A humble personal perspective on the implementation of Sharia law in Malaysia

Umar Mukhtar

I am a Muslim and it is incumbent upon me to strive to have Sharia law governing the lives of Muslims everywhere. As it is, my personal life is already governed by Sharia law because I am a Muslim. It is just that the worldly punishment to be meted out to me if I break that law may not conform to its standards. Nevertheless, that omission makes little difference to the way I lead my life individually. I constantly remind myself that I am subject to Allah’s rule.

I guess that is why individually I am not as too hung up on Malaysian Muslims not being under Sharia law as yet as I am bothered by, say, endemic corruption in my society by people who think they are god. I think that to those who are responsible for the well-being of society, this kind of people are not deterred by the present worldly punishments and therefore need divine-inspired ones to scare the shit out of them. I agree with that whole-heartedly.

If only the whole world is Muslim, but it is not. Sharia law is for Muslims only, so it looks like transgressions will continue to happen even in this country as a result of misbehaviour by non-Muslims? At the same time, I do not wish for them to be subjected to stuff they have not agreed to be subjected to. I certainly would not like myself to be subjected to stuff I never agreed to. But it appears that the current efforts by TG Hadi Awang do not concern them.

So why the brouhaha? I guess non-Muslims are worried that they will eventually be roped in. This is because sooner or later, Muslims would want non-Muslims to be treated the same because living together in Malaysia, so many things, legal and illegal, are done together irrespective of one’s religion. And yet the punishments are different. And a naughty Muslim is not allowed to exit his religion to get legal treatment different from other Muslims.

The minority non-Muslims have only the Federal Constitution, by which this nation is founded, to rely on. It does promise that all citizens are equal before the law. Looks like the Constitution will have to be amended to accommodate the present discrepancy. Of course, it is more stringent to amend the Constitution. Anyway, it has not come to be necessary yet. When it does, will it be too late?

There must be a way. I must say with all humility, it is beyond me. I guess that’s why we have leaders and that’s why we have politicians. Not just to put their hands in the cookie jar but to come with ingenious solutions because they are leaders to all, not just Muslims or just to non-Muslims. By right, my sentiment should be, ‘berat mata memandang berat lagi bahu memikul’, it’s heavy on the eyes but it’s heavier on the shoulders that bear the burden.

But somehow from the scenarios that I had witnessed, it is hard to get that sentiment out of me. Naughty me, I somewhat cynically believe that these potentially divisive matters provide fuel for unscrupulous politicians to ride on rather than as obstacles to fair leadership for them to overcome as trailblazers galore. We argue like crazy as their hands slithered into the cookie jar. God forgive me.