'70,000 people are not going to have their hands cut off': Malaysian Islamic leader dismisses firestorm over sharia punishments
The Malaysian Islamic leader spearheading a campaign for severe sharia punishments chuckles as he dismisses the firestorm that has ensued, saying visions of thousands of lawbreakers with amputated limbs are way off the mark.
Hadi Awang's Pan-Malaysian Islamic party (PAS) has proposed a law in its northern stronghold of Kelantan permitting amputation of limbs for thieves and stoning for adulterers, but is unlikely to be implemented because of federal constraints.
Hadi, the PAS president, said that the hudud penalties were largely symbolic and the move was meant largely as a gesture to his party's Islamic base.
"Hudud itself, though it seems strict, is almost impossible to implement because the requirements are very strict to come to the eventual punishment," Hadi said. "It is not that 70,000 people are going to have their hands cut off."
The tiny neighbouring sultanate of Brunei began implementing hudud penalties last year, fanning fears in Malaysia of accelerated Islamisation.
But Hadi noted hudud's high proof threshold - multiple direct witnesses are required in adultery cases, for example - as making it unlikely severe action would be taken in the vast majority of cases.
"The harshness of the law creates fear and will deter crime," Hadi said.
Hadi insisted PAS's hudud campaign was partly a reaction to the ruling regime's courtship of Muslim voters, which has included a high-profile campaign to limit the use of the word "Allah" to Muslims, although Malay-speaking Christians also use it for their creator.
PAS has submitted a bill in parliament to change the constitution to allow hudud to actually be implemented. Hadi hopes to have it tabled next week.
It is considered unlikely to pass even with the support of Malaysia's Muslim ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno).
