The following is a translation of an article by Mr 鄭丁賢, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Sin Chew, published on Sunday, 11 May 2014:
Malaysian government and political
parties are generally very enthusiastic about study tours to investigate,
and/or observe whatever…. For example, a study tour to Antarctica to visit penguins.
Ooops, I mean to study climate change. Thus, there has been a constant stream
of visits to Europe, the U.S., China, Japan, and Australia. Such investigation
is almost a routine, must go on…..
Curiously, we rarely hear of such visits
to certain Middle East and North African countries. If we want to implement
Islamic criminal law, how can we not visit these countries? Somalia, Pakistan,
Nigeria, Iran, Saudi Arabia , or Indonesia's Aceh, each and everyone should be worth a study tour.
Hadi Awang is so passionate and
confident about Islamic criminal law, keeps urging people to believe and to
accept it. For real action, why not organize tours to learn about Islamic criminal
law in Islamic States? Lead us to the Middle East and North Africa to see how the
implementation of Islamic criminal law has brought about a peaceful society, developed
economy, and purity of minds.
Are there readers interested to
participate? It will certainly be very exciting.
For example, going to Aceh in
Indonesia, one can examine woman- caning. Recently, a local woman accused of
having an affair was raped by eight men as a punishment for violation of her religion.
Later, she will also have to face the punishment of caning.
Going to Pakistan, one can visit the
women's prison, where one thousand women accused of adultery are imprisoned.
Curiously, only two men were accused of adultery. Could it be that only two men
committed adultery with a thousand women?
Similarly, in the Taliban
-controlled areas in Pakistan where women are prohibited to pursue education, a
disobedient girl like Malala was even shot! Today, fundamentalists are still threatening
her.
In Nigeria, the militant Islamic
group "Boko Haram" kidnapped 200 female students, barred them from schools,
and threatened to sell them into slavery. But their leaders claimed possession
of two girls, a 9 -year-old and a 12- year-old, all these are done in the name
of religion.
If you go to Somalia, be sure to visit the "Somali Youth Party" controlled central and southern regions,
where you can witness the implementation of Islamic criminal law, including the
amputation of hands and stoning. From terrorist attacks in Uganda to explosion
in the malls, all these are worth “observing”.
If the Islamic criminal law can
solve our many problems in Malaysia as claimed -- such as putting an end to the
crime of corruption -- then go to these countries mentioned above to see if they
have indeed become a paradise, or hell on earth .
Someone said that if hudud law
doesn’t work, we can always go back to the civil law.
In the 1970s, during the era of Iran's
Pahlavi Dynasty, this country promoted modernization based on Western model,
adopting capitalism. However, its relatively closed political system and government
resisted democratic reforms. Wealth was under the control and monopoly of capitalism,
resulting in huge growing gap between the rich and poor.
Iranian people’s discontent rose, they
were bent on overthrowing the Pahlavi regime. However, they did not use the
means of modifying capitalism and promoting democracy and freedom, but chose to
align themselves with radical religious forces, with the elders of Ayatollah
Khomeini as co- leaders.
Finally, under a series of
demonstrations and protests, the Iranian government was paralysed, the King
became a common enemy, and ultimately the Pahlavi regime was overthrown. Led by
Ayatollah Khomeini, theocratic politics came into power, and the world's first
Islamic republic was founded.
Soon, Iran's economy began to
decline, and political freedom was further curtailed. Even though Iran has one of
the largest oil reserves on earth, and despite the good foundation laid down by
the economic modernization policy during the Pahlavi era, Iran degenerated into
an even more impoverished and corrupt country, all within a very short time.
A theocratic utopia thus built, was
based on mere ideal that was never verified. Nor was there ever any successful
precedent of such a system. It lacked effectiveness in terms of actual
operation.
For decades, many Iranians wanted to
change, to revert, and wrest back power from the hands of the theocratic
government. Through election, they managed to elect a relatively liberal
president. However, from Rafsanjani to Khatami, they have failed to change
the system of theocratic supremacy. The most powerful in Iran is not the elected
president, but the supreme religious leader of the country. The supreme leader
controls the executive, legislative, judicial and military sectors, including
tight control over all civilians in Iranian society. There is no turning back
again in today’s Iran.
Many naïve people gamble
with luck when they think that temporarily accepting theocratic rule is a way
of using its power to change the status of their discontent. Once their purpose
is achieved, they think election can be deployed to oust theocratic power. This article hopes
to provide a history lesson for them.
