Hudud for all is more honest
Hafiz Noor Shams, The Malay Mail
I am not a fan of Isma and its narrow worldview. I find them destructive to Malaysia but this time around, one of their views is useful. They want hudud to be applicable to all Malaysians regardless of beliefs. I think them pushing the idea is a great thing.
Please do not misunderstand me. I oppose hudud. What I am getting at is this: with the new slogan “Hudud for All,” opposing hudud is becoming politically easier than before. Allow me to explain.
Sometime not too long ago, there was an argument that hudud would apply to Muslims only. The Christians, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the agnostics-atheists and the others need not worry about the harsh punishments associated with hudud. They could live their life as if nothing happened. PAS uses the argument from time to time in front of their non-Muslim audience to emolliate non-Muslims’ fears of hudud.
I have always been sceptical about that argument. Even if hudud were to be limited to Muslims only, I believe other Malaysians would not truly be free from it. They might be free from the actual punishments but not from the social changes that would definitely come along with hudud.
I have written several times before arguing the implementation of hudud would change the make-up of Malaysia regardless of the exemptions made for non-Muslims. It is naïve to think that a great change in the majority population would not affect the religious minorities. When the majority suddenly turns religiously conservative, voluntarily or by force, no high walls and barb wire can protect the minority from the pressure to be more… decent. How do you isolate yourself from social changes?
What effectively an Islamic state for the majority and a secular state for the minority would end with is only one outcome: the end of the secular state. Even with our current dual justice system –- one for the Muslims and one for the others –- conflicts are aplenty.
We fight for the guardianship of our children and we fight even for the burial rights of our dead. The implementation of hudud for Muslims will raise the level of conflict among us. If a Muslim is caught stealing from a non-Muslim, the thief would get his hand chopped off.
If a non-Muslim is caught stealing from a Muslim, the thief would get away with his hand. How is that fair? What if a non-Muslim raped a Muslim and vice versa? Which standards of proof should be used? The looser one for the non-Muslims and the tighter one for the Muslims?
How would the unfairness affect relations between the communities?
