Amendment to Act 355 has been given undue attention by the media. Perhaps because of this, many are hopping on the bandwagon to “seek” more information. Many more rest misinformed due to their sources of reference. Misinformation is only part of the problem. A bigger concern is the action of these misguided souls.
Many a times, some take to the media so as to give an impression that there is a very large voice against this amendment. This is done by suppressing the voices that support this amendment. Conversely, the opposing voices get louder and make unsubstantiated claims pertaining the Act.
Even when it has been reiterated many times over, that this bill is only for the Muslims, many insist otherwise. For me, it is simple, if you want to be a subject of the Syariah Courts, you can revert to Islam.
We have some exceptional characters going after the Muftis who support the amendment to this Act. Zaid Ibrahim even went on to refer to the mufti of Perak as “emotional and ignorant”. In other words, according to Zaid, an ignoramus qualifies as a Mufti. Maybe Zaid should apply for this position some time in the future.
Who knows, given his “knowledge” he might just qualify. Zaid said, that until the Act 355 has been read out, no one can be sure of its content. Let us make an effort to explain what is going on. Act 355 sets the ceiling punishments for crimes under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts.
The idea of amending this Act is to elevate this ceiling. The current ceiling is set at, RM 5,000 for fines, six whips, and 3 years imprisonment. The amendment is set to increase this limit. What will the new punishments be? It is yet to be disclosed.
The idea is to increase the ceiling of the punishments to suit todays developments. A fine of RM 5,000 is not significant enough for those involved in prostitution racketeering. This amount is not sufficient to serve as a deterrent. The last amendment was done in 1984. Back then, RM 5,000 would have made a big difference.
Punishments are meant to prevent crimes from happening in the first place. Zaid should understand that it is necessary to raise the level punishments under the Syariah Courts, because he is a lawyer. The new revised threshold however, is another topic altogether. When this amendment is passed, only then will the new set of penalties be discussed.
Without an approval to the amendment, the Act cannot change. Once the amendment has been approved only then can the new set of rules be brought in for the alteration to the Act. If you don’t open the box of chocolates you can never get to the chocolates. Only after you open the package can you choose the preferred flavour(s).
Apart from the Mufti of Perak, there are other Muftis that support the amendment to this Act. Many muftis have encouraged the Muslim members of parliament to support this Act. And then we have the ultra liberal Zairil Khir Johari from Penang who never fails to amaze.
He calls himself a Muslim but is a staunch opponent of anything Islamic in nature. Maintaining his standpoint, Zairil is against the amendment. It does not suit a Muslim to go against a proposal for the betterment of Muslim society.
Zairil even mentioned his agreement with the Mufti of Penang. Apparently anything that is inline with his view is okay even though it comes from a mufti. Unlike Zairil Datuk Dr Wan Salim is not against the Amendment. Listening to the views of a mufti is kosher when it is in support of Zairil.
There is no room for self improvement in Zairil’s case. Anything that supports the movement is in, anything that does not is out. If you don’t support them, you are their enemy number one. In other words, Zairil and his team can never be corrected for what they do even if they are doing wrong. Such ego stemming from a so called representative of the populace.
There are many more muftis that support the amendment, but Zairil does not like their views. Zairil prefers his own views, probably because he thinks he knows more about Islam than the muftis. That said, we can see the effort to demean Islam and anything associated with Islam. The religious institutions got their share of insults, the muftis, JAKIM, and the rest will soon follow.
It is astounding to know that some people are willing to go lengths for their cause and some are just too plain lazy to speak up. I do not see any reason why someone would not support this amendment. Firstly it is only for Muslims and secondly it is a means to prevent. There was an incident where some drivers hogged the emergency lanes during a traffic jam, preventing an ambulance from passing and caused the death of a motorist.
Most if not all, suggested severe punishments for people of this nature. Some were angry where as some just wanted to prevent further misuse of emergency lanes. So when it comes to emergency lanes it is important to prevent. On the other hand when it comes to preventing Muslims from committing a crime, the answer is a no.
A double standards fallacy I must say. Whatever that brings benefit to the Muslims is a no no. Oppositely, it is okay to prevent other forms of crime by imposing harsh punishments. It is as though some people want to see the exploitation of Muslims in this country. People who run gambling dens, prostitution et cetera, need the Malays of this country to support their endeavours.
If a reason strong enough is present to prevent the Malays from approaching these vices, then many will lose their income. This fear of loosing income might just be keeping some from supporting this amendment. To date, no strong reason has been given for the prevention of this amendment.
There have been questions, but none that have not been answered. The rest are just rhetorics and fear-mongering tactics. Many excuses have been given to those who oppose. It seems like some people just can’t listen or read. Most if not all who oppose, just want to give out their opinion(s) without hearing the other side.
It is like, they just don’t want this act to be passed. No sane reason seems to be able to persuade them. Any conjecture in their favour is good enough for them to continue with their cause. Some people just can’t bear rational and logical thinking. Some can’t bear any form of thinking that is against their agenda.
Prevention is better than cure, one time, every time. Supporting the means to prevent vice can only bring good to society. Any effort to go against this amendment cannot be without a reason. The question is what is that reason? What stops people from supporting an amendment that can prevent crimes in the future?
Rehan Ahmad Bin Jamaluddin Ahmad
Research Fellow, Institut Kajian Strategik Islam Malaysia (IKSIM)
The liberals and non-Muslim enemy of Islam and their highly hypocritical mass media shamelessly speak with a forked tongue that:
(i) Act 355 Amendment can neither be passed nor implemented because the liberals and kafir harbi claim that Act 355 is not God’s law.
Fact: Hudud is God’s law but it is not the law of this country because highly hypocritical political leaders refuse to implement it so Muslims don’t have any alternatives but to support Act 355 Amendment to give more power to Shariah court so that it could function efficiently and effectively for the betterment of Muslims. Non-Muslim don’t have any rights to resist Act 355 Amendment because it doesn’t affect them at all.
Non-Muslims should learn to respect the right of Muslims as the majority in this country to implement Sharia law and the teachings of Islam. It seems to us that some non-Muslims are not democratic at all for trying to impose the will of the minority on Muslims while denying the right of the majority (Muslims) which means the non-Muslims never respect the principle of democracy !
(ii) Hudud is God’s law but the liberals and kafir harbi reject Hudud because they falsely allege that Hudud is not suitable for multicultural and multi-religious society. They also claim falsely that Hudud would deny religious freedom and oppress non-Muslims etc.
Fact: How can they make nonsensical and ridiculous allegations against Hudud without giving it a chance to be implemented in this country? The liberals and kafir harbi are highly hypocritical and schizophrenic because they are prejudging Hudud deceitfully to deceive naive and ignorant people into believing falsely that Hudud is cruel and unjust without giving Hudud a chance to be implemented in this country. That means the liberals and kafir harbi are demonizing and defaming Hudud based on fallacies not facts.
The undeniable fact is in the view of the Quran, justice is an obligation because Allah has said:
…And act justly. Truly, God loves those who are just. (Quran, 49:9)
(iii) And some desperate anti-Islam morons even resort to lies and deceits by claiming falsely that Hudud is not God’s law etc as a pretext to reject Hudud and deceive Muslims and non-Muslims.
Fact: Hudud is God’s law as prescribed by Al-Qur’an and Sunnah.
The anti-Islam morons are deluding themselves and naive and ignorant people. Their stupidity combined with arrogance and a huge ego will get them nowhere ! We Muslims are patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.