'Muslim surgeons cannot perform hudud amputations'

Surgeons cannot perform amputations under hudud as such punishments must be meted out without anaesthesia, the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (Imam) said today.

In a statement to Malaysiakini, Imam president Dr Abdul Rahim Mohamad (right)said that conducting amputations without anaesthesia goes against the oath of the Muslim physician.

"Doctors, who amputate gangrenous limbs, do so under anaesthesia, so as not to cause pain.

"The moral of punishment for hudud is to inflict pain, fear, remorse and repentance on the convicted as a lesson not to repeat the crime and the public execution is a strong deterrent to similar and future criminal acts.

"This, undertaking such amputations under anaesthesia, defeats the underlying principle of hudud," Abdul Rahim said.

However, he acknowledged that there are contentions between schools of thought on the role of a physician in the meting out hudud punishments, and said this was open to discussion.

'Have professional Hudud executioners'

 

Abdul Rahim added that Imam believes that professional personnel should be appointed specifically to mete out Hudud punishments. 

 

This would be the same as the role of the executioner of death or amputation sentences, as per other corporal or capital punishments.

 

He said that in Malaysia, the presence of doctors during hangings are merely to certify death. Doctors are also present during whippings to determine whether the convict is capable of continuing with the process.

 

He added that in Muslim countries that practice hudud, doctors are mandated to be present during the punishment to certify death in beheadings and to arrest bleeding and preserve life in amputations.

 

Abdul Rahim also criticised Malaysian Medical Association president Dr NKS Tharmaseelan who warned doctors that those who assisted in hudud amputations could be taken off the medical registry for the going against the Hippocractic oath.

 

Tharmaseelan said all doctors and nurses come under the purview of the Health Ministry and need not take orders from the Kelantan government, who proposed the plan for surgeon-assisted hudud.

 

He was also reported to have told a press conference that Kelantan could use the services of others, including butchers, to conduct amputations if a doctor cannot do it. 

 

"This shameful and reprehensive behaviour is most unbecoming of the president of the Malaysian Medical Association," Abdul Rahim said, urging for more decorum.

 

Abdul Rahim also urged critics to understand the complexity of the hudud and the heavy burden of proof required.

 

"The process of conviction is both laborious and excessively stringent to ensure mercy, justice and communal benefits is always protected and preserved," he said.