The Many Faces of Hudud Issue
Malaysian Business
If Kelantan is an absolute monarchy and rich in petroleum, there is still no guarantee that it would enforce hudud, the Syariah penal code.
Until a few months ago, very few people expected Brunei – an absolute monarchy and rich in petroleum – would enforce hudud.
But it did. On Oct 22, 2013, the government of Brunei Darussalam gazetted the Syariah Penal Code Order 2013 with the view of introducing the hudud and qisas punishments in stages starting last month.
Former chief justice of Malaysia Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad in a speech at the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia on Feb 11 was reported by the New Straits Times as noting that the political system and government in Brunei are that of an absolute monarchy.
He said, even under normal circumstances, the Sultan has absolute executive and legislative powers. His powers supersede constitutional provisions. He may amend the Constitution or make laws regardless of the Constitution. Secondly, Brunei is a unitary country and not a federation.
There is no distribution of legislative powers between states and the federation.
Thirdly, there is no constitutional limitation on the jurisdiction of the Civil Courts or the Syariah Courts. For example, the Syariah Courts’ jurisdictions are not limited to persons professing the religion of Islam only.
There are no restrictions on the types of offences that can be placed under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts. In any event, the Sultan may either ignore or remove any restriction by amending the Constitution.
Fourthly, even though there are a few political parties in Brunei, they have no significant role to play. There is no coalition of political parties representing different races and religions to form the government, no general election and no opposition.
Under such circumstances, there is nothing or anyone to prevent the Sultan if he decides to make a law and implement it.
On May 1, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announced the implementation of the first phase of the law that would include crimes, which are punishable by fines or imprisonment.
That, according to reports, includes not performing the Friday prayers, which is also an offence in many states in Malaysia. The subsequent phases would take effect after the new law is gazetted.
Understandably many Western countries, led by the United States of America, were unhappy with the move.
They had tolerated Brunei in spite of it being an absolute monarchy because the Sultan was seen as a moderate Muslim, wealthy and, most of all, friendly towards them.
But with the Sultan opting for hudud and qisas, which the Judeo-Christian West has always opposed, the West may no longer be able to treat Brunei with the same priority and cordiality.
On his part, the Sultan knows that while the West dislikes his hudud and qisas, they like and need his money. And he still has a lot of it.
If the implementation of hudud and qisas in Brunei proves to be just, fair and humane and reduces crimes, it may help to change the conventional western perception of the Islamic penal code as a whole.
