KUALA LUMPUR: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang called upon Muslims today to celebrate Hari Raya by backing efforts to expand Shariah law through his parliamentary Bill dubbed RUU355.
The Islamist party head claimed that Shariah courts currently exist only in name and that powers of Islamic law had been obstructed by British colonialists then.
“Therefore, we should unite to throw off all obstructions and it is forbidden to be with those who oppose and who try to stop this effort,” Hadi said in his Hari Raya Aidilfitri message.
“Let us celebrate Hari Raya with a strong spirit that obeys God, proving our faith to all injunctions in the Quran and uniting to oppose all enemies by our efforts to uphold Islamic law, which is currently RUU355 that will open the door to all states to return to Islamic law according to their own capabilities.
“Forget all our quarrels by facing our real enemy because our enemies are those who oppose Islam publicly or privately through all sorts of lies and deceit,” he added.
Hadi also claimed that even though the Federal Constitution states that Islam is the religion of the federation, the powers of the Islamic courts are obstructed through the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, known as Act 355.
Hadi’s private member’s Bill seeks to amend Act 355 to increase the Shariah courts’ maximum sentencing limits to 30 years’ jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the cane. The federal law currently limits the Shariah courts’ sentencing powers to a maximum of three years’ jail, RM5,000 fine and six lashes.
Last April, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia postponed debate of Hadi’s Bill to the next parliamentary meeting after initial presentation and secondment of the Bill.
Source: The Malay Mail Online
