COMMENT Many Muslims in Malaysia are reticent in opposing hudud given it is claimed to be a divine law, so one should not question it. On top of that, it is the ulama proposing it, and they are the ones whom we deem to be more learned and knowledgeable, so they definitely know better.                      

 

Muslims who question the hudud implementation in Kelantan are automatically labelled as working in cahoots with non-Muslims or are liberals seeking to free themselves from the dictates of the Quran and Hadith, what more, questioning those who claim they want to uphold the laws of Islam.

 

The question is: Is that really so? Are these Muslims really against hudud per se?

 

As for me, I truly believe that hudud, not the Kelantanese version, but the Islamic law as written in the sacred text, is meant to be a preventive law. That does not mean I am for the implementation of hudud in Kelantan.

 

And to make the Kelantanese leaders who are in favour of hudud understand, I have this marriage metaphor (for they love such metaphors):

 

Islam allows men to marry four, but only and only if one can be fair and provide for all equally. It does not mean any man claiming to be Muslim can marry four just like that. The same goes for hudud implementation.

 

Yes, we Muslims are to implement Islamic laws, but has the grounds been laid for it, and do you have the qualifications to implement it and is this actually hudud as claimed in the Quran and Hadith?

 

The question is its interpretation and implementation by the PAS ulama who do not have a record of being the right people to impose it.

 

Furthermore, in a state where PAS has failed to ensure social justice, where one can openly see the very poor living in what looks like cow sheds alongside with the very rich in glittering mansions.

 

At one point in time, PAS managed to gain the respect and admiration of non-Muslims with the humility and honesty of its leaders, who claimed nothing for themselves.

 

However, as time went by, some PAS leaders decided that they will flex their muscles and push hudud and anyone who questions it is deemed to be against God’s laws.

 

These leaders grew blind to the poverty and social illnesses in Kelantan and they grew deaf to the warning from the more grounded leaders in PAS, who kept saying it is not time yet to introduce hudud.

 

They forgot that top PAS leaders such as Yusof Rawa, Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Fadzil Noor put the people's welfare as their priority. Now however, Yusof Rawa and Fadzil Noor are no more and Nik Aziz is too frail.

 

In dire disrepair

 

Just take a drive around Kelantan, one will see the dire need for public facilities and cleanliness is most lacking.

 

Masjids and schools are still very much in need of repair. On top of that, even after 23 years, PAS has yet to do anything to mitigate floods which have ravaged the land for years, claiming lives and causing millions of ringgit of damage. 

 

Where Islam has told us to care for the environment and not destroy our land, it is most unfortunate that it is during PAS' time that hills have been flatten and forests disappeared amidst allegations of illegal logging.

 

Kelantan is perhaps the richest of Malaysian states with God-given abundance of oil as well as a loggers' heaven. It also has one of the most stunning coastlines and one of the most important borders of Malaysia.

 

Yet PAS government, with all their educated professionals, has done nothing to mine such benefits and return the profits to the people.

 

The state government tends to retort that Kelantanese are satisfied and happy with what they have.

 

Yes, Kelantanese may be satisfied and may not ask more, for most Kelantanese are simple people. But the government should not wait for the people to ask, it is their duty to give. It is the duty of the state to provide what the people need so that the people can perform better socially and economically.

 

Kelantanese are not stupid. Far from that. After all, many top businessmen and politicians in this country are from Kelantan. Many a time, the best students come from Kelantan and at the end of the day, those who cannot do much in Kelantan, venture elsewhere to make a living. Why does it have to be so?

 

For Muslims like me, hudud is secondary; bettering the life of the people is primary.

 

PAS must remember for a political party tasked to correct injustice and claims to champion Islam to produce a picture perfect state with all basic necessities of life provided for will be heralded by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

 

Basic necessities need not be only material such as water and electricity but also social measures that will ensure that there is no wide disparity between the rich and poor.

 

Women and children must be protected at all costs, and not made second-class citizens. Courts must be fair and the ulama must not have the upper hand over the rakyat. Then only, a political party that champions Islam will truly be hailed as one that implements Islam.

 

Preventive laws can wait, just as it has been for the past 23 years. Indeed, implementing hudud as the stairway to heaven for some PAS leaders might just create hell in what was once the Mecca of the east.

 

ZAKIAH KOYA is a member of Team Malaysiakini.