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Saturday, March 28, 2015

Allowing hudud in Malaysia a betrayal of our trust, Sabah churches say

Churches in Sabah have expressed concern over the attempt to implement hudud law in Kelantan, calling the move a betrayal of trust. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, March 27, 2015.Churches in Sabah have expressed concern over the attempt to implement hudud law in Kelantan, calling the move a betrayal of trust. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, March 27, 2015.
Allowing hudud to be implemented in Malaysia is a betrayal of the trust placed by Sabah’s forefathers in a nation that was meant to be secular, the Sabah Council of Churches said today in response to Kelantan's attempt to enforce the Islamic penal code.
Its president Reverend Datuk Jerry Dusing said it was based on assurances that Malaysia would be a secular nation that Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore had agreed to form the new country in 1963 together with Malaya.
He cited the Commission of Enquiry on North Borneo and Sarawak on June 21, 1962, which said that members of the commission “agreed that Islam should be the national religion for the federation” and that they were “satisfied that the proposal in no way jeopardises freedom of religion in the federation, which in effect would be secular”.
Before the commission's report, the Memorandum on Malaysia dated February 3 the same year stated that the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee, which comprised of delegations from Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya, had also expressed a similar view on the position of Islam in the new Federation of Malaysia.
It stated: "The committee directed a great deal of its attention to the question of Islam as the religion of the federation. It is satisfied that the acceptance of Islam as the religion of the federation would not endanger religious freedom within Malaysia nor will it make Malaysia a state less secular".
Dusing said the views expressed in both the report and the memorandum were consistent with the earlier views expressed on Article 3 of the Malayan Constitution.
Article 3 states that "There has been included in the proposed Federal Constitution that Islam is the religion of the federation. This will no way affect the present position of the federation as a secular state…”
He also quoted Tunku Abdul Rahman, who said on May 1, 1958: "I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic state as it is generally understood, we merely provided that Islam shall be the official religion of the state."
Dusing said these were proof of the true aspirations and intent that Malaysia as a federation of states would remain secular, as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.
"It was based on such assurances that our forefathers from both sides of the South China Sea came together to form this new nation of Malaysia, and thus they form the very foundation of our trust in and bond with our fellow Malaysians. 
Dusing said the churches were not making any political or legal debates, but wanted to emphasise that the Federation of Malaysia, at her inception, was first and foremost a multi-religious and pluralistic society with a rich variety of cultures and beliefs.
This, he said, was most clearly demonstrated in the mix of cultures, tribes and peoples in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. 
"As Malaysians living in this multi-religious and multi-cultural country, it is our common duty to defend, and not to undermine, the very foundation of our beloved country, this blessed land in which we have come to appreciate and respect the beauty of each others’ religions, faiths, and cultures.
"The Sabah Council of Churches urges and calls upon all patriotic Malaysians, irrespective of religious persuasions and including the Kelantan state government, to honour and defend the original intention of our founding fathers, and to strengthen the foundation of our federation, and above all to focus and build on what unites us, rather than what divides us," he said.
Dusing said the Sabah churches acknowledged the aspirations of some Muslims who considered the implementation of hudud law a divine duty.
But he noted that even Muslims themselves differed over what hudud involved and how it should be implemented.
"There appears to be a divergence of opinion among our Muslim brothers and sisters on the proper interpretations of hudud laws, on whether such implementation is a religious imperative and if so, on the manner of its implementation.
“Given the severity of the corporal punishments provided under recent Kelantan’s hudud enactment, it has inevitably generated much controversy,” he said, highlighting legal difficulties that could come from the conflict of laws, double jeopardy, qualifications of witnesses, federal versus state jurisdiction over criminal laws and others.
Dusing added that although hudud was presently stated to be only applicable to the Muslims, the churches felt that they were bound by duty to express the deep concerns and anxieties of the Christian community in Sabah, where Sabahans had in recent years already struggled to navigate the ambiguous and uncertain state of the law on religious freedom.
The amendments to the Shariah Criminal Code II Enactment 1993 were passed by the Kelantan legislative assembly on March 19. PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has given notice to Parliament of his intention to table a private members’ bill to amend a federal law that will allow hudud to be implemented in Kelantan.
- TMI

1 comment:

  1. "Allowing hudud in Malaysia a betrayal of our trust, Sabah churches say"

    Just to share this...

    Sunday September 25, 2011 - http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?sec=nation&file=%2F2011%2F9%2F25%2Fnation%2F9571868

    You be the judge.

    ReplyDelete

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