Muslim scholars must go slow on the hudud issue to give non-Muslims time to understand the issue better.
The religion of Islam has been established in Saudi Arabia for more than 1,400 years. Since then the country has become the custodian of the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the two holy mosques, and is the Keeper of the Kaabah.
Hence the country is recognised by the Muslim world as the standard-bearer of Islam and is entrusted to maintain the religion in its original and pure form.
In a multi-racial and multi-religious nation like Malaysia, the different circumstances necessitate it to adopt a moderate approach to avoid any misunderstanding that can lead to a religious and racial conflict .
Thereby it is pertinent that Muslim scholars in Malaysia go slow on the hudud issue to give time for the Muslim and non-Muslim communities to understand it better.
Therefore I call on Muslim ulamas not to implement it hastily and neither should the non-Muslims reject it outright.
To understand better about the concept of hudud law, let us go back to our childhood days .
God has instilled in us from the time of the toddler stage, to fear many things that we don’t know or understand to keep us safe from dangers.
Similarly our parents teach us about the dos and don’ts by instilling fear in us, either consciously or otherwise.
Fear keeps us safe from many dangers and harm’s way.
If toddlers and kids do not possess the fear instinct of their surroundings, many children would not survive until today or if they lived, they would be handicapped for life. Hence the instinct of fear in us is a virtue!
Divine guidance
Similarly as we grow to be adults, we presume to know many things and do not need divine guidance.
This world and the universe are big and complex, not to mention the spiritual world of which we do not know much about unless God bestows upon us the knowledge.
Hence man needs divine guidance to regulate his conduct. Central to Islamic teaching is “iman” or faith.
The two main virtues of belief and obedience among believers form the core of their faith in God, which are the essence of their righteous conduct.
The syariah law is a body of law pertaining to the implementation of righteous conduct among the Muslim ummah.
Hudud is part of the syariah law that deals with the penalties for specific (physical) offences that can harm a Muslim righteous conduct and the purity of the religion.
Of course, there are so many virtues other than belief and obedience.
Faith and obeisance
In this write-up, I confine my commentary on the two main virtues of faith.
1) Believe in God’s power with fear:
The first set of Islamic teachings is about God’s command to His servants (mankind) to believe in His more than 99 Attributes that are absolute and singular in nature.
I do not intend to elaborate on these complex attributes. However, the belief about His supremacy and power alone cannot strengthen their faith.
Belief in God’s power must be accompanied by the virtue of fear of God’s power (wrath) to strengthen their faith.
2) Obey God’s commandments and prohibitions with fear:
The second main teaching is for mankind to obey God’s commandments and prohibitions.
Similarly the virtue of obedience alone cannot ensure Muslims will obey the commandments of doing righteous deeds and avoid committing the prohibitions.
The virtue of obedience must be accompanied by the virtue of fear of his retribution to ensure they will do the righteous deeds and avoid the prohibitions.
Any (major) acts of disobedience on the commandments and the prohibitions are tantamount to a sin against God Himself.
Among God’s general retribution for serious human sins in this world are the sending of big calamities such as massive floods, major earthquakes, long droughts, large-scale wind destruction where thousands of lives are lost in the twinkle of an eye.
Normally God’s punishment is general in nature, and upon men of all faiths.
I consider minor natural calamities such as the monsoon floods in Malaysia as trials for mankind.
The punishment through direct divine retribution upon mankind is far more serious than the hudud punishment, which is specific and confined to individual Muslims.
Hudud law and fear
We have seen that God sends direct punishment upon mankind for committing serious sinful acts from time to time.
To ensure every individual man does not commit habitual sinful acts ,God has laid down the hudud law to regulate each individual’s righteous conduct.
Hudud is the specific law with regard to the punishment on specific immoral and shameful acts against others or the community .
The act of breaking God’s specific prohibitions is a serious crime, too. Hence to instil the virtue of God-fearing among Muslims, the hudud law has to be severe otherwise they are not afraid to flout it.
In Malaysia, like many other countries, there is widespread sinful and immoral acts committed by many Muslims.
Only the hudud law can prevent or reduce those acts. If not checked, God will send down terrifying calamities upon the nation.
Saudi Arabia, the country that truly upholds the Islamic laws, unlike others, escapes these catastrophes.
However, if the immoral and sinful activities are committed by the non-Muslims on a widespread basis, then the man-formulated laws must be reviewed to stop these by following as closely as possible the hudud law, to ensure the whole nation is spared from God’s severe punishment.
Issue of four witnesses
The need to have four witnesses is important under the hudud law to ensure that there is truth in the accusation to ensure justice.
The requirement of four witnesses forms the core evidence.
No doubt the Quran mentions only the requirement of four genuine witnesses to the crime but, at the same time, it does not mention other forms of evidence, hence the reason why it is silent on the latter.
This does not mean that the Quran rejects other forms of evidence.
Among them is self-confession which is admissible as evidence based on cases during the times of the Caliphs.
This is strengthened by verses in the Holy Quran which say in the Day of Judgement, the human body parts will become witnesses to his crime when they will literally speak by the Will of the Almighty.
Hence if they can “speak” now by providing technical evidence by the Will of God too, then this should be accepted by the syariah courts, namely DNA and other forensic evidence.
Hence the claim by some law experts that the difficulty to get four witnesses to a crime will encourage Muslims to commit more crime is not true.
Punishment carried out in public
The failure of the man-formulated criminal law to stop crime despite increasing the penalty is because the punishment is carried out away from public view.
Criminals or would-be criminals don’t see the punishment for themselves and hence would not feel afraid to continue committing more offences .
Islam teaches forgiveness
Under the syariah law , the punishment is carried out in public. This will instil fear into would-be criminals or those on the loose, to think hard if they wish to continue with the “profession”.
Remorse and forgiveness
Islamic teaching prefers forgiveness to retaliation wherever possible. Hence in genuine cases where the offender regrets his action and asks for forgiveness, such acts may be acceptable to the syariah courts depending on the nature of each case.
Social and economic factors
Other factors that also contribute to the immoral and sinful acts in our society are poverty and too much social freedom.
These issues should be addressed by the government and the Islamic authorities, before our society loses its’ direction, respect, dignity and the likes.
If these persist , God will send other harrowing punishments upon us in the form of contagious diseases such as AIDS and other viruses .
As this commentary touches on the teachings of Islam, I hereby categorically state that the above is my personal opinion which may or may not be correct. Only God knows the truth.
Awang Abdillah is a political observer and a veteran writer in Sarawak. He is an FMT columnist.
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