Hudud: What do the people say?

“Personally, of course I do not agree but if the majority of Muslims agree and if the Hudud laws are meant to impact only the Muslims, then go ahead so long it does not affect non-Muslims. But to make it cut across all cultures and make it into a national law for Malaysians then no!” exclaimed the 30-year-old senior marketing executive Teng Wan Ying.

For first time voter Sheryl Ho Su Lynn, she does not agree with the law but it can be negotiated.

“It’s a religious law which can’t be imposed on everyone. I would say I oppose the idea,” said the 26-year-old.

Daryl Boswell Sui also disagreed with the implementation of the Hudud law.

“If the Hudud law is implemented, I’ll move to a different country. I’ll be packing my family and leave but I doubt Hudud will work,” said the 38-year-old.

Added Daniel Krishna, 30: “We can’t even enforce existing laws. How are we going to enforce this one and that is the main question!”

Meanwhile for Muslims, an understanding of the Hudud law by society at large is necessary.

“The general public doesn’t really understand what is Hudud. All they know about Hudud is about cuttings hands and beheading. For example, take a look at the Prophet's time. Everybody was well taken care of. Crime rate was near to non-existent. Hudud is to take care of both Muslims and non-Muslims.

"Have you heard of any beheading or someone being stoned to death in Kelantan? Those are the last resort if those found guilty refuses to repent,” said 28-year-old Dr Fahmy Izwan Jantan.

In a different opinion, 36-year-old lecturer Ayu Zulkifli believed that the Hudud law only applies to Muslims.

“If they want to implement that then it going to be a true Islamic administration. This is one of Pas’ core objectives and they need to remain focus on their core objectives. Only then can people differentiate them from Umno. However, right now they are out of course,” she said.

Based on a survey conducted by Universiti Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMCEDEL), 62 percent of Malay respondents agreed that the Hudud law can promise fairness to all.

However, 25 percent of Chinese respondents and 30 percent of Indian respondents disagreed.

When asked if the Hudud law cannot be implemented in Malaysia due to the country’s multi-cultural and multi-religious society, 31 percent of Malay respondents agreed while 51 percent and 54 percent of Chinese and Indian respondents agreed respectively.

The UMCEDEL survey was conducted between September 1, 2012 and September 16, 2012 with 1536 respondents.

On Saturday, deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the disagreement inside Pakatan Rakyat over the Hudud law is an issue that the public should take notice.

Muhyiddin was commenting on DAP’s national chairman Karpal Singh’s statement insisting that PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim state his stand on Hudud Law and Islamic State pursued by PAS.

"I think Anwar should clearly state his stand. I think the people are expecting it. (DAP adviser) Lim Kit Siang and (DAP secretary-general) (Lim) Guan Eng have stated the party's stand, they're not for hudud, they are not for Islamic state," he told a media conference.

On Thursday, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said that they party has not forced DAP to accept the implementation of the Hudud law.

“In the issues we agreed on, we’re united. In the issues we have opposing views, we do not fight. An issue arise when Pas wanted to implement the Hudud law, which DAP disagreed but not opposed.