i have came across many articles on the web with regards to the caning of 3 Muslim women who were charged for illicit sexual activities. most responses had been very how should i say, interesting (?). i never seize to wonder why the world is suddenly so interested in a country so small and it’s rather not very significant Muslim population. therefore i paste here an article found at http://news.oneindia.in/2010/02/21/shariahcaning-sentence-for-three-malay-women-whips-upgloba.html . i believe it is an inviting opportunity for me to examine the global views on the so called “the rising of islamic influence” in my beloved country.
so here it goes,
Shariah caning sentence for three Malay women whips up global reaction
Sunday, February 21, 2010,11:27 [IST]
Kuala Lumpur, Feb 21(ANI): The caning of three Malaysian women, who were found guilty of committing illicit sex in violation of Shariah law, has caught immediate international reaction and interest, with a number of foreign media running articles and commentary on the issue.
The three women were sentenced to be whipped under Section 23(2) of the Federal Territory Shariah Criminal Offences Act 1997 (Illicit Sex) for engaging in illicit sex.
"The rapid growth of Malaysia's shariah court system in recent years is threatening to undermine the country's reputation as a tolerant, progressive Muslim nation that has been able to attract sizable foreign investments," The Wall Street Journal quoted political analysts, as saying.
In the article 'Malaysia Says Muslim Women Caned', Wall Street Journal's writer James Hookway wrote: "The move to cane the women under the country's Islamic shariah laws has raised fresh concerns about the growing political and judicial influence of Islam in what traditionally has been one of the world's more moderate Muslim nations."
Earlier, several organizations in Malaysia, including Sisters in Islam (SIS) had said that the three cases constituted further discrimination against Muslim women in Malaysia.
"The expediency and the secrecy reeks of bad faith and betrays a troubling disregard for public opinion," said Dr Hamidah Marican, SIS executive director.
Bar Council chairman Ragunath Kesavan urged the Government to abolish whipping and to comply with international norms and principles on it. (ANI)
my first impression upon reading the article was annoyed. simply and undeniably annoyed. evidently, those people who wrote such comments were clearly oblivious to the existence (and the enforcement) of 2 very distinctive courts of law in our country. The mainstream, civil law and the Islamic, Syariah law. the separating line between the two is simply the religion; Islam, which is worshipped by 60% of the entire Malaysian population, and as the name implies, affect only these group of people. if the one law is adequate, there will never be the other. obviously, the one law (the civil law) is not.
the establishment of Syariah law began even before the invasion of western countries and the contents were written by Islamic scholars under the guidance of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. who received revelation from GOD himself. UNDERSTAND THIS IMS: THE CONTENTS CAN NEVER BE CHANGED!!!!! Mere mortals should never meddle with the words of ALLAH..Owh, Did i say NEVER? the only problem was that the syariah law was never properly reinforce in Malaysia which leads to the amplification of crimes and the downward spiral of Muslim Malaysian moral standards over the past few decades. I salute the initiative taken by the current government to slowly start abiding to Syariah law because for so long it had been only a nominal member of the government. it was there but not doing anything productive (no pun intended).
Malaysia is only 53 years old this year. it is younger than many politicians governing the country. it is way too green to be compared to even it’s neighbouring countries like Thailand and Indonesia. so it is suffice to say that the world has never really known Malaysia quiet yet. the country is still like many 53-year-olds out there looking for it’s true identity. one thing for sure, Islam is going to play a large influence on that and i say that because in our Rukunegara, which summarizes the country’s principal, Religion [kepercayaan kepada Tuhan] is always first way before, Loyalty to the King and country [ kesetiaan kepada raja dan negara], constitutional supremacy [keluhuran perlembagaan], the rule of law [kedaulatan undang-undang] and politeness and morality [kesopanan dan kesusilaan]. Malaysian school children read this and memorize this over and over again. it is our identity, it is who we are. we have always known that religion comes first be it Islam or Christianity or Buddhism or Hinduism and the list goes on. And because Malaysia is a very tolerant country, that’s why we have public holidays to celebrate each major religious occasions that i do not experience when i am over sea. Well you know where i am if you read my profile. So why do other countries still insist to interfere on our very intimate Malaysian Identity. Why?
I am a Muslim woman who is proud beyond words with the exercise of canning (when it is done judicially). i know there are people out there who believe that canning constitutes discrimination against Muslim women, but hey, they are saying that due to the complication of not studying the religion as deep as it is intended to be and to have a loud mouth all at the same time. and sometimes, we all know that the mouth speaks before the head even had a chance to think. that is what it is. to these loud mouthed Sister in what not, i suggest them to open and READ the Quran.
the funniest and i think the cherry on top of the ice cream is the comment made by a bar council chairman. He urged the Government to abolish whipping and to comply with international norms and principles on it. i took the meaning literally and ended up ROTFL like mad. the international norms and principal on illicit sex is N O T H I N G. is that what you expect them to do? Nothing? illicit sex is never an issue out there. In fact there is no such thing as illicit sex in the dictionary of international norms. Sex is just sex. do you expect us to be that low of a moral standard? I DON’T THINK SO!!!
And with that your honour, i rest my case.
