HARI Krismas menjelang tiba. Saya dapat merasakan kemeriahannya walaupun saya sedang berada di bandar Lumajang di Jawa Timur, yang jauh dari Jakarta. Di tepi-tepi jalan kelihatan ada yang menjual bahan-bahan perhiasan untuk pokok Krismas. Memandangkan 90% penduduk bandar ini adalah orang Islam, maka saya pun bertanya pada pasangan suami-isteri Muslim yang agak berumur sama ada [...]

A FEW weeks ago, I took an English friend to visit the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur before the zohor prayers. At the entrance, my friend, a practising Christian from the Church of England, was given a purple robe to wear — I assume because he was wearing knee-length shorts and I was in full-length [...]

MUCH has been said about hudud law. I take my hat off to Muslims who have come out openly to oppose its implementation. It must take a lot of courage to stand against conventional wisdom and religious teachings, and these people must be applauded. However, that does not make me anti-hudud. On the contrary, I [...]

HUDUD. One is either for or against its implementation in Malaysia – or so the prevailing political discourse goes. But what are we missing in between? Have proponents of hudud adequately justified their position, and how they would apply the Islamic penal code in today’s society? Can those who oppose it ever imagine a human [...]

IF we were to believe everything the politicians are saying about hudud, we would come to three conclusions. One, that implementing the punishments prescribed under hudud is divine law that no Muslim can question, and hence is inevitable. Two, that hudud cannot be implemented in Malaysia because of the Federal Constitution and our multi-cultural composition. [...]

LEGENDARY Malaysian dancer Ramli Ibrahim, 58, has been captivating audiences with his performances and choreography of Indian classical dance for almost three decades. After returning from Australia, Ramli founded Sutra Dance Theatre in 1983. He has gone on to perform and win awards both locally and overseas, and has also groomed many a talented dancer. [...]