Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
(1) 'I can't be 'haram', I declared M'sia an Islamic state', 10 August 2012
by Aidila Razak
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejected claims that he is anti-Islam for not implementing hudud when he was in power, as he had in his time declared Malaysia an Islamic state.
As such, he said, he cannot be equated to the DAP, which some Islamic scholars have deemed haram (forbidden) for Muslims to support due to its anti-hudud stance.
“There are two things, not agreeing with the hudud and not agreeing with Islamic state.
“I declared Malaysia an Islamic state and we are now acknowledged by everyone as such, including in Palestine,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.
Mahathir added that his objection is not for hudud per se, but hudud as “interpreted by PAS”.
“That, I cannot support,” he said at a Perdana Global Peace Foundation event to symbolically commemorate the sending of 750,000 litres of clean water to Gaza, Palestine.
Mahathir said that in his view, hudud should be fair and not be driven by “desires”.
“Like those pictures we saw of the woman who was shot for allegedly committing adultery. That is not fair, but driven by desire (nafsu),” he said.
He was referring to a video published by Al-Jazeera of a woman being shot, to cheers from the crowd, by a man whom officials confirm is part of the Taliban.
The man cites a verse from the Quran, which states that adultery is a sin.
Yesterday, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim questioned why scholars are singling out DAP for its anti-hudud stance when Mahathir, too, did not want to implement hudud.
Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia had on Wednesday and Thursday front-paged religious scholars who say that it is haram to support the DAP.
Commenting on these views, Mahathir said that it is up to Muslims to decide whether to accept these views or not.
“These are the views of those with knowledge, I can’t say whether they are right or wrong as I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to religion.
“But Muslims are not even following what is stated in the Quran, which is Allah’s orders, so I suppose not many will follow what these religious people say,” he said.
(2) Karpal: Dr M's Islamic state declaration 'mischievous', 11 August 2012
by Susan Loone
DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh has taken former premier Mahathir Mohamad to task for being ‘mischievous' in saying he is not ‘haram' (illegal in the eyes of Islam) as he has declared Malaysia an Islamic state.
Karpal - who is DAP's most vocal critic on the issue - said Mahathir's declaration in September 2001 - ahead of the Sarawak state election that year - was devoid of any legal backing.
He added that his had then contravened the five-bench declaration of the Supreme court in 1988 that Malaysia is a secular state.
In the 1988 decision, former Lord president Salleh Abas had said: "However, we have to set aside our personal feelings because the law in this country is still what it is today, secular law..."
"Only a secular state can have secular laws. For Mahathir to declare Malaysia an Islamic state in face of this declaration is mischievous," said the Bukit Gelugor MP in Penang today.
"When saying thus, Mahathir has contradicted the first three prime ministers who have publicly asserted that the country was (and is) a secular state," he added.
DAP, unbelievers hostile to Islam?
Karpal was responding to Mahathir's claims that he is not anti-Islam for not implementing hudud when in power, as he had in his time declared Malaysia an Islamic state.
Mahathir's remarks came in the wake of statements by several Islamic scholars in the country who hold that it is haram to support DAP as the party rejects hudud law, and its members accused of being "unbelievers hostile to Islam" (kafir hasbi).
Karpal said Mahathir had also then gone on to say that Malaysia was an "extremist Islamic state".
He added that the statement was "a long way from the truth", reminding Mahathir (left) that it is best not to issue such comments without any basis.
He advised the former premier, who stepped down as PM in 2003, to "retire gracefully, and not interfere unnecessarily" in the affairs of the state.
"DAP's position - which we have emphasised time and again - is clear.
"We do not accept an Islamic state as that would be inconsistent with the federal constitution,"said Karpal, a well-established legal eagle in the country.
"It would be an open defiance of the Federal Constitution and an act of non-acceptance of the 1988 Supreme Court rule," he stressed.
In 2001, DAP had split from Barisan Alternatif, a loose coalition of opposition parties, with PAS and PKR as its partners, over the Islamic state issue.
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