'More than hudud in the picture for Muslims'

The continuing spat between PAS and Umno over the implementation of hudud law in Kelantan has prompted Penang PKR to point out that there are much bigger problems to address among the Muslim community.

Youth vice-chief Dr Afif Bahardin (left) said the community faces many serious issues such as poverty, social problems and lack of education among the youth, while there are concerns in marriage and the family institution to be addressed as well.

"These are the pertinent issues to be looked into, instead of arguing over the issue of hudud implementation at state level," Afif told Malaysiakini.

"What about the condition of Islamic colleges? Are they being run properly? Are the teaching staff well taken care of, for example, in terms of salary and welfare?

"It is more important to discuss these issues instead of just thinking of enforcement and punishment.”

Yesterday, PAS had asked BN's Ketereh MP Annuar Musa to walk the talk after he urged that hudud law be implemented in Kelantan.

Annuar, who was told to convince the federal government to allow for implementation, set the pre-condition that PAS must first convince PKR to accept hudud law.

Afif said the implementation of hudud law is a complex exercise which would first require extensive consultation with all communities, especially the Malays.

Hudud is a small section of Islamic jurisprudence, said Afif, adding that questions abound as to how the laws would be enforced and who the enforcers should be.

"So it is better if PAS asks Umno whether it can bring up this issue for debate in Parliament ...  and see how much support PAS can get, especially from the Malay MPs," Afif suggested.

"There may be a demand from some Malays to implement hudud, but what do others think? Without public consultation, we would not know.”

Afif also pointed out that the enforcement of Islamic law is not consistent.

He gave the example of the Penang government's policy on smoke-free zones and the most recent proposal for this to be extended into the Unesco Heritage site.

"In Islam, it is wrong to smoke, just like it is wrong to drink or gamble. Why is there no law on this and no enforcement? Where is the implementation of the law according to Islam when it comes to smoking?" Afif posed.