Brunei, Malaysia and the hudud brouhaha

So the Nation of Brunei wants to implement shariah. It shouldn't be a problem. It is a declared Islamic state, so they should be allowed to practise shariah.

I don't have a problem with that.

Just like how I wouldn't have a problem if Malaysia were to implement shariah. I'm a Muslim and I believe that it is a just system, if interpreted properly.

But I do have a problem with the different hudud punishments that will be meted out on offenders under the law that will be implemented in Brunei.

And these same kinds of punishments are also going to be meted out in Malaysia if shariah is to be implemented in our country.

Don't pretend to not know what the punishments are.

It involves the severing and dismembering of limbs depending on the kind of crime you commit. Stoning to death is also on the list.

For someone who is even against capital punishment and the death sentence, I just can't accept these kinds of punishments. Not in this day and age.

These days, the study of psychology and sociology means we understand human behaviour much better and we know that rehabilitation is how you fix social ills and crime.

So I think these punishments are just barbaric and they suit a time like the middle ages – maybe around the 7th or 8th centuries during the Islamic Umayyad and Abbasid Empires.

Hey! Wait a minute! That is exactly the time when these severing of limbs and stoning to death kinds of punishments were implemented.

It was a time when the educational level of the society was so low and a majority of people were illiterate.

It was a time when rehabilitation wouldn't have been a good deterrent for crime.

So the best way to get people not to commit crimes was to enforce a kind of punishment that would scare the bejesus out of them (oh... did I just type out the word bejesus?).

I have pointed out in my previous writings that hudud punishments are all considered fiqh, or jurisprudence, where it is just the opinions and conclusions of jurists of that time.

You would be surprised or shocked to learn that hudud punishment itself is never mentioned in the Quran at all.

It is just interpretation based on ijtihad (reasoning) and qiyas (analogy).

Since Islam is a religion for all time, we are encouraged to think and create opportunities for discourse in order to develop the practice of the religion.

We think and adapt based on the progress today's human society has made and achieved. And from that, our understanding and practice of Islam progresses as well.

So, to Brunei, I commend you for attempting to implement shariah.

But I have to say, more thought needs to go into it to see if it is suitable for the society.

To Malaysians who are adamant about implementing shariah here, by all means keep your stand.

But the same advice goes. Look at our society and put more thought into it as well.

Remember, there can never be compulsion in Islam.

And if anything is to be decided when it comes to governance, Islam requires shura (consultation of the people) and khilafat (free choice of the people). – May 9, 2014.