KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 ― The influential clergy wing of PAS slammed today party members and leaders who it claimed were trying to stall the implementation of the controversial Islamic penal code in Kelantan, by relying on “academic excuses and arguments”.
According to the ulama wing’s acting chief Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamad, the detractors have misused Islamic terms such as maqasid shariah ― meaning the true intentions of Shariah ― as “subtle poison” towards the party in order to placate Pakatan Rakyat (PR) allies.
“Lately, there seems to be members and leaders of PAS who are in cahoots with non-Muslims political friends to stall the effort towards the strengthening of the Shariah criminal code in Kelantan,” Mahfodz said in his keynote address.
“This is a subtle poison being thrown around. The reality is, this only happened to placate our political partners who surely do not have faith in Allah's code.”
On March 19, the Kelantan state assembly approved the Shariah Criminal Code (II) (1993) 2015 Enactment with 31 votes from PAS lawmakers supported by 12 from Umno.
PAS is now seeking to debate two private members’ bills in Parliament to enable Kelantan to enforce the Islamic criminal code widely called hudud ― one will seek approval for the state to legislate punishment for crimes under the Penal Code.
