Hudud: Soi Lek attacking Islam again to score points against DAP

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle 

Muslim leaders condemned MCA president Chua Soi Lek for badmouthing hudud and stomping on Islam when he suggested that the Chinese community reject DAP because it could later U-turn on its secular stance and support PAS in allowing the Muslim law to be implemented.


“Why does Chua Soi Lek want to talk about hudud when he hasn’t taken the trouble to understand what it is about? Don’t politicize hudud because it is part of Islamic law. You don’t have to agree or to accept but don’t turn it into something evil just to scare the Chinese voters away from DAP,” PAS vice president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told Malaysia Chronicle.

Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man

“That is very bad. It is a form of racism and escapism. Are MCA and Chua so desperate to hide their own troubles that they have to start attacking religion? It is also a shame for Umno to stand by and let them make hudud a bogeyman to the non-Muslims. Where is their love for Islam?”

Political points

On Thursday, Chua accused DAP – which is MCA’s main rival for the Chinese vote – of being willing to sacrifice the community for the sake of power by agreeing with PAS to implement hudud.

But in his haste to score political points, Chua denigrated Islam by suggesting that hudud was something that Chinese should reject at all costs.

“It is an eye opener to all citizens in this country that PAS would never never give up on its Islamic agenda. So it is wrong to say why not we try to vote for them. It is wrong because it concerns the welfare of therakyat,” Chua was quoted as saying.

Nizar Jamaluddin

Unsurprisingly, Chua’s comments drew sharp rebuke from Islamic leaders, angered by the perceived facetiousness in his remarks and for condemning a branch of their religious law that has been in practice for centuries in many Muslim nations.

Anything wrong with having an Islamic agenda?

Hudud is of three branches of Islamic or Syariah law - of which tazir and qisas are the other two. Hudud specifically state the limits ordained by Allah and refer only to 6 crimes namely theft, highway robbery, illegal sexual intercourse or zina, false accusations of zina, drinking alcohol and apostasy, which includes blasphemy. 

Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud

Punishment under hudud is also fixed and cannot be varied. But because these include whipping, amputation of limbs and even stoning to death, it has created tremendous misunderstanding and negative publicity for hudud and for Islamic law as a whole. Islamic or Syariah law is already practised in Malaysia. It refers to the code derived from the Quran and from the teachings and examples of Prophet Mohammed. Both hudud and Syariah are only applicable to Muslims.

“Soi Lek has again demonstrated how shallow minded, immoral and totally ignorant he is on Islamic ideology and law. Pakatan’s path to Putrajaya does not depend on hudud. PAS is an Islamic party. The MCA president has chosen to condemn Islamic law when he doesn’t know anything about it. We are shocked at his low behavior and unreservedly condemn him," Bukit Gantang MP Nizar Jamaluddin told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Of course, PAS will not give up on its Islamic struggle. It is our raison d'etre - our duty to deliver the Islamic message to all and to strive to implement Islam wherever it is accepted. We also understand the current resistance to some aspects of Islamic law is due to a lack of public knowledge. Even many Muslims are still ignorant about it. But we learn together and we strive for a better Malaysia together regardless of religion and race," Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud told Malaysia Chronicle.