PAS splinter party says good governance more important than hudud
(The Malaysian Insider) – The soon-to-be announced Islamist party formed by ousted PAS professionals will place a higher importance on good governance than hudud, a member of the Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) committee said today.
Former PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told a forum in the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus in Kuala Lumpur that while the new party would not abandon hudud altogether, good governance was the epitome of shariah (Islamic law).
“Hudud is not the be-all and end-all of our struggles, especially for Gerakan Harapan Baru. We want to achieve the true purpose and objective of shariah, which I dare say predominantly hinges on good governance.
“And good governance is not the creation of the West. There are a lot more verses about good governance than hudud in the Quran,” Dzulefly told the forum titled “Rethinking civil society, Islamism and democracy”.
He said it was wrong to focus on parts of the shariah that were “punitive in nature” alone, adding that there was more to Islamic law than hudud.
“Shariah as described by the real jurists of Islam is equal to a house, and the gate around it, which secures the house, is said to be the penal code (hudud).
“If you don’t have a house, any semblance of a house, would it be sensible to even talk about having the penal code? So that’s how we put it across,” said Dzulkefly.
He said the new party’s emphasis on good governance was what allowed it to forge alliances with other parties, based on a common policy framework.
