KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 ― Without heavier punishments from Shariah courts to deter Muslims from vice, the country will potentially see 500,000 more illegitimate children in the decade to come, a leader from Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) warned today.
Its deputy president Aminuddin Yahaya, who is heading a coalition pressing for greater powers to the Shariah courts, cited news reports that allegedly said over 150,000 children were born out of wedlock here between 2013 and 2015.
According to him, the figure meant at least 50,000 children were born out of wedlock each year, claiming that "the majority involves Malay-Muslim women".
"If we take this and we do it exponentially, it means 10 years from now, we will have not less than 500,000 illegitimate children," he said in his welcoming address at a forum today.
His speech was made in his capacity as the chairman of the “Umat Menyokong Memperkasa Akta 355” group, which seeks to support a proposed law amendment to further empower Shariah courts.
"That's why our agenda, we are fighting so hard for this issue, because we see this issue as one of the elements that can eradicate and curb this vice problem, which I said earlier, the majority of those involved are Muslims," he said.
Aminuddin argued that the current maximum penalties that Shariah courts could impose were too light and would not successfully deter Muslims from repeating their offences.
"You go to the vice centres, you can see that we have specific NGOs that almost every month goes to raid these vice areas, 80 per cent are the young generation, Malay Muslims, because they are not afraid.
"Now it's just RM5,000 [fine], who is afraid? Six lashes, who is afraid? Six months' jail, who is afraid? But how would it be if we said 100 lashes, 20 years' jail? They will certainly think twice," he said.
He also claimed that the issue of Shariah courts' powers to impose heftier punishments was a fundamental issue tied to the Muslims' dignity.
"We set aside the issue of politics, we set aside the issue of the Constitution, we set aside the issue of hudud or not hudud, we set aside the technical issues and so on, let us try to see from the aspect that this issue actually carries the dignity to Muslims.
"That's why I say if we fail this time, it means that not only have we failed to amend it, but as a country where the majority are Muslims and the Constitution says Islam is the federation's religion; for us, the dignity of the Muslims will be challenged to the maximum," he said.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had last month reportedly said he will retable his Private Member's Bill to seek the amendment of Act 355 or the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 in the Dewan Rakyat sitting that will start October 17.
Shariah court punishments are currently limited to jail terms not exceeding three years, or whipping of not more than six strokes, or fines of not more than RM5,000. The Bill seeks to remove this limitation, except for death penalty.
In 2014, Kelantan deputy mentri besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah had told Malay Mail Online of the PAS-led state government’s plan to empower the Shariah courts to try Muslims for serious crimes ― such as premarital sex punishable by 100 lashes and adultery punishable by death.
He had then said PAS wanted to amend the 1965 law to enable Shariah courts to impose heavier penalties such as death penalty and amputations, as well as to seek approval to enact punishments for crimes that fall under the Penal Code.
