” he said.
Yesterday, Fathul Bari (right) told a forum, ‘Hudud in Malaysia: Can we? Should we?’ that hudud should apply to everyone whether from the “upper class, lower class or the raja (Malay rulers)”.
