This is to add to what Zaitun Kasim said in Why hudud is feared

One of hudud 's chief focus is to proscribe all sex outside marriage as illicit and unlawful. So much so that the prevention of illicit sex is more important than prevention or punishment of rape.

By virtue of this, hudud imposes the stringent burden of proof to establish rape as that requiring four Muslim male witnesses of standing and credibility.

This is to prevent women from crying rape as defence, whenever caught for immoral sexual behavioral and illicit sex. This is overkill.

The reason why sexual propriety is demanded more of women is the implicit "elevation" of women to position as gatekeepers of morality to restrain men's sexual laxity. This is why women need to veil up with purdah (garment that covers the body from head to toe, leaving open only the eyes). The justification is that women do not need beauty to commend themselves. They only need moral and intellectual character. This 'justification' is intended to appease feminists' objections but it actually does not.

Modern women do not feel it equal that under the patriarchal value system underpinning hudud , they alone bear the cross of maintaining conservative sexual mores for both sexes and the society as a whole against the natural biological imperative of sex, and that they alone predominantly are punished for infractions.

This leads to women being punished when they are victimised by rape since hudud is more emphatic on preventing illicit sex than punishing rapists on the assumption that rape can be used as a convenient defence by the women against illicit sex.

This is why it is necessary for Itihad — a re-interpretation of traditional 14th century Islamic beliefs — to adapt with modern, Western notions regarding issues like gender equality for the religion to remain relevant.

The problem with PAS is that its 'purist' ideology is more akin to strict Wahhabism.

The father of Wahhibism was Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792), the first modern Islamic fundamentalist, strongly influenced by the works of Ibn Taimiya. He made the central point of his reform movement the idea that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era (about 950 CE) was false heretical innovations or bida , and should therefore be eliminated.

Abd al-Wahhab was further alarmed that bida caused rampant laxity in adhering to traditional Islamic laws. He thought it would result in indifference to the plight of widows and orphans, adultery, lack of attention to obligatory prayers, and failure to allocate inheritance fairly to women etc.

All of the above, Abd al-Wahhab would characterise as being typical of jahiliyya , meaning a state of barbarism and ignorance, which preceded the coming of Islam. By doing so, he identified himself with the Prophet Muhammad, and at the same time connected his contemporary society with the sort of thing the Prophet worked to overthrow in his time.

Abd al-Wahhab therefore accused contemporary Muslims adopting modern values and approach as living in jahiliyya , and hence not really being Muslims at all. According to him, only Muslims who followed the teachings of al-Wahhab were still truly Muslims following the path laid out by Allah.

Hence Wahhibism by which PAS' ideology is based, opposes reinterpretation of traditional Islamic law and any attempt to reconcile traditional Islam with modern and Western notions on gender, family, and religious rights. This is also the reason why PAS is in conflict with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's "modern and moderate" approach to Islam.

Your readers should be aware that Wahhabism today is the dominant Islamic tradition on the Arabian Peninsula and is influential for many extremist movements in the Middle East. Osama bin Laden came from Saudi Arabia, and is/was Wahhabi himself, with radical ideas of purity being obviously derived from Wahhibi thought. After 9-11, PAS' recalcitrant adherence to Wahhibis philosophy will not earn it any currency of credibility.