The great PAS hudud charade

By admin-s Last updated Mar 23, 2015

(MMO) – This reaction has little to do with defending Islam. It was born of a desire to enact misogyny and tribal rage, masked by indignant righteousness.

Let us all have a round of applause for Kelantan PAS. The Islamist party’s chapter surely put on a greatly entertaining show last week by tabling the amendment to its Shariah Criminal Code (II), also called the Hudud Bill.

The greatest trick Kelantan PAS ever pulled was to convince Muslims nationwide that its Hudud Bill was all about Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The seed for this has been sowed long ago, since the original Bill was tabled in 1993, and repeated again and again until many finally accepted it as the gospel.

To strengthen this view, Kelantan Mentri Besar Ahmad Yaakob took the opportunity to label critics of hudud as “liars” and “immorals” the instant he took the floor to table the Bill.

What justification did he have for such accusations? Perhaps none. But to Ahmad and his supporters, that was all that is needed to end any arguments.

Unfortunately, this is the sort of attitude that has bred hostile response towards any critics of Kelantan and its hudud.

We see this knee-jerk response manifesting itself when BFM Radio journalist Aisyah Tajuddin was attacked by death and rape threats online for a video collaboration with Projek Dialog on Thursday, which criticised hudud in Kelantan.

This reaction has little to do with defending Islam. It was born of a desire to enact misogyny and tribal rage, masked by indignant righteousness.

Newly-appointed PAS spiritual leader Dr Haron Din says the passing of amendments to Kelantan’s hudud enactment was not a move against the DAP or PKR, as PAS has long fought for the Islamic penal code. — Picture by The Malay Mail OnlineDid those who threaten Aisyah really care about hudud? When the video asked outright “Can hudud fill our rice bowls?”, did anybody really have an answer to that?

It has become much easier for Muslims to tell non-Muslims to butt out from questioning hudud rather than allaying their fears. It is so much easier to accuse these “infidels” of trying to destroy the Malay-Muslim community, rather than understanding why hudud worries them so much.

Saying “it is the right of Muslims” is a lousy excuse when you are tearing down the fundamental nature of this pluralist country and perpetuating the divide between its citizens.

There will be claims that these criticisms are “insults against Islam” and a predictable form of Islamophobia. And these tactics are almost guaranteed to stifle any discourse and debate on Islamic policies.

After witnessing the many acts of violence committed by zealots in the name of Islam, who would wish to piss Muslims off?

Kelantan’s Hudud Bill is nowhere as perfect as some people believe. After all, it was drafted by men. It will ultimately be implemented, and enforced, by men.

There were mistranslations between its Malay and English versions. There were inconsistencies, requiring some corrections to be made during the tabling itself, such as the punishment for apostasy: changed from death to “by hudud.”