Fair if Muslim loses hand, non-Muslim jailed

 

It is fair for a Muslim to have his hand chopped off for a crime under hudud, even if the crime is committed jointly with a non-Muslim who can be punished under civil law, Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Nik Amar Abdullah said today.

Speaking at a forum on the PAS proposal to implement hudud, organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian, Nik Amar said this was because the Muslim individual embraced Islam by choice and thus had to accept the religion and its laws as a whole.

"It's like being a soldier. You know the repercussions," Nik Amar said when asked if it was fair for a Muslim to receive a heavier punishment than a non-Muslim for a crime carried out together.

He said justice in Islam does not mean equal treatment for all, but to "put everything in its rightful place".

Nik Amar also said that despite concerns that  Malaysian society is not matured and the institution for hudud implementation is not in place, the Kelantan government might need to wait for a long time before considering hudud.

"If we are going to wait for the ideal society, then that is an Utopian society. That might take forever and might never happen," he argued.

'Akin to buying a car'

Nik Amar also likened the move to legislate hudud in Kelantan akin "to buying a car".

"All these arguments about the implementation- we are only now trying to buy the car. There are so many ways to buy a car, and we haven't come to the stage," he said.

"It's like disciplining children. You put the cane in the room so they know it is there. We are just trying to put it there. Whether we use it later on, that's a different argument," he added.

"We are just trying to put Islamic law in its place within the national level."

Nik Amar said the Kelantanese were "mentally ready" for the enactment and argued that this was why they had kept PAS in the state for more than 20 years.

Meanwhile, Islamic scholar Asri Zainul Abidin cautioned against implementing hudud before the necessary institutions are in place.

"I am worried that we are taking a beautiful palace door, and fixing it on a rundown house," Asri said.

He also said that one of the most important prerequisites for hudud was that everybody should be equal before the law.

"You can't have a section of society that cannot be produced before the court. I'll be honest with you, even the King and the sultans should get the same treatment," Asri added.