Hudud

Hudud or its implementation is once again making the rounds, thanks to the announcements by some PAS leaders. Sometimes I wonder if those who make all sorts of declarations have considered the possibility that the results of the March 2008 elections were not the result of the Rakyat’s new found love for their party, but brought about by the public outrage against perceived corruption, abuse of power and other what-not’s of the ruling establishment.

As a Muslim, I welcome Syariah to be the supreme law of the land. If I did not wish it I would probably cease being Muslim.

Before we begin, we must first understand the assumptions of Islam and the basic tenets of the religion. The meaning of the word 'Islam' is "submission or surrender to Allah's will." Therefore, Muslims must first and foremost obey and submit to Allah's will. The Holy Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was given the Quran to guide mankind to follow and implement His (Allah’s) will. In Islam, law and religion are one, i.e. there is no separation between ‘Church’ and ‘State’.

The Quran gives specific rules only on a limited number of cases. In most instances the guidelines are very general. We do have access to authentic sayings and traditions of the prophet (pbuh) (sahih hadith and sunnah) to fill in many gaps, but even so there is a large area where we are free to make our own choices.

The problem is not in Syariah or Hudud itself, but in the interpretation and implementation of these laws. Even where the dictates of the Quran are specific, people have given differing opinions as to its meaning – Arabic being such a language, words can have multiple meanings. What more with all the rest.

Therefore if and when we implement Syariah and Hudud in Malaysia, whose interpretation will we be implementing?


Click here for an interesting article “Islamic Law – Myths & Realities”