By Dawud Aisha
This is another attempt to ridicule the Shari'ah and promote the idea that Islam is incompatible with 'modern' times. Although it can be argued that these are Islamic rules, the Shari'ah must be implemented in its entirety within a true Islamic State in which sovereignty is given to Shariah and not just mere rules implemented devoid of the system.
Implementing these rules within a secular system which adopts freedom and liberalism as its basis is not our call and is in fact a deliberate attack on Islam by the enemies of Islam in order for Muslims to lose confidence in Islam in its capacity as a political doctrine which provides solutions for all of life's affairs.
The Sharia penal code is to be enforced from next Wednesday defying heavy criticism that has kept the brutal provisions on hold for the last four years.
Homosexuality is already illegal in the former British protectorate, but now it will become a capital offence. The law only applies to Muslims and punishment will also be “witnessed by a group of Muslims.”
Human rights groups who have lobbied against the enshrining of “cruel and inhuman punishments” reacted with horror at the decision to plough ahead with the extreme aspects of the penal code.
There was widespread international condemnation when Brunei first announced the roll-out of the Sharia penal code – an Islamic legal system which prescribes strict corporal punishments - in 2014.
The implementation of the law has since been delayed as officials work out the practical details under heavy opposition from rights groups.
A notice on Brunei’s Attorney General’s Chambers dated December 29 last year quietly announced that the provisions would take effect on April 3.
However, a religious affairs ministry spokesman said on Wednesday that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei’s leader, was expected to make an announcement on that date about the enforcement of Sharia.
“Only after the event we will know regarding the date of the implementation of the new laws,” he told AFP.