MAY 5 ― Much has been said in recent days about Kelantan’s Hudud law initiative. Christians who are, according to the Qur’an, one of the peoples of the book, have been relatively silent. Perhaps Christians are embarrassed that the Bible also urges stoning.
Hudud means enacting “maximum punishments” such as amputations, hundred lashes and stoning-to-death for seven offences including adultery, highway robbery and theft.
The Islamic political party, PAS, wants to implement Hudud. The Malay-rights political party, Umno, says it doesn’t object to Hudud, but won’t implement Hudud “until we are ready.”
Per Aliran, the Kelantan and Terengganu enactments do much more than enact maximum punishments: the enactments mandate the maximum punishments.
Professor Hashim Kamali, an eminent legal expert who helms the International Institute of Advanced Studies (IAIS) in Malaysia, and who opposes Kelantan’s Hudud laws, says the Kelantan law prescribes this:
“Zina [unlawful sexual intercourse] is punishable upon conviction by stoning (with stones of medium size) to death for a married person (i.e. muhsan) . . . ” (page 205).
“Stoning” tantalises me: What types of stones are allowed (Granite? Laterite? Limestone? Stones from Saudi Arabia?). Does “medium size” mean the size of a ping pong ball, a tennis ball or a sepak takraw ball? What should be the weight of each stone?
“Stoning” tantalises me: How far away from the victim will the stoners (is that the right word?) stand? Who will be required to be stoners? How many stoners will be required for each stoning? Will the victim be gagged and blindfolded? Will the stoning be in public?
“Stoning” tantalises me: Will it be possible to ask “Who threw the first stone” or will all the stoners throw stones together, e.g. when a whistle is blown? Will there be practices at stoning ranges, so the throwers will not miss their targets? Will stoners be certified?
Interest in the details, especially about "who," is not idle interest.
One of the most-repeated stories from the Bible is the Messiah’s response to men who wanted him to judge a woman caught in adultery, recounted in John 7:53-8:11.
The passage is the source of the famous words: “If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” A faithful disciple, John, recorded the response of the Messiah’s interrogators, who included the woman’s accusers: “At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left . . .”
John tantalises us: he tells us the Messiah wrote on the ground after he was asked to pass judgment, but he doesn’t tell us what the Messiah wrote. Some speculate that the Messiah listed sins, e.g. dishonouring parents, bribery, hypocrisy, jealousy, mockery.
I’ll let Kenneth Bailey speak for me: “I am convinced that he wrote, “death” or “kill her” or “stone her with stones.” His following words presuppose that he decreed the death penalty. He opted for a strict observance of the law of Moses.” (Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, SPCK: 2008, page 235).
The Messiah wrote on the ground because the wind would soon blow and “wash it away,” thus leaving no evidence of the Messiah’s judgment according to Jewish Law. This is important because those who tried to trick Jesus into ordering the woman to be killed knew the death penalty could only be meted out by the Roman authorities: the dialogue took place under the watchful eyes of Roman soldiers (see Bailey page 233 for details).
Also, the Messiah knew that the Jewish Law required the execution to be carried out by the witnesses for the prosecution. The Law required the witnesses to throw the first stone. If the victim didn’t die, the spectators completed the sentence – and the body was suspended until sunset.
Jewish Law prescribed death as the punishment for many offences – even the disobedience of children:
“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
The magnitude of the punishment and the unlikelihood of prosecution draw us to the focus of the Jewish Law: Who makes the accusation? Who will carry out the penalty?
A plethora of questions have been raised over Hudud (the singular is Hadd).
Some questions impinge on the right to differ within Islam, e.g. will Professor Kamali be prosecuted in Kelantan, since he says:
“Whereas the Qur’an has, in all the four instances where specified punishments occur, made provisions for repentance and reformation, juristic doctrine has either left this totally out or reduced it to a mechanical formality that can hardly be said to be reflective of the original teachings of the Qur’an.” (Page 204)
Some questions impinge on the constitution of Malaysia which guarantees equal treatment for all. From a practical standpoint, we may ask what justice means if a robbery against a non-Muslim is committed by a Muslim and a Christian. Where will the case be tried? In a Syariah court or a Civil court? Surely not the Syariah court where a non-Muslim has no right or representation!
My reading of the passage which Kenneth Bailey says should be titled “The Lady is Not for Stoning” leads me to ask both PAS and Umno: Who will carry out each Hadd punishment? When will we be ready for each Hadd punishment?”
*Rama Ramanathan blogs at write2rest.blogspot.com
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.
