To Cane or Not To Cane- that is the question now.

Obviously when I wrote an essay titled Philistines and Pharisees, many people forgot and made light of my experience as an ex ADUN in Pahang. During that term I was able to see first hand how government departments function. That included the operations of religious authorities. Accordingly, I know their capacities and limitations. There are very good and righteous people there. But very often, their enthusiasm in carrying their duties is a case of the sprit willing, the body isn't.

Their limitations include the political and social and cultural contexts within which they operate. So I say once again, I do not make light when I speak of religion from a certain aspect of which I am familiar with (the implementation and action). Saya faham akan keterbatasan persekitaran dan linkungan dalam mana institusi perlaksanaan agama Islam beroperasi. Maka saya menyeru, apabila kita membuat teguran jangan lah segera naik angin dan menuduh kita yang mempunyai pandangan berbeza memusushi Islam.

When I wrote my first essay on this issue, it produced many very agitated comments. Ini biasa- those who feel they are a little bit more religious will judge others as less accomplished. One day, I may want to share my experience moving among the faithful when I served as information chief to the PM a few years back when I brought the practice of Ratib Haddad into mosques and musallas in Pekan. If I were to be judgmental, I would be able to say, without exception, those I met to be very religious in their appearances were really paper tigers. Tapi ini bulan puasa, saya tak mahu cakap lah. Saya pun tak mahu di cap sebagai VS Naipaul.

There was even one who asked me not to comment on religious issue in this holy month of Ramadan. Yes sir, I understand the suggestive insinuations there. I am ready to admit my knowledge in these sublime matters of Islamic laws is meagre. Tapi jangan jadikan itu sebagai alasan tidak boleh bertarbiyah dengan hikmah yek? Elsewhere, most other commentators decried what they saw as my attempt in taking this issue lightly. I assure you I am not. I have responded so in my comments section.

If I were to write that essay using a fountain pen, the ink has not even dried up, when the Pahang religious authorities made a volte face. It was reported thus:-

Everything seemed set for her punishment when she was scheduled for caning on Monday at Kajang prison. But Pahang Religious Department officers made a literal U-turn after picking her up at her house and returned her 45 minutes later after stopping by the roadside for 40 minutes.

Ap sudah jadi? The convicted wants to be caned up and she was on the way to Kajang prison to be whipped when the above took place. The moral police got cold feet or what? Where has the holier than thou admonitions disappeared? I also noted that the caning was to be done in Kajang prison. We do not know whether these people in Kajang prison are trained in Islamic caning as prescribed by the laws of Pahang; I think it is safe for me to assume that the caning will be carried out by experienced buttock caners trained in the civil law punishments. If that is so, then the photographs which I included in my posting here are reflective of the type of caning that is going to be given.

But there is another thing I find disturbing. The offence took place in Pahang, sentence was passed in Pahang, but the punishment in Selangor? Apa hal? Pahang hasn't got anyone to cane people kah? As my learned blogging friend, dongtalk said, ini tak payah pakar. Kasi malu Pahang sahaja. Orang yang tak pakar pun takde kah? The procedures to be followed are as follows:-

Alat sebatan yang digunakan hendaklah diperbuat dari rotan atau ranting kecil pokok yang tiada ruas atau buku dan panjangnya tidak melebihi 1.22 meter dan tebalnya tidak melebihi 1.25 sentimeter. Kalau pesalah itu hamil, hukuman itu hendaklah dilaksanakan selepas 2 bulan dia melahirkan anaknya.
Pesalah hendaklah diperiksa tahap kesihatannya oleh Pegawai Kesihatan Kerajaan sebelum hukuman tersebut boleh dijalankan.
Hukuman sebat itu hendaklah dengan kehadiran Pegawai Perubatan Kerajaan.
Sebatan tidak boleh kena muka, kepala, perut, dada atau bahagian sulit.
Pesalah lelaki disebat berdiri manakala perempuan dalam keadaan duduk
Sebatan hendaklah dijalankan dengan kekuatan sederhana iaitu tukang sebat itu tanpa mengangkat tangannya melebihi kepala supaya tidak melukakan kulit pesalah. Jika semasa perlaksanaan hukuman sebab itu Pegawai Perubatan Kerajaan memperakui bahawa pesalah itu tidak lagi dapat menerima sebatan, sebatan itu hendaklah ditangguhkan sehingga Pegawai Perubatan Kerajaan itu memperakukan bahawa pesalah itu sihat tubuh badannya untuk menjalani baki sebatan yang tinggal.
Selepas mengenakan satu sebatan, tukang sebat hendaklah mengangkat alat sebatan itu ke atas dan tidak menariknya.Semasa disebat, pesalah hendaklah memakai pakaian menurut Hukum Syarak.

The way the procedures are put, make them very meticulous and it will require the presence of very learned men to supervise the caning. Certainly the procedures described above are the product of meticulous, refined and sublime thinking. I fully agree they are NOT the product of barbaric slush and sloshing of the mind.

Only that I asked whether they will have the resolve to carry out this form of punishment once it becomes precedent. If the shariah judge hasn't applied his thinking cap on this aspect before sentencing, he must do the honourable thing- resign. How can I get justice from a judge who is flip flopping? Now I know, why my religious grandfather (God Bless his soul) taught us that di akhirat, mereka yang masuk neraka dahulu ialah ulamak terutama ulamak yang kerja dengan keajaan.

So I am asking the shariah judge whether he has the spiritual resolve to stick to his guns and insist that the lashings must take place against a moral turpitude such as drinking beer. .