The group of 25 prominent Malay civil servants has urged Putrajaya to uphold the Federal Constitution and prevent the implementation of hudud law.

In a press release today, the group said that Malaysia has chosen the path of moderation since Independence and the Putrajaya has been steering the country along this path.

"The imposition of PAS' hudud laws will signify to the world that Malaysia has abandoned the moderate path.

"We will be seen as a country governed by religious laws which are subjected to the vagaries of interpretation of the ulama who are also fallible human beings," said the group.

Citing respected Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi, who is chairperson of the World Union of Muslim Scholars, who had said the application of Syariah must be governed by Ijtihad or creative thought, to determine how it would be enforced today as it would not be helpful to take rulings from ancient texts and apply them in totality to modern societies.

‘Have all conditions been met?’

The G25 group further said the problem which Sheikh Qaradawi noted is that hudud is being enforced before the conditions for its application are met and these includes:-

  • Establish true Islam where society is pious and God-fearing;
  • Ensure the economic needs of the people are met;
  • Provide employment opportunities for all; and
  • Reduce the income gap and ensure there is no poverty.
In light of the above elucidation by Sheikh Qaradawi, ( left ) they further posed whether any state in Malaysia can claim to have satisfied the preconditions in order to allow for the implementation of hudud?

“Bearing in mind the injunction for Muslims to be the best and moderate community or khaira ummatin-ummatan wasatan and recognising that there is a diversity of juristic interpretations or iktilaf concerning hudud laws as part of Shariah laws, we have concerns as to whether the Kelantan hudud law, namely, the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (11) Enactment, 1993, amended (2015), will succeed in upholding justice as enjoined in the Quran,” they warned.

The controversia hudud law was unanimously passed by the Kelantan state legislative assembly last week.

The G25 further cited an analysis by Professor Hashim Kamali, an eminent Islamic scholar who currently heads the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies ( IAIS ), who concluded that the hudud law “has failed to be reflective either of the balanced outlook of the Quran or of the social conditions and realities of contemporary Malaysian society”.

Hashim further added that the bill exhibited no attempt to exercise Ijtihad over new issues such that would fulfil the ideals of justice and to encourage the development of a judicious social policy.

Other religios scholars the G25 group cited had also opined that a Hadith (sayings of the prophet) as recorded in Sahih Al-Bukhari, and which is also a legal maxim, provides that hudud must be suspended in doubtful situations.

The group further questioned the necessity of implementing hudud in a multiracial and multi-religious society like Malaysia.

“In 1957 the Conference of Rulers, the government of the Federation of Malaya, comprising Umno, the MCA and MIC, and the British government agreed to the enactment of the federal constitution of Malaya on the basis of the recommendations of the Reid Commission.

“Article 4 provides that the constitution is the supreme law of the federation and any law passed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with the constitution shall to the extent of the inconsistency, be void. In addition, in July 1963, the Malaysia Agreement pertaining to the formation of Malaysia was concluded between the United Kingdom and the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore.

Prior to the signing of the Malaysia Agreement, the group said Sabah and Sarawak had negotiated a 20 Point Agreement and an 18 Point Agreement respectively.

For Sabah the first point states “while there is no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia, there should be no state religion in Sabah, and the provisions relating to Islam in the present constitution of Malaya should not apply to Sabah.

Similarly, Sarawak’s 18 Point Agreement stressed that “everyone shall be entitled to worship as he pleases”.

Hence, they further emphasised that any attempt to amend the federal constitution to pave the way for the implementation of hudud would be a clear violation of the agreement reached between the members of the Alliance party in 1957 and the agreements in1963, with Sabah and Sarawak.

“We would strongly urge Parliament not to abandon the fundamental provisions of the federal constitution to enable the implementation of PAS’ hudud law.”

“A multiracial country with an open economy like Malaysia cannot afford to alter the secular character of its constitution to allow for the implementation of PAS’ hudud enactment,” they said.

In light of the above, the G25 urges the government to take a strong stand to protect the federal constitution as the supreme law of the land.