State in Malaysia Approves Public Canings for Breaking Sharia Law

Another in a series of posts documenting the 'progressiveness' of Islam. Sin is progressive, we see that in those addicted to pornography - it often progresses to child porn, and, in time, tends toward younger and younger children and more and more violent assaults. 

Islam progresses as its numbers rise. The greater the percentage of Muslims in a particular area or country, the more Islam moves toward Sharia and its legalism and barbarism. 

© Beawiharta / Reuters

A state in Malaysia governed by a conservative Islamist party has amended its laws to allow public canings for crimes against sharia law. Critics have called the move unconstitutional, with one politician saying it indicates a “bleak future” for the country.

The amendment was passed by the assembly of Kelantan to more closely align the state’s policies with Islamic criminal law, Kelantan deputy chief minister Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said, as quoted by Bernama state news agency.

“Caning can now be carried out inside or outside of prison, depending on the court’s decision,” Mohd Amar said.

“This is in line with the religion, which requires that sentencing must be done in public,” he said.

He declined to say exactly what offenses would be punishable by caning, although Reuters reported that the amendment applies to sharia crimes.

Ti Lian Ker, a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association, which is part of the ruling coalition, says public canings are unconstitutional under federal criminal law.

“This is a rewriting of our legal system and spells a bleak future for the nation,” he said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.

While Islamic law is observed in all of the other Malaysian states, its application is restricted to family issues such as divorce and inheritance, as well as sharia crimes involving Muslims, including the consumption of alcohol and adultery. Criminal cases are handled by federal law.

The decision of the Kelantan state assembly comes as no surprise, as the state has also been pushing to adopt a strict Islamic penal code called ‘hudud,’ which would allow adultery to be punished by stoning and thievery by amputation.

The state, which is governed by PAS, a conservative Islamist party, has also banned nightclubs and cinemas.

Last year, PAS introduced a bill that would expand the powers of sharia courts and incorporate hudud into the country’s existing legal system. The proposed legislation is expected to be debated in parliament later this month.

Ethnic Malay Muslims make up more than 60 percent of the country’s 32 million people. Similar calls to implement stricter sharia law have made waves in recent years, prompting concern from members of the country’s Chinese and Indian populations, as well as other ethnic minorities.

The Wednesday amendment comes just one month after Malaysia's Health Ministry made headlines for holding a contest soliciting videos which explained the consequences of homosexuality and "gender confusion," promising a cash award of up to US$1,000. 

Homosexuality is forbidden in Malaysia. Those violating the law face flogging and up to 20 years in jail.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian state of Kelantan isn't the only government in the region to advocate for caning, or against homosexuality.

In May, two gay men were publicly caned in Indonesia’s most conservative province, Aceh, which has the authority to enforce sharia law alongside the national criminal code. 

7000 Morality Police To Create Fear and Distrust in Iran

Iranians vent anger at new police morality unit

From BBC Middle East

Morality police, Critics say the extra officers are a waste of police resources. Getty Images


Outraged Iranians have taken to social media to condemn the decision to deploy 7,000 undercover police officers in Tehran to monitor the observance of the Islamic dress code.

Tehran's police chief announced on Monday that the role of the new unit is to:

Report women for the improper wearing of the hijab (and to ensure a woman's veil covers her in public as required)
Report anyone who harasses women
Report anyone who plays loud music in their cars and violates traffic rules

The morality police have been around for decades but the size of the new unit has taken many by surprise. The unit also includes female officers.

"Even KGB did not have 7,000 spies across the world" tweeted @big_loti (6,206 followers).

I would be surprised if there weren't that many KGB spies in Moscow alone.

The 7,000 officers will look out for violations of the above offences and text details of the incidents to the morality police to follow up. The subsequent warning could be verbal - or lead to arrests and fines.

'Waste of resources'

Social media users have scoffed at this "tragic waste of human resources" and what they consider to be ill-placed priorities.

Many posts mention that enforcement resources should be spent on more pressing issues like fighting persistent corruption and bribery.

Some undercover officers are women - Getty Images

Some women fear that it could even backfire and lead to further pestering from strangers. In the past, vigilantes linked to the paramilitary forces of Basij, have sometimes carried out street patrols to enforce hijab and prevent "un-Islamic" behaviour.

Twitter user @mahbu000be (7,268 followers) said: This "means that anyone will be able to claim to be member of the morality police from tomorrow to start disturbing women and children" on the streets.

It's "meant to frighten people" said Facebook user "Mitra Mirzaee". They want to create the feeling that people "are constantly being watched" and they also want to "increase distrust among people" and to occupy them with "some worthless things in order to prevent them from focusing on the major existing problems".

Why fear women so much I wonder, said Facebook user "Judith Sugden-Smith". The 7,000 "could be employed in constructive, productive jobs beneficial to society."

Let's see, 7000 people at about $20 per day - that's $140,000 per day. That's about $50 million dollars per year - to make sure women are as invisible as they can be. Islamism, like sin, is progressive!

Islamism, like sin, is progressive!

"We wish they hired 700 people (10% of the 7,000) to fight against the widespread problems of corruption, bribery and smuggling said a post on the popular Facebook page, "My Stealthy Freedom". The page advocates an end to compulsory hijab.

"Solve economic problems. People won't have time for wandering around when they have jobs. No-one will steal or will be selling themselves into prostitution when they are not starving," Facebook user "Navid Salimi" suggested.

Earlier in February, an anonymous team of Iranian app developers came up with a solution to help young fashion conscious Iranians avoid the morality police with a phone app called "Gershad".

The app allows users to "report" the location where morality police are patrolling and warn unwary passers-by.

The creators said they were fed up with being "humiliated" for what they wear. The latest announcement on the hijab has fuelled further irritation.

"I cannot believe how far they can go to make people miserable," tweeted user @SadafHafezy.

"According to the mind-set of the authorities...not wearing the hijab is a worse offence than embezzlement".

One message of support for the new unit came from user "Kiyan Aylia". The user called on the morality police to "arrest these ladies without hijab and also their husbands because they are supporting them". Then "clean my Iran of these [people] by sending them in exile to the West. Let them enjoy their life there," Kiyan Aylia said.