• Home
  • About RSIS
    • Introduction
    • Building the Foundations
    • Welcome Message
    • Board of Governors
    • Staff Profiles
      • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
      • Dean’s Office
      • Management
      • Distinguished Fellows
      • Faculty and Research
      • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
      • Visiting Fellows
      • Adjunct Fellows
      • Administrative Staff
    • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
    • RSIS Endowment Fund
    • Endowed Professorships
    • Career Opportunities
    • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
    • Research Centres
      • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
      • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
      • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
      • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
      • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
    • Research Programmes
      • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
      • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
    • [email protected] Newsletter
    • Other Research
      • Future Issues And Technology (FIT)
      • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
    • Graduate Programmes Office
    • Overview
    • MSc (Asian Studies)
    • MSc (International Political Economy)
    • MSc (International Relations)
    • MSc (Strategic Studies)
    • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
    • PhD Programme
    • Exchange Partners and Programmes
    • How to Apply
    • Financial Assistance
    • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
    • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
    • Alumni
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
    • SRP Executive Programme
    • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
    • RSIS Publications
      • Annual Reviews
      • Books
      • Bulletins and Newsletters
      • Commentaries
      • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
      • Commemorative / Event Reports
      • IDSS Paper
      • Interreligious Relations
      • Monographs
      • NTS Insight
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • RSIS Publications for the Year
    • Glossary of Abbreviations
    • External Publications
      • Authored Books
      • Journal Articles
      • Edited Books
      • Chapters in Edited Books
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • Op-Eds
      • External Publications for the Year
    • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
    • Great Powers
    • Sustainable Security
    • Other Resource Pages
    • Media Highlights
    • News Releases
    • Speeches
    • Vidcast Channel
    • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsis.sg
Linkedin
instagram instagram rsis.sg
RSS
  • Home
  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
        • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
        • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
      • RSIS Endowment Fund
      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
      • Research Centres
        • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
        • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      • Research Programmes
        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      • [email protected] Newsletter
      • Other Research
        • Future Issues And Technology (FIT)
        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      • Graduate Programmes Office
      • Overview
      • MSc (Asian Studies)
      • MSc (International Political Economy)
      • MSc (International Relations)
      • MSc (Strategic Studies)
      • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
      • PhD Programme
      • Exchange Partners and Programmes
      • How to Apply
      • Financial Assistance
      • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
      • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
      • Alumni
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
      • SRP Executive Programme
      • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
      • RSIS Publications
        • Annual Reviews
        • Books
        • Bulletins and Newsletters
        • Commentaries
        • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
        • Commemorative / Event Reports
        • IDSS Paper
        • Interreligious Relations
        • Monographs
        • NTS Insight
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • RSIS Publications for the Year
      • Glossary of Abbreviations
      • External Publications
        • Authored Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Edited Books
        • Chapters in Edited Books
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • Op-Eds
        • External Publications for the Year
      • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
      • Great Powers
      • Sustainable Security
      • Other Resource Pages
      • Media Highlights
      • News Releases
      • Speeches
      • Vidcast Channel
      • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
  • instagram instagram rsis.sg
Connect

Getting to RSIS

Map

Address

Nanyang Technological University
Block S4, Level B3,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798

View location on Google maps Click here for directions to RSIS

Get in Touch

    Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
    RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
    instagram instagram rsis.sg
      RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    RSIS Intranet

    S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
    Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University

    Skip to content

     
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • CO14103 | Hudud and Inter-Religious Relations
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • Commentaries
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • IDSS Paper
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers
    • RSIS Publications for the Year

    CO14103 | Hudud and Inter-Religious Relations
    Mohammad Alami Musa

    30 May 2014

    download pdf
    RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due credit to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected].

    Synopsis

    The implementation of hudud laws has ramifications on inter-religious relations due to misperceptions that may arise about Islam. It is also potentially divisive. Hudud punishments are only practicable if onerous preconditions are fulfilled to ensure that tolerance, justice and clemency which are central to Islamic laws will not be sacrificed.

    Commentary

    THERE IS a raging debate on the implementation of hudud or the Islamic criminal code in the region. One issue that has received much attention is the impact on non-Muslims. Will they be subjected to hudud laws? Even if they are not, will such laws apply to a non-Muslim who is an accomplice in a crime by a Muslim?

    Social media is rife with emotionally charged opinions. The pressure group, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA or Muslim Fellowship of Malaysia), has questioned the citizenship status of non-Muslims who are unhappy with hudud laws. Senior clerics, like the former Mufti of Perlis, Dr Asri Zainal Abidin, have taken the position that non-Muslims should be included. Social activists lament the injustice if a non-Muslim receives a lighter sentence under civil laws compared with a heavier one for the Muslim under hudud laws for the same offence.

    Hard to apply hudud

    Non-Muslims are generally anxious. The issue of hudud has profound impact on inter-religious relations. As a religiously diverse society, Singapore’s inter-faith harmony can be affected by the spill-over effects if the hudud issue gives rise to gross misperceptions about Islam and becomes a wedge in relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the affected societies.

    One critical point that needs to be appreciated is that it is not easy to apply hudud laws. There are onerous preconditions which are very difficult to fulfil. This is to ensure that the implementation of such laws does not violate the principles of justice and clemency, which are central to the spirit of Islamic laws. Otherwise it can give rise to a merciless and harsh dispensation. It is therefore prudent for the purpose of good inter-religious relations for one to discern between the potentially careless implementation of hudud and the tolerant as well as merciful nature of Islamic laws.

    During times when emotions run high, it is helpful to listen to voices of reason. Many scholars on Islam have discussed hudud in contemporary society, advocated re-thinking on its implementation and suggested alternative ways at maintaining public order and security that conform to the spirit of Islam. One such scholar is Muhammad Sa’id Al-Ashmawy, the former chief judge of the High Court of Appeals in Egypt. He was deeply involved in the debate on the alignment of civil laws with Islamic laws in Egypt and his thoughts were published in a book “Political Islam” in 1987.

    Ashmawy clarified in his book that there are strictly four penalties under hudud that are specifically mentioned in the Quran. They are for theft, calumnious accusation of fornication, adultery and brigandage. Contrary to popular belief, the penalties for apostasy and drinking alcohol, according to Ashmawy, are not found in the Quran.

    More preventive than punitive

    Notwithstanding the mention of hudud in the Holy Book, many stringent conditions must be met before punishment can be meted out. For example, in the case of theft where the punishment is amputation of the hand, the court will have to ascertain that the object of theft must be marked by the owner; it must be in a well-guarded place; it must have money value; the thief must not be in great need of the object and that he must not have any “quasi-ownership” of the object. The above conditions mean that pilfering, plundering, pick-pocketing and theft of public goods cannot be classified as theft under hudud laws.

    Another example is the hudud punishment for fornication. Before it is meted out, the court must hear the evidence of four reliable witnesses who have seen the crime with their own eyes and who can swear that “a thread could not have passed between the man and the woman”!

    The above are just a sampling of the demanding conditions that are practically near-impossible to fulfil, thus rendering the application of hudud punishments virtually impracticable, or more preventive than punitive. The conditions are made onerous, as reflected in the Prophet’s tradition to avoid hudud punishments in case of doubt as to the facts, witnesses, victims or the accused.

    Finally, hudud punishment cannot be applied on a criminal who repents after the crime and before its execution. In short, Muslims are enjoined to show tolerance as well as clemency; every time they show mercy and avoid the application of hudud punishments, they are acting in the good spirit of Islam.

    Right social conditions before hudud

    How then will public order and security be ensured if hudud punishments are practically impossible to apply given the tough pre-conditions? Some scholars on Islam have argued that it is not against Islamic doctrine to rely on the system of punishments provided for under civil laws in lieu of hudud punishments. These civil laws are indeed conforming to the spirit of Islamic laws or shariah because they dispense justice and re-affirm values as well as principles that are also held dear in Islam.

    Some examples are civil laws that punish those who harm the weak in society, damage the environment or are involved in acts of corruption. These are laws that Singapore is known for. It is noteworthy that religious scholars from conservative Islamic countries who visited Singapore remarked that its civil laws exude the spirit of the shariah, even though it is a non-Islamic state.

    There is always a concern that legal judgements made in the name of religion may be abused by an unjust government for reasons of expediency or by a harsh judiciary on the basis of arbitrary arrests or false witnesses. This is why scholars like Ashmawy take the strong position that Muslims should only consider implementing hudud laws if their societies consist of pious as well as honourable people and leaders of high moral integrity who do not abuse power so that political, social and economic justice prevails.

    It is therefore judicious  for Muslims and their leaders  to focus on building a just and moral society governed by trustworthy leaders rather than treading the path of implementing  hudud laws without fulfilling the deliberately onerous preconditions – and violating the principle of justice  found in the Quran.

    About the Author

    Mohammad Alami Musa is Head of Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.

    Categories: Commentaries / Religion in Contemporary Society / Global

    Last updated on 10/12/2014

    RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due credit to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected].

    Synopsis

    The implementation of hudud laws has ramifications on inter-religious relations due to misperceptions that may arise about Islam. It is also potentially divisive. Hudud punishments are only practicable if onerous preconditions are fulfilled to ensure that tolerance, justice and clemency which are central to Islamic laws will not be sacrificed.

    Commentary

    THERE IS a raging debate on the implementation of hudud or the Islamic criminal code in the region. One issue that has received much attention is the impact on non-Muslims. Will they be subjected to hudud laws? Even if they are not, will such laws apply to a non-Muslim who is an accomplice in a crime by a Muslim?

    Social media is rife with emotionally charged opinions. The pressure group, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA or Muslim Fellowship of Malaysia), has questioned the citizenship status of non-Muslims who are unhappy with hudud laws. Senior clerics, like the former Mufti of Perlis, Dr Asri Zainal Abidin, have taken the position that non-Muslims should be included. Social activists lament the injustice if a non-Muslim receives a lighter sentence under civil laws compared with a heavier one for the Muslim under hudud laws for the same offence.

    Hard to apply hudud

    Non-Muslims are generally anxious. The issue of hudud has profound impact on inter-religious relations. As a religiously diverse society, Singapore’s inter-faith harmony can be affected by the spill-over effects if the hudud issue gives rise to gross misperceptions about Islam and becomes a wedge in relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the affected societies.

    One critical point that needs to be appreciated is that it is not easy to apply hudud laws. There are onerous preconditions which are very difficult to fulfil. This is to ensure that the implementation of such laws does not violate the principles of justice and clemency, which are central to the spirit of Islamic laws. Otherwise it can give rise to a merciless and harsh dispensation. It is therefore prudent for the purpose of good inter-religious relations for one to discern between the potentially careless implementation of hudud and the tolerant as well as merciful nature of Islamic laws.

    During times when emotions run high, it is helpful to listen to voices of reason. Many scholars on Islam have discussed hudud in contemporary society, advocated re-thinking on its implementation and suggested alternative ways at maintaining public order and security that conform to the spirit of Islam. One such scholar is Muhammad Sa’id Al-Ashmawy, the former chief judge of the High Court of Appeals in Egypt. He was deeply involved in the debate on the alignment of civil laws with Islamic laws in Egypt and his thoughts were published in a book “Political Islam” in 1987.

    Ashmawy clarified in his book that there are strictly four penalties under hudud that are specifically mentioned in the Quran. They are for theft, calumnious accusation of fornication, adultery and brigandage. Contrary to popular belief, the penalties for apostasy and drinking alcohol, according to Ashmawy, are not found in the Quran.

    More preventive than punitive

    Notwithstanding the mention of hudud in the Holy Book, many stringent conditions must be met before punishment can be meted out. For example, in the case of theft where the punishment is amputation of the hand, the court will have to ascertain that the object of theft must be marked by the owner; it must be in a well-guarded place; it must have money value; the thief must not be in great need of the object and that he must not have any “quasi-ownership” of the object. The above conditions mean that pilfering, plundering, pick-pocketing and theft of public goods cannot be classified as theft under hudud laws.

    Another example is the hudud punishment for fornication. Before it is meted out, the court must hear the evidence of four reliable witnesses who have seen the crime with their own eyes and who can swear that “a thread could not have passed between the man and the woman”!

    The above are just a sampling of the demanding conditions that are practically near-impossible to fulfil, thus rendering the application of hudud punishments virtually impracticable, or more preventive than punitive. The conditions are made onerous, as reflected in the Prophet’s tradition to avoid hudud punishments in case of doubt as to the facts, witnesses, victims or the accused.

    Finally, hudud punishment cannot be applied on a criminal who repents after the crime and before its execution. In short, Muslims are enjoined to show tolerance as well as clemency; every time they show mercy and avoid the application of hudud punishments, they are acting in the good spirit of Islam.

    Right social conditions before hudud

    How then will public order and security be ensured if hudud punishments are practically impossible to apply given the tough pre-conditions? Some scholars on Islam have argued that it is not against Islamic doctrine to rely on the system of punishments provided for under civil laws in lieu of hudud punishments. These civil laws are indeed conforming to the spirit of Islamic laws or shariah because they dispense justice and re-affirm values as well as principles that are also held dear in Islam.

    Some examples are civil laws that punish those who harm the weak in society, damage the environment or are involved in acts of corruption. These are laws that Singapore is known for. It is noteworthy that religious scholars from conservative Islamic countries who visited Singapore remarked that its civil laws exude the spirit of the shariah, even though it is a non-Islamic state.

    There is always a concern that legal judgements made in the name of religion may be abused by an unjust government for reasons of expediency or by a harsh judiciary on the basis of arbitrary arrests or false witnesses. This is why scholars like Ashmawy take the strong position that Muslims should only consider implementing hudud laws if their societies consist of pious as well as honourable people and leaders of high moral integrity who do not abuse power so that political, social and economic justice prevails.

    It is therefore judicious  for Muslims and their leaders  to focus on building a just and moral society governed by trustworthy leaders rather than treading the path of implementing  hudud laws without fulfilling the deliberately onerous preconditions – and violating the principle of justice  found in the Quran.

    About the Author

    Mohammad Alami Musa is Head of Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.

    Categories: Commentaries / Religion in Contemporary Society

    Last updated on 10/12/2014

    Back to top

    Terms of Use | Privacy Statement
    Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
    This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
    OK
    Latest Book
    CO14103 | Hudud and Inter-Religious Relations

    Synopsis

    The implementation of hudud laws has ramifications on inter-religious relations due to misperceptions that may arise abou ...
    more info