Zaid recalls challenging hudud in Court

Nothing has changed since hudud was taken to Court in 1993. No basis in law and Islam for hudud in Kelantan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim says that nothing has changed since he was involved in challenging the hudud provisions of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 1993 in the Federal Court.

That challenge in the Federal Court was 14 years ago.

“The narratives Islam (at least, not all of them) need not be made into law because, today, human societies have evolved and new means of punishment have been put in place,” said Zaid in his latest blog posting.

“We in Malaysia must govern ourselves by the rules and norms of the 21st century.”

Why is it so difficult for 21st century Muslims in this almost-developed country to see this?

“When it comes to the implementation of hudud, you tend to hear absolute silence from Muslims who oppose it,” said Zaid. “It’s as if they have no answers to the trickery of those in Kelantan who are bent, for the sake of politics, on turning hudud into the law of the land.”

Back then, in 1993, many Muslims disagreed with hudud but were fearful of opposing it, noted Zaid.

“Some asked me how I could challenge God’s law. They didn’t seem to see the difference between what was contained in the Holy Qur’an and the Kelantan Enactment, which was a law made by some PAS leaders, not God.”

The Kelantan Enactment involved man-made law, alleged Zaid, as does the current controversy.

Why are Muslims paralyzed when dealing with the tricks of PAS?

Of course the Qur’an makes reference to hudud as punishment for certain crimes, but the Qur’an also contains many other things such as historical narratives and stories relevant to the time when it was revealed, he added. “It also contains eternal truths to guide mankind in this life and the Hereafter.”

“As such, we have to use our heads and our brains, which have been given to us by Allah, to decipher and use the messages properly.”

For example, he pointed out, if you read Surah Al Anfal, you will discover how you should share in the spoils of war. After the Battle of Badr, Muslim soldiers were fighting among themselves over what to do with the gains they had obtained.

So came down the Message from Allah:

“They ask you about the spoils of war. Say: the spoils of war are for Allah and the Messenger” (verse 1).

The Holy Prophet then divided the war spoils equally.

“Now, if today we were to win a war against a foreign country, any spoils of war would no longer be divided the way Muslims did after the Battle of Badr,” said Zaid.

“We would have to obey the rules of international law and must observe the Geneva Conventions.”

As for cutting off hands, said Zaid, this practice was common for certain offences in the desert of Arabia in those days, just as it was common to kill new-born baby girls.

“It is a practice that predates Islam; it does not mean that if you cut off somebody’s hand for stealing (or stone them for adultery, etc) you are Islamic, because the Arabs in the Age of Jahiliyyah were also doing it,” said Zaid.

Personal guide and not as a basis for criminal law.

He cites another example of pre-Islamic practice:

Blood money or diyya — where you can compensate the relatives of someone you have killed — was common practice too. These were the rules of the desert millennia ago and there were reasons for their existence: there was no police force to maintain order, no court system, no international system, no human rights and so forth.

“The need for harsh punishment was perhaps necessary as a deterrent and the Qur’an would have been incomplete if it failed to mention them,” said Zaid. “The Qur’an also mentions — many times and in many places — about the need to be just, wise and to use one’s head.”

Then we have the long chapter of Surah Yusuf, said Zaid.

It’s a story given by Allah to the Messenger that starts with Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) dreaming of eleven stars, the sun and the moon (verse 4).

His father Ya’qub (Jacob) orders Yusuf to hide his dreams — but Yusuf’s brothers, driven by jealousy, try to kill him.

The surah also tells of how Yusuf resisted the advances of a married woman. This clearly serves as a personal guide and not as a basis for criminal law, stressed Zaid.