KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang hit back at critics of hudud yesterday, labelling those who mock and call the controversial Islamic penal law unjust as “ignorant”.

Harakah Daily, the PAS organ, quoted Hadi as saying that the wisdom behind the severe physical punishments such as stoning and the amputation of limbs prescribed under hudud was to instil fear and deter crime.

“It is wrong if we think that the public will race to steal so that their hands and legs will be chopped off.

“What will really happen instead, is there will be many criminals repenting,” Hadi said while launching the Seminar to Uphold the Islamic Code (Tegas).

The Marang MP also insisted that hudud is meant to educate and not punish, despite the harsh and permanent penalties.

He pointed out that hudud punishments have very strict prerequisites, and that judges would do their best to acquit criminals instead.

Hadi also reiterated the opinion of hudud proponents who say that man-made laws have failed to curb the rising crime in the country.

The debate over hudud is raging once more in Malaysia after PAS made known its plan to enforce the Islamic criminal law in the state of Kelantan that it has governed since 1990.

The news then led to baiting between the Islamist party and rival Umno over the controversial bid to amend the country’s laws to allow the introduction of hudud.

Last week, Selangor Umno assemblymen had proposed for a study on the feasibility of implementing hudud in the state, but withdrew it at the 11th hour.

This comes as the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) allegedly proposed in a working paper by its Shariah-Civil Technical Committee recently for hudud to be rolled out nationwide in two stages.

The first stage will involve amendments of several federal and state laws, following which each state’s Shariah criminal offences enactments can be amended to prescribe hudud punishments for four offences: zina (illicit sex), alcohol consumption, apostasy and making unproven accusations against zina.

Last month, PAS said it will delay tabling two Parliamentary private members’ bills needed to pave way for the enforcement of hudud in Kelantan, to allow a proposed bi-partisan committee to study the implementation of the Islamic penal code.

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also said his party will push for a national-level committee on hudud.

Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, said both local and foreign experts on hudud would sit in the proposed committee. The specifics of the committee remain under wraps.