About gloved hands and chopped hands

Muhyiddin may now be challenged to state his stand on Islam. He has passed a remark that appears to be a challenge to Islam. Muhyiddin may have to categorically declare whether he accepts or rejects Islam and the laws that come with it.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The level of campaigning in the Tenang by-election has been reduced somewhat. It is now about the wearing of gloves and the chopping of hands.

The MCA President, Chua Soi Lek, ridicules the opposition candidate because she shakes hands while wearing gloves. The Queen (of England, that is) also does the same. In fact, the Queen Mother was once criticised for taking off her gloves before she shook hands. It is considered most unlady-like to do that. And the late Lady Diana too wore gloves. There is also an archive of her glove collection, which you can see here:

http://www.operagloves.com/Royals/Diana/diana.html

So, yes, the ladies of English Royalty would not be caught dead without their gloves. And there is a healthy debate amongst the English public as to whether the ladies of English society should or should not wear gloves when shaking hands (just Google it and you will be taken to these debate sites). And most are of the opinion that if they are ladies then they should wear gloves.

But the MCA President would probably not understand this because he does not consort with ladies. And ‘ladies of the night’ are not quite what I mean when I say ladies. ‘Ladies of the night’ are…well, you know what I mean if you were to watch his action-packed videos. I really do not need to elaborate on this matter.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, in turn, ridicules the opposition on the cutting of hands. He is actually not criticising PAS, the party from which the opposition candidate comes from, as much as he is criticising Islam.

This quip may come back to haunt him as it did Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who made a remark about the Prophet Muhammad’s beard. Until today this remark by Dr Mahathir refuses to go away and even Umno admits that this was probably one of the gravest mistakes he ever made -- making fun of the Prophet’s appearance.

The Deputy Prime Minister will of course be asked to explain his statement. And if I were PAS I would not allow this statement to pass unchallenged.

What did Muhyiddin mean when he said that if PAS were to come to power they would chop of your hands? Is he saying that all Malaysians are thieves and robbers and there is not an honest soul left in Malaysia?

First of all, is this proper and correct Islamic law? Is Muhyiddin saying that the chopping of hands does not exist in Islamic law? Or is he saying that it does exist but he does not accept it and rejects Islamic law?

This, he needs to explain. He needs to tell us whether he disputes the existence of the law or he accepts the existence of the law but rejects its implementation.

It is one thing to make fun of PAS. It is another to make fun of Islam. Malays are extremely sensitive about their race and religion, sometimes to an extreme. Muhyiddin may be seen as making fun of Islam rather than making fun of PAS. He is walking on very thin ice here.

Muhyiddin may now be challenged to state his stand on Islam. He has passed a remark that appears to be a challenge to Islam. Muhyiddin may have to categorically declare whether he accepts or rejects Islam and the laws that come with it.

Of course, there is always one way out for Muhyiddin, so all is not lost. He can declare that the chopping of hands does not exist in Islam and that is why he spoke out against it and made fun of it. He can state that theHudud laws never came from God and was merely a creation of man. He can quote verses from the Quran that argue against the Hadith. Muhyiddin can declare that all Hadith are false and were fabricated by enemies of Islam who wanted to corrupt Islam and mislead the people.

If Muhyiddin were to argue this then he could probably counter whatever PAS may say about him. Declare allHadith as false and opposed to real Islamic teachings. Declare that the Quran never laid down the cutting of hands and those who propagate this are spreading false teachings of Islam. Declare that the Islamic law ofHudud was a law that was fabricated hundreds of years after the Prophet and were not what the Prophet taught Muslims.

Then maybe Muhyiddin will be able to counter any criticism to his remarks.

And I can only conclude by saying good luck.