The Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association (PPMM) today questioned the legality of the Pahang sultan's decision to commute Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno's caning sentence.

"PPMM... is concerned that the order was not legal, because though the sultan is the head of religion, the sultan must defend religious laws and strengthen the syariah courts.

"The rights and powers of the head of religion must be exercised according to religious laws," said PPMM secretary-general Abdul Halim Bahari in a statement yesterday.

PPMM said that in this case, Islamic laws dictate that Muslims found guilty of consuming alcohol must serve a whipping sentence.

Thus, the group was unsure which legal provision was applied by the sultan to commute the sentence.

The association added that such a decision can only be done on advice of the state mufti.

In addition, PPMM points out that the sultan's decision completely disregarded the wishes of Kartika, who wanted the caning sentence as soon as possible.

Humans cannot go against Allah's laws

According to the statement, a whipping sentence was not cruel because it is conducted differently from a whipping sentence defined by civil law, which is aimed at hurting offenders.

"A syariah whipping leans towards educating offenders, much like how a father educates his child," said Abdul Halim.

The group also took a swipe at cabinet ministers, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and certain NGOs for criticising the whipping sentence and thus neglecting Islamic laws just to seek political mileage.

“Every law determined by Allah has its philosophy and sometimes defies human logic. Therefore we cannot use thinking alone to go against what Allah has decided,” he said.

Kartika was informed yesterday that the sentence was commuted to three weeks of community service at the Tengku Ampuan Fatimah orphanage in Kuantan.

She was suppose to have been caned six times, as part of the punishment meted by the Kuantan Syariah Court in July last year.

Her sentence was suppose to be carried out in August last year but following public outcry, it was postponed until today.