I just want to remind Malaysians in general and politicians in particular that hudud is not game. So please stop flirting around with it. It is just like the lyrics in ‘Hotel California’ - they welcome you in, promising you a lovely place but you can never leave. So please think.

Where have all the education, intelligence, knowledge and experience of the world gone? Are we blind or are we hypocritical? There is no heaven or perfect system on earth. Anyone who believes there is one is delusional.

Our present criminal system is also not perfect but at the very least there are rudimentary due processes and rules of natural justice put in place to ensure minimal fairness and justice to both the perpetrators and the victims of crimes. What processes do hudud have? Did God set the processes or were they just whims and fancies of humans as well?  

I just read the interviews given by Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, the deputy MB of Kelantan. He said hudud was to “guide” the Kelantanese back “on the right path” . First, what is the right path? How long has PAS ruled Kelantan? How come the party, despite its Islamic emphasis and credential, was not able to bring an iota of difference to the state when compared with other states in Malaysia?

Now, after more than two decades of total failure, they suddenly want to bring in the hudud to “save” the state and its people.

It is so easy for him to say the income gap does not affect the implementation of hudud. But I just want to remind him that the implementation of hudud will be carried out by human, not God. Right now, those who steal a tin of milk could land themselves six months in jail while those who steal millions are still having holidays with their mistresses abroad. With hudud, it would still be the same, except this time the poor will lose their limbs faster than the rich.  

I do not need empirical evidence to support my argument, just like he too has no empirical evidence to suggest that hudud would be equitably applied. Frankly I am beginning to doubt the intelligence to this deputy menteri besar when he can’t even differentiate between lopping off limbs to save a life and lobbing off limbs as a form of punishment.   

I also have some strong words for Anwar Ibrahim. According to him, the problem with hudud is lack of enforcement power by the state and the need to amend the constitution. May I remind him that the problem with hudud is not whether the state government has the power to enforce the Islamic law or not. It is also not about who is going to make the arrest or who is going to carry out the punishment.

Please don’t divert the attention toward the wrong direction. If they have no power, they can always empower; if they have no one to arrest and carry out the punishment, they can always find someone.  

Dear Anwar, the problem with hudud is about its suitability and applicability in our society and in our time because these laws will be interpreted and carried out by fallen men and women.  That is why I am urging our politicians not to play game with our life.  This issue is too important for us to be vague and to play to the gallery.

We must decide how we want to live our lives

Hudud is too important for politicians and political parties to indulge in “agreeing to disagree”. We, as a nation, must decide how we want to live our lives. We can’t have a situation where hudud could emerge anytime basing on some political expediency or depending whoever who have the power to do it. We can’t constantly live under a condition where the will of some people is imposed on others in the name of divinity.

Please look at some countries when absolute authority is imposed based on religion. I can tell you this: it has very little to do with religion but everything to do with dictatorial power, absolute control and subjugation of their people.    

How can we ever trust PAS to introduce and uphold hudud when the party is in constant disarray? Does the party really know and understand what it is doing? If the party is not even sure whether it is the central committee or the unelected council with its president that is in control of the party, how then can we ever trust them with hudud?   

Are we nuts to trust the future of this country and our way of life to this group of very confused people? Who shall ultimately be responsible if someone’s limb was chopped off for a tin of milk?

I hope they will not say it is God’s will just like Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (the MP of Pasir Mas) has blamed the flood on God’s wrath because according to him that was the sign that hudud agenda must go on. I wonder who would he blame when Malaysia lost two Boeing 777s within the span of four months.

Yes, for the faithful, we must pray to seek God’s blessing and guidance. At the same time, god has given us the resources and the intelligence to manage these resources. Have we been good stewards? And stewardship is not just about hudud, religiosity or whether we should have two separate lines in the supermarket checkout counters.