KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 ― Claims that khalwat laws violate individual privacy could just as easily be extended to other crimes including murder, said the Perak Mufti in rebuttal to a pro-moderation group’s call to review unconstitutional Shariah laws..
According to a Sinar Harian report today, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria disputed the so-called G25’s insistence that it was not legally acceptable for Islamic authorities to raid private homes to enforce the religious law against unmarried couples being close proximity.
“I would like to ask them (G25) what logic or tradition and scripture they referred to when saying that action cannot be taken against offenders when it is committed at home?” he was quoted as saying in the local Malay daily.
“If they said that those actions breach an individual's right to privacy, then there is no need to punish those who commit murder in their own house.”
Harussani further said that the G25 members should learn the religion first before commenting on it, adding that they have very “weak” religious knowledge.
During a forum last weekend, the G25 reiterated its intention to press the government to repeal Shariah laws deemed to be in conflict with the Federal Constitution, especially those affecting privacy.
Its spokesman, Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, was quoted as saying that the group will set up a consultative council to study these laws and subsequently recommend that they be repealed or be amended where necessary.
She cited as example the laws governing khalwat (close proximity), noting that Malaysia is the only Muslim country with such laws.
