I applaud Ivy Josiah, president of Women's Aid Organisation, for her very astute observation and succinct statement in malaysiakini 's article Women's group warn hudud law 'a leap backwards' , that PAS has always been very visible in its misogynist and cruel interpretation of laws and that the present Islamic laws implemented by a government declaring itself liberal and just, are also in dire need of a review.

PAS' proposed law of requiring a rape victim to produce four Muslim male witnesses, failing which she could face a punishment of 80 strokes and be charged with adultery, not only confounds the heart and mind but more importantly, demonstrates beyond doubt the cruel heart and unsound mind of its proponents and supporters in their pursuit for political power.

As in the words of Zainah Anwar of Sisters in Islam and many others, "Where will you find four men of good character to witness a rape without attempting to aid the victim? Men and women who watch a crime without attempting to aid the victims should be charged in court for being abettors to a crime.

As for the ruling government which declares itself liberal and just, the embarrassingly high number of Muslim women being left in a limbo year after year, sometimes extending to 15 years to be granted divorces, is also highly cruel and most unusual for Islam.

For fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases such as Aids, many Muslim women who have been repeatedly denied divorces from the Syariah courts flee their homes for fear of forcible sex by philandering husbands who seek the services of prostitutes and other sexually active women who have multiple partners.

Violent and emotionally abusive husbands are further encouraged to mete out injustices to Muslim women by the very denial of divorce or the prolonged divorce period by Islamic institutions.

Such unjust laws do not represent strict interpretations of Islamic laws; on the contrary, they represent the spirit of the Jahiliyah period (pagan) which Islam actively sought to eradicate. The spirit of the Jahiliyah period, frequently identified with female infanticide, symbolises the height of barbarism towards women and female children which has crept into our Syariah courts and Islamic religious departments for a while now.

To add insult to injury, women in their dealings with these so-called Islamic institutions are very often insulted, berated, and humiliated by both misogynist male and female staff members.

To prove its sincerity, it is high time the government revamped these institutions whose staff are not only famed for their frequent disparaging remarks against women but also for repeatedly shifting the dates (even Deepavali day!) of hearing divorce cases in favour of Muslim men who normally do not bother to turn up for hearings in order to frustrate the women.

Syariah judges, lawyers, and mufti (state religious advisors) who are incompetent or make disparaging remarks about women need to be either sacked or retrenched as they are seriously damaging the image of the religion in the eyes of Muslims and non-Muslims.

If the government wants to be taken seriously by half the Malaysian population who are women and whose numbers as voters are rising, then it must take immediate concrete measures to curb and remedy the prevailing injustices meted to women by Malaysian Islamic institutions.

The Conference of Malay Rulers needs also to do its part by supporting the government to ban the use of "Islam" as a name for political parties since we have all witnessed how a peaceful religion like Islam is distorted and exploited to the maximum for purely secular ambitions.