RESPONSE FROM KOON YEW YIN

I challenge any Muslim to declare that he or she does not believe that the Sharia is compulsory upon Muslims and that Hudud is not part of the Sharia. Any Muslim who dares do that would bekufur and that would mean he or she is a kafir or infidel.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Dear Raja Petra,

I thank you for doing me the honour of commenting on my recent post, “PAS moderates: break away now, not later“.

In my post, I did not mention the Qur’an in any way.

Both the title of your post in English and Malay are misleading and should be corrected.

As for the substance of your post, please note too that I have not suggested or implied that Muslims should reject the Qur’an. That interpretation is yours alone.

What I have written is as follows:

Hence their goal is of a moderate Islam which upholds Islamic justice and is consonant with other universal systems and values. Such a value system does not include hudud in its priorities. But this does not mean that they are less Islamic. It is just a recognition that there are many other more important issues and problems that the Islamic world needs to focus on, and not just the imposition of a religious system of criminal justice.

I hope you can make the necessary correction as soon as possible to both Malay and English versions. You may note that the correction has been made in response to my request

Best wishes,

Koon Yew Yin

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Dear Koon Yew Yin,

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, in advising PAS members as to what they should do, you have ignored chapter six, verses 114 and 115 of the Qur’an, which goes as follows:

Shall I seek other than God as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed? Those who received the scripture recognise that it has been revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbour any doubt. The word of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His words. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.

Hence you have erred in advising PAS members to abandon or abrogate the Qur’an in favour of other systems and values. The Qur’an very clearly states that God is the source of law, nothing should override this, and this is what PAS is upholding.

To advise Muslims to ignore this decree from God is akin to you trying to tell Christians that Jesus is not the Son of God whereas some Christians believe he is. Jesus being the Son of God is Christian doctrine as much as God is the source of laws the Islamic doctrine.

You are straying into very dangerous ground in dabbling with doctrine that is dear to the hearts of Muslims.

I challenge any Muslim to declare that he or she does not believe that the Sharia is compulsory upon Muslims and that Hudud is not part of the Sharia. Any Muslim who dares do that would be kufur and that would mean he or she is a kafir or infidel.

You have further suggested that those PAS members who wish to ignore the decree that God is a source of law should leave the party and for PasMa to team up with Pakatan Rakyat while PAS ‘Lama’ should go and join Umno in Barisan Nasional.

And this is what you said:

For this to happen, the following political scenario needs to take place.

- The Pas moderate and progressive faction will have to stand its ground on the hudud bill currently being tabled which Umno members are supporting. It also has to make its stand clear in the coming party elections.

- PasMa should focus on improving ties with its PR partners, and together with PAS professionals must lead those opposed to the bill and Hadi Awang’s hard line pro-hudud leadership to break away from the party if the bill goes through.

- The break away PAS grouping of moderates should join Pakatan as a new member, replacing PAS Lama which is likely to join Umno ahead of the coming general elections. This will mean that the opposition coalition will remain intact in terms of its three major component parties and be freed from the burden of supporting the hudud bill which will kill off Pakatan’s non-Malay as well as Malay votes should it see the light of day.

Should this scenario become reality, I am confident that the PR coalition with PAS Baru can win the next elections.

I suggest non-Muslims should stop trying to tell Muslims how to practice Islam. Let the Muslims sort this matter out amongst themselves. After all, Muslims do not tell Christians, Hindus and Buddhists what they should and should not believe and practice. So why are you trying to teach Muslims how the Qur’an should be interpreted?