“Marilah kita hidup di negara ini dengan hormat-menghormati antara satu sama lain. Budaya ini akan menjamin kesejahteraan dan kebahagiaan. Jika ada pihak lain yang tidak mahu hidup hormat-menghormati, sudah pasti akan berlaku kemungkinan permusuhan, pergaduhan dan pembunuhan yang pastinya kesemua sekali akan rugi negara akan musnah. Hentikanlah menghina Islam, kerana Islam adalah ciptaan Allah.” THE […]
caning
Najib on caning: Who’s listening?
“Islam is a religion of compassion and mercy. It is not about corporal punishment. That is the last resort. “That’s how it should be practised. We must not go overboard.” Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak commenting on the sentencing of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno in July 2009 to six cane strokes after she pleaded […]
Normalising caning
(Corrected at 3:10pm, 8 March 2010) “The public and world community no longer needs to fear caning as a punishment under the syariah because it is not cruel but instead educates the offenders. It also provides awareness and teaches the offenders to repent and not repeat the acts.” Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, who […]
BN’s whipping quandary
Digging…and digging…and digging THE big hole our government found themselves in after Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was sentenced to caning for drinking alcohol has just gotten bigger. Stuck between pleasing those who thought moral offenders deserved caning and outraged human rights groups as well as the international community, the government decided to cane three other […]
The Islamic state we deserve?
ON 9 Feb 2010, history was made in Malaysia when three Muslim women were caned at Kajang prison for “illicit sex”, a syariah offence. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the caning was done according to the law, and claimed it “did not result in any wound on [the women’s] bodies”. Hishammuddin must have […]
Zulkifli’s choice
“If there is a need to appoint one, I would suggest non-partisan ulama, like Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria.” KULIM-Bandar Baru Member of Parliament Zulkifli Noordin names the Perak mufti as his candidate of choice to lead Pakatan Rakyat. Zulkifli, no stranger to controversy, was responding to a blog posting by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. Zaid had […]
Torture by any other fashion
IF we were to believe everything we read, one would think that torture or degrading behaviour, if done differently, would no longer constitute torture or degrading behaviour. Indeed, this is what Pahang’s Mufti Department would want Muslims and non-Muslims to believe. Scan of New Straits Times report on syariah caning On 26 Oct 2009, the […]
SIS critics using police
PETALING JAYA, 5 Nov 2009: The police are now being used to silence the views of groups like Sisters in Islam (SIS) following the lodging of multiple reports against the women’s rights group. SIS programme manager Masjaliza Hamzah said that to date, what is believed to be more than 50 police reports have been lodged […]
Allow open discussion on Kartika case
In the past, lawyers were largely at the forefront of such criticisms. However, with the information age and globalisation, there is a rising tide of awareness among the public in Malaysia. It is heartening to see the public join in the outcry against injustice and unjust laws. It is stimulating to read arguments for and […]
Islam kejam atau Islam rahmah?
SEBAGAI seorang Islam, saya tertanya-tanya wajah Islam bagaimanakah yang Malaysia mahukan? Negara Islam, Islam madani, Islam hadari, atau Islam “hududi”? Apa pun jenamanya, tentu yang kita mahukan adalah Islam yang adil, rahmah, berihsan, penyayang, mesra kepada orang perempuan, prihatin terhadap orang yang kurang bernasib baik, dan Islam yang sentiasa bersangka baik pada manusia. Akan tetapi, […]
