State government survey finds 90% in Kelantan want hudud

Panellists at the forum on hudud at Universiti Malaya, last night. A member of the joint hudud technical committee comprising Putrajaya and Kelantan state government claims an overwhelming majority of Kelantanese want hudud implemented. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Kamal Ariffin, April 2, 2015.

A survey by a state agency in Kelantan last year found that 91% of people in the state agreed to the implementation of Islamic capital punishments or hudud, a member of the state's hudud technical committee said.

Dr Azhar Abdullah, revealing for the first time figures to support claims that residents in the impoverished east coast state want hudud, also said that even if Kelantan gets parliamentary approval to enforce the Islamic penal code, it could only roll out punishments for three of the seven offences.

Speaking at a forum in Universiti Malaya last night on “Hudud in the Constitution and a plural society”, Azhar said 91.7% of 8,940 respondents supported Kelantan’s move to bring a bill to Parliament to allow the state to implement hudud.

The survey was conducted via text messages to more than 156,000 residents in 24 out of 45 state constituencies, and the results are published by a blog, said Azhar.

But the survey only received 9,654 replies, of which only 8,940 were accepted, said the blog post’s author, WaniBrah.

The survey was done between May 25 and 31, 2014, after the minister in charge of Islamic Affairs, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, told Kelantan that the federal government would support the state's efforts to enforce hudud.

“It was to gauge the level of support of the Kelantanese to the implementation of hudud,” said Azhar.

Two questions were sent out to different recipients in the survey.

The first was “After 20 years the Shariah Criminal Code (hudud) is going to become a reality. Agree/Disagree?” and was sent to 77,382 residents in 12 constituencies, receiving 5,395 replies, out of which 5,284 were accepted.

Dr Azhar Abdullah, a member of the joint hudud technical committee, says for now, only four offences under Shariah could be subjected to hudud laws. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Kamal Ariffin, April 2, 2015.The second batch of text messages was sent to 78,756 residents with the question: “To ensure that the Shariah Criminal Code (hudud) is implemented, it is necessary to work with the federal government. Agree/Disagree?”, receiving 4,259 replied, out of which 3,656 were accepted.

PAS holds 32 seats in the 45-seat state assembly. Hudud advocates in the state have said voters want hudud but have so far provided little details to back their claim.

Jamil’s pledge had opened up the possibility of Kelantan getting federal aid to actually enforce hudud, first introduced and passed in 1993, but which remained blocked by laws and provisions in the Constitution.

Among the obstacles are a federal law limiting the scope of punishments for Shariah offences and the Constitution's Ninth Schedule which puts the power to prosecute criminal offences under the federal government.

The proposed hudud law prescribes punishments for crimes such as theft, murder and assault, but since the offences are part of the existing Penal Code, the state law is said to violate the Ninth Schedule.

Following the worst floods to hit Kelantan recently, independent pollster Merdeka Centre's carried out a survey among 1,008 registered voters there between January 21 and 30 this year, and found that 81% of Malay-Muslim respondents preferred the government to focus on post-flood rebuilding rather than implementation of hudud.

Jamil’s positive response to PAS's hudud plan was followed by Putrajaya setting up a joint technical committee with Kelantan to oversee the implementation of hudud.

The outcome is an enactment to amend an earlier Shariah Code in 1993, which was unanimously passed by the Kelantan state assembly on March 18.

Following this, a private member's bill will be tabled in Parliament to amend the Shariah Courts Act 1965, which currently limits the scope of Shariah punishments to a maximum RM5,000 fine, three years imprisonment and six lashes of the rotan.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang intends to table this bill, to allow Kelantan to enforce hudud.

Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan questions the implementation of hudud at a time when the legal system is flawed, and whether only the poor would be brought to court. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Kamal Ariffin, April 2, 2015.Azhar said that if the bill passes, Kelantan could enforce offences for zina (adultery), shurb (consumption of alcohol), qazaf (false accusation adultery) and irtidad (apostasy) on Muslims.

“These offences are not in the Penal Code, so we won’t run foul of the Constitution,” said Azhar.

The four offences are already present in the individual Shariah Criminal Codes of other states and are allowed to be used on Muslims, but what sets the Kelantan law apart is the stiffer punishments (see graphics at bottom).

For instance, those guilty of shurb can be punished with 40 to 80 lashes, while other states can only sentence up to six lashes.

Azhar said that for now, offences for theft, assault and murder, which are in Kelantan’s hudud, would not be enforced.

“We will leave those to the Penal Code,” he added.

Another panellist at the forum, Shariah Law expert Dr Siti Zubaidah Ismail (pic, right) argued that realistically, Kelantan would only be able to enforce punishments for zina, shurb, qazaf and irtidad, if the bill passes.

“These offences are already prescribed for Muslims. They cannot be prescribed for non-Muslims,” said Siti Zubaidah, who heads Universiti Malaya’s Shariah law department.

Those offences are not likely to have non-Muslim victims, thus eliminating the possibility of them being caught under Shariah law, she said.

Also present at the forum were Umno Youth exco, Dr Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya, UM business and accountancy faculty head, Prof Mohd Nazari Ismail and former Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Ambiga questioned whether any state in Malaysia was ready to implement hudud given how weak the current judicial system is.

“Can you enforce hudud when the legal system is so flawed? Will the corrupt be prosecuted? Or will only the poor who get brought to court?”

There are views, however, that hudud is unlikely to see the light of day in Malaysia for now, since Hadi, as a member of the opposition, had tabled the private member's bill. Government business usually dictates Parliament's agenda, and such bills tabled by MPs from across the aisle have rarely been given priority.

Hadi's insistence on hudud, though, has caused a split in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, with DAP cutting its ties with the PAS president.

- TMI