Tag: Sharia

Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association: Shariah Offenders Should Be Placed In Special Prisons

KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 ― Muslims convicted of Shariah offences should be placed in exclusive prisons instead of with inmates from the criminal system, said the Malaysian Association for Muslim Lawyers.

Its president, Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, argued that Shariah offences were largely victimless crimes and should not be treated similarly as those from the Penal Code.

“Most of these cases are behavioural in nature, it would be unfair for them to be placed in a civil prison with drug and rape offenders,” he was quoted as saying by the Berita Harian newspaper.

“They should be placed in a special prison that provides education and explanation on Islam to ensure rehabilitation”

He said this at a forum on efforts to increase punishments under the the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 yesterday.

He also denied the proposal would lead to hudud, the Islamic penal law, and argued that the higher punishments were prevent jurisdiction shopping.

“The criminals would definitely choose a court that gives a lesser sentence, hence where is the justice for the victims in the relevant cases,” Zainul said.

It is not clear what he based this argument upon, as there are currently no overlaps between Shariah offences that are religious in nature and crimes under the Penal Code.

However, such overlaps would exist if hudud is implemented in the country.

Parliament is due to debate PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private Bill to enhance Shariah punishments.

It proposes to allow Shariah courts to impose maximum penalties of up to 30 years’ jail, 100 strokes of the cane, and RM100,000 in fines.

The limits now are three years’ jail, six strokes, and RM5,000.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

March 20, 2017
Indonesian Man Caned In Aceh For Khalwat Offence Collapsed

BANDA ACEH: An Indonesian man collapsed while being publicly caned Monday for spending time with a woman who is not his wife in contravention of strict Islamic laws in a staunchly Muslim part of the country.

Herizal bin Yunus, 27, fainted after being caned eight times in front of a crowd in Aceh, the only province of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes sharia law.

Officials carried him off stage after he collapsed during the punishment outside a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, which was carried out by a religious official dressed in an all-encompassing, hooded cloak.

But once he came to, a doctor examined him and said he was in good health, and he was taken back up on stage to be flogged another 14 times. A local religious court had sentenced him to be caned a total of 22 times.

The man had broken Islamic laws that forbid people in Aceh from spending time in close proximity with members of the opposite sex who are not their husband or wife.

Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

March 1, 2017
Kelantan Galak Suami Berpoligami

KOTA BHARU: Kerajaan PAS Kelantan menggalakkan suami yang memenuhi syarat mengikut tuntutan Islam untuk berpoligami.

Bagaimanapun, Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Kebajikan negeri, Mumtaz Md Nawi, berkata bagi mereka yang tidak memenuhi syarat berpoligami, memadai seorang isteri bagi mengelakkan timbul masalah dalam keluarga.

Beliau berkata, dalam Islam matlamat perkahwinan itu untuk melahirkan zuriat yang berkualiti.

“Di Kelantan kita galakkan berkahwin sama ada perkahwinan itu yang pertama atau kedua bagi yang layak.

“Mereka yang memenuhi syarat (berpoligami) penting luahkan (keinginan) di Mahkamah Syariah dan jangan buat tindakan kahwin di luar negara, tidak mengikuti adab atau saluran yang betul.

“(Ini kerana) daripada perkahwinan akan ada zuriat. Jadi, kita tidak mahu anak atau isteri dinafikan hak mereka,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis sambutan Hari Orang Kelainan Upaya (OKU) Maqarrabun negeri Kelantan yang dirasmikan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob di Balai Islam di sini, hari ini.

Mumtaz berkata, sebagai galakan sebelum berpoligami, kerajaan negeri menerusi Jawatankuasa Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Kebajikan negeri mengadakan kuliah atau program penerangan pendidikan rumah tangga.

“Dalam hal ini, kita adakan kuliah termasuk motivasi dalam perkahwinan, dasar keluarga mawaddah dan galakan untuk berpoligami bukan dalam bentuk duit tapi memberi ilmu.

“Kalau kamu (suami) tak boleh berlaku adil kahwin satu saja dan kalau (mahu berpoligami) sebagai tempat untuk memuaskan nafsu, itu bukan sasarannya, ” katanya.

Source: www.bharian.com.my

February 4, 2017
Malaysia PM Najib Razak: Hudud Is About Empowering Sharia Courts

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s prime minister has expressed support for strict Islamic laws as he seeks to consolidate support of ethnic Malay Muslims at a party meeting this week, as frustration over graft and the economy cloud prospects for the next election.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has battled calls to resign over the last 18 months, as a scandal at his pet project, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), drew the anger of the public, opponents and members of his own United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) ruling party.

A new opposition party led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and a former deputy prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who Najib sacked for questioning his handling of 1MDB, is threatening to split the majority Malay vote that has handed UMNO victory in every election since independence in 1957.

Ahead of the annual party meeting, Najib said it was the responsibility of Muslims to support a plan by the rival Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party to push for the adoption of hudud, the Islamic penal code, that sets out punishments such as amputation and stoning.

“We want to develop Islam,” Najib said in an interview with pro-government broadcaster TV3.

“Non-Muslims must understand that this is not about hudud but about empowering the sharia courts.”

With rising prices and poor economic prospects for next year, Najib is expected to bank on ethnic and religious sentiment to woo majority Malay voters. An election is due by 2018.

Najib said his policy speech at this year’s UMNO meeting would focus on the interests of Malays and Islam.

“This is my speech as UMNO president, so my main audience are UMNO members and the Malays and bumiputera,” he said, using a term that roughly translates as sons of the soil, and includes Malays but not members of the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

“It doesn’t mean we don’t care at all about the others, but this is an UMNO assembly,” he said.

Najib faced the biggest challenge to his leadership last year after reports that hundreds of millions of dollars was misappropriated from state fund 1MDB, which he founded.

He acted swiftly to preserve his position – sacking critics in his administration and closing a graft investigation.

Nevertheless, the scandal clouds prospects for an early election that Najib could call to cement his position, with multiple international investigations going on and a suit related to the case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Adding to his troubles is the plunge of the ringgit currency after Donald Trump’s U.S. election win. It is Asia’s worst performing currency, shedding nearly 7 percent over the past two weeks.

“Najib’s big problem is market confidence,” said James Chin, director at the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute.

“Tycoons will move against him if the ringgit keeps going down, but more importantly, SMEs and traders will go to the wall as prices will go up 20 percent across the board,” he said, referring to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

November 30, 2016