Sarawak to comply with PM's stand on hudud

Sarawak will comply with any decision or stand made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on the motion of the private bill for hudud.

Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Department (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman said today the hudud implementation must be in tandem with the current development so that all quarters, including non-Muslims truly understood hudud law. "As happened during the time of the Prophet, hudud punishment was never implemented. It was a natural process and its implementation encompassed everyone," he told reporters after officiating the Sarawak level Higher Institutes of Learning Fatwa seminar at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Tun Abang Salahuddin Islamic Centre here.

He was asked on Sarawak's stand on the hudud implementation in Kelantan which was expected to be tabled in Parliament this June or December at the latest.

Daud said if the hudud law was implemented in Kelantan, it would cause all kinds of complication such as giving rise to feelings of uneasiness among non-Muslims.

"In actual fact information and understanding of the hudud law should be implemented first to the community and in this context, the Islamic Information Centre needs to play a role.

"If there is still some fears among Muslims or non-Muslims on the hudud law, it shows that public understanding is still unclear," he said.

At the same time, information on Islam must be indicative of the mentality and practices of Muslims themselves so that non-Muslims were respectful and attracted to the religion, said Daud.