The long game in implementing hudud

MP: If non-Muslims accept circumcision, they’ll come around

David Dass: The day had to come when the question whether we are secular or Islamic had to be debated and put to rest. The strategists who put together Act 355 amendments maintain that it is not hudud because it does not have stoning and amputations as punishment.

But all must reflect deeply on whether to support this bill or not. Muslim MPs may feel that they must support Act 355 because it is God’s law. And non-Muslim leaders of BN parties may take the view that because it only applies to Muslims, they can support it.

Act 355 had its genesis in the Hudud Act that PAS enacted in Kelantan. That law included stoning and amputation and could not be enforced because the federal government refused to make the constitutional amendments required.

Act 355 is its latest gambit to achieve the principle that syariah law should rule the nation. This is the backdoor approach to extending the scope of the syariah. Bit by bit and give the states the power to enact laws creating offences punishable as syariah criminal offences.

The enhanced forms of punishment contemplated by Act 355 gives us an idea of how serious these offences are.

The debate of whether we are secular or Islamic has been resurrected time and again despite the views expressed by successive prime ministers and decisions of our superior courts that we are secular.

The proponents of Act 355 have played the long game and see Act 355 as tipping the scales in the argument.

The truth is that the way Islam is practiced in the country has changed significantly and there are increasing number of Muslims who are being influenced by Wahhabism and other Arabic practices.

These practices are inconsistent with a modern democratic multi-religious society. Any step towards a theocratic state is bad for all Malaysians.

We cannot let this step-by-step approach influence future arguments as to whether we are secular or Islamic. Already two former chief justices want ‘our traditions’ to replace the common law. This is a dangerous trend.

Anonymous_1421806811: Bagan Serai MP Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, what makes you think all Muslims support PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s bill? I, for one, do not because there is nothing “divine” about Hadi’s bill.

For a man with an academic qualification, you don’t use your mental faculty to question and reason. “The worst creatures in the sight of God are the deaf and dumb, who do not use common sense.” (Quran 8:22).

Ipoh Pp: “Circumcision is an Islamic practice. As a doctor, I have circumcised a lot of non-Muslims,” said Noor Azmi.

Excuse me. Please go do your homework before opening your mouth. Circumcision was practised by the Jews long before the arrival of Islam.

Appum: Like many have said, circumcision was practised by the Jews so Muslims who follow this practice can be called Jews – that is the kind of logic this doctor has expounded in Parliament.

To take this further, Americans today generally want their babies circumcised at birth, are they all Muslims too?

I really don’t know where these lawyers, doctors, and judges of Umno come from. Can I assume they are there because of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and not through merit?

I am not referring to all Malays but only Umno Malays.

Newday: “Therefore, a religion is clean because it practices circumcision,” said Noor Azmi.

How clean, when its lawmakers justify marrying girls as young as nine? How clean, when its lawmakers justify rape?

How clean, when they justify barbaric punishments for breaking the law – ala close proximity? How clean, when they are so fixated with sex and the way we dress.

Ravinder: Could Noor Azmi please tell us if “clean” is all about keeping the private parts clean?

What about the numerous high-ranking Muslim government officers who have been detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in the recent past? Are they “clean”?

Are religious leaders who use demeaning language to criticise others “clean”?

Vijay47: Just when I thought that the latest fashion in bird flu had departed our shores after taking its toll on us, I realise that its ravages can be more deep-seated and latent than originally feared. And the ones most vulnerable seem to be Umno and PAS stalwarts.

Just yesterday, we were treated to a display of how H5N1 can sometimes deprive a man of all basic decency and self-respect until he strives to educate us on the delights of raping nine-year-olds and the benefits that could follow.

Today, another worthy emerges to inform us that Islamic banking and circumcision are the latest benchmarks of Islam, that anyone who partakes of either reflects inclinations towards or at least acceptance of the Muslim faith.

My finances may be secure and I may have lost a bit of me, but these hardly distance me from my own Christianity and I harbour no desire to become a Muslim, thank you.

Next, some Umno/PAS wizard may claim that courting couples gazing at the moon long for Islam. Where do these guys come from?

Odin Tajué: And since circumcision contributes to cleanliness, Islam is, therefore, a clean religion? What astounding logic from Noor Azmi.

I am sure even those world-renowned philosophers would turn many times in their graves or, if they are still living, slink away in shame at their inability to match such an extraordinary mental faculty you displayed.

I say, man, my foreskinless thingagy is quivering with laughter here.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.