Hudud bill deserves its day in the Dewan
The issue will not go away even if some would like to shut their eyes and ears to it.
The tabling of a private member’s bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act has become a matter of heated debate between the pro-shariah alliance of PAS and Umno and the more secular triumvirate of Pakatan Harapan.
PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang’s rather sudden tabling of the bill and his decision to postpone debate on it to the October parliamentary session brought a measure of chaos to the Dewan Rakyat that was characteristic of the knee-jerk confusion with which we tend to treat the subject of hudud whenever it is brought up. It is a timelessly divisive issue.
However, even as the more moderate and secular among us feel discomfited at the idea of strict shariah law being discussed seriously in Parliament, we must remember that the right to express oneself cannot be restricted by subject. There are apparently those who believe that the hudud issue will somehow go away if we shut our eyes and ears to it. It will not.
We must debate the issue publicly and thoroughly so that we can all understand what we as a society may be subject to if hudud provisions are allowed in shariah law. And we must ensure that the debate does not deteriorate into one that is about Malay supremacy and barely masked Islamophobia.
To some of those who are against it, the push for hudud symbolises encroaching conservatism. To some who are for it, it represents an effort to return Islam to its purity. That’s why the debate must be open and thorough. There must be clear arguments from all sides, and that’s why we should congratulate Hadi for the wisdom he demonstrated in calling for a deferment of the debate to allow MPs adequate time for preparation.
There are many arguments based on the rule of law that can be levied against the bill. Hadi must be prepared to face the eternal argument against the constitutionality of introducing hudud . At the same time, hudud opponents must prepare themselves not only against the combined force of Umno and PAS in Parliament, but also against the voice of their supporters at large.
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If public discourse on the issue is allowed to go on the way it has up to this point, the debate over this bill will only become uglier as the non-Muslims convince themselves that one day the hudud rules will apply to them as well. If we let emotions get in the way of civilised discourse, we’ll have extremists from both sides shouting at each other, giving no chance for the rest of the public to truly understand the issue and make a decision on it through the ballot box. To quote Evelyn Beatrice Hall, I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.