The Shafee-Rafizi debate

By MT Webmaster Last updated Feb 21, 2015

I think both Shafee and Rafizi had better just shut the fook up. Rafizi is wrong about swearing an oath not being part of Islam. And if Anwar Ibrahim does what Shafee says (he swears an oath) then Shafee needs to order the court to free him and allow him to go home.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There is an interesting debate going on between Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Rafizi Ramli. The debate is about swearing an oath to ‘prove’ who is telling the truth and who is lying. Hence if you dare swear an oath then you are telling the truth and if you dare not then you are lying.

I suppose this would work if you are extremely religious and you believe in God and believe in God’s punishment and in heaven and hell. But what if you are an atheist? If I were an atheist and you ask me to swear an oath to prove I am telling the truth I would do so even if I am lying because I do not believe in God anyway. So there is no way a non-existent being can punish me for swearing a false oath.

So how do you determine whether the person who is swearing an oath is really telling the truth because he or she fears the wrath of God as punishment for swearing a false oath? You need to first determine whether that person believes in God and fears the wrath of God and would never swear a false oath due to this fear. If not the whole exercise is pointless.

If swearing an oath is any measurement of truthfulness or falsity then we do not need courts and trials. All we need is a Quran. The accused person then swears that he or she is innocent of the charge and if he or she does so then he or she is freed and allowed to go home — and if he or she does not dare do so then he or she is considered guilty and is sent to jail.

But what if the person is not a Muslim? Would his or her oath on the Quran be valid since these people do not believe in the Quran anyway? And if that person is a Christian and we want that person to swear on the Bible, which version of the 40 or 50 Bibles do we use — just one or all 40 or 50 of them?

And what if the judge is a Muslim and the accused a Christian? Would the Muslim judge place any value on the oath of a Christian on a Bible that the Muslim judge considers a fake book?

Yes, quite a problem our learned counsel (this is how lawyers address each other in court) has raised. And Rafizi’s response is that swearing an oath does not exist in Islam. “Sumpah bukan sebahagian daripada Islam,” said Rafizi.

Now, while Shafee may have started a non-starter debate with this swearing an oath shit, Rafizi’s response has made the water even murkier. And do we not always say that the problem is not Islam but the way Muslims interpret or misinterpret Islam?

To say that swearing an oath is not part of Islam confuses both Muslims and non-Muslims. Then why the hell do we go to court and swear? Who are we swearing to, the judge or God? And if the judge is not of our religion why the hell are we swearing an oath to him or her whom we regard as an infidel or non-believer anyway? Confusing is it not?

Anyway, Rafizi is wrong and that is the problem with most MCKK students. Rugby, cricket, tea at four and brandy after dinner are the forte of MCKK students. Religion is not. Hence Rafizi is not correct in what he said.

Swearing an oath is part of Islam and it is mentioned in the Chapter of the Light in the Quran, chapter 24. And the Quran says that swearing an oath is the alternative action in the event you do not have any witnesses to testify on your behalf or to back up or support your testimony.

Ideally, you should have four witnesses to testify on your behalf. Alternatively, you swear four times that you are innocent and you swear the fifth time to invite the wrath of God in the event you are lying.

Both the accuser and the accused must do the same (in the event both parties do not have any witnesses to testify on their behalf) and once this is done the matter ends there and it is now left in the hands of God (does God have hands?).

In other words, if someone accuses you of sexual misconduct and you deny it, but you do not have any witnesses to prove it, then you swear an oath. And the person who accuses you of sexual misconduct and who also does not have any witnesses does the same. Then you all go home and leave the matter to God to handle.

No doubt the Quran refers specifically to the matter of a husband accusing his wife of adultery. But the ulama have not come out with a decree that this only involves a dispute between husband and wife and not otherwise.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK