KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will not carry out public caning against Muslims, says state religious executive council member Datuk Mohd Arifin Arif.
In response to a recent statement by Sabah Mufti Datuk Bungsu Aziz Jaafar that he supports public caning, Mohd Arifin said it is the former’s personal view and not a stand of the state government.Bungsu had, among others, said he supports public caning because it would be done in accordance with Islamic law.
“I wish to stress that Bungsu’s statement is his personal view and does not represent the stand of the state.
“It is also to be stressed that the existing caning methods for takzir offences remain,” Mohd Arifin said, adding that takzir are discretionary punishments.
Takzir refers to punishments imposed for offences that are not specified in Islamic scriptures but decided by Syariah judges.
He said Sabah will not follow Terengganu in its decision to implement public caning on the basis that Sabah is a multireligious, multiracial and unique state.
“Racial and religious harmony, tolerance and understanding are all the crux of Sabah’s peaceful and harmonious living,” Mohd Arifin said in a statement yesterday.
He said Sabah holds on to the Fiqh Sabahi principle, which was also introduced by the Sabah Mufti.
It incorporates wisdom and rationality in fostering relations within Sabah’s multiracial and multireligious community.
Mohd Arifin said he hopes the matter would not be politicised or become a topic of debate, fearing it would cause a less harmonious environment.The Terengganu government had conducted its first public caning involving a man convicted by the Syariah Court for khalwat or close proximity in late December.
This drew criticism from various groups, including the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.
In a statement, it said the public caning sentence exceeds the jurisdiction allowed by federal law, particularly the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).It said while the Act permits whipping, it does not sanction the punishment being carried out in public.
