INTERVIEW For many Muslim conservatives, Zaid Ibrahim's vociferous opposition to hudud epitomises a bad Muslim and is an example of what their children should not be.
However, Zaid begged to differ. The former minister insisted his very stance makes him a good Muslim.
He blamed the country's growing conservatism - including the notion that those who do not accept hudud are bad Muslims - on the country's leaders who failed to do what good Muslim leaders should do.
"God said in the Quran, very clearly, that we have to always use our head to think. That is what good Muslims must do.
"We must not be afraid, that is why I am a good Muslim, because I am not afraid (to speak up)," he told Malaysiakini in an interview at his Tropicana residence.
Zaid is often known for his stubborn political stance, which ultimately saw him leaving Umno, then PKR and subsequently, Kita.
However, few know that in 2002, Zaid had mounted a constitutional challenge against the hudud enactments introduced in Kelantan in 1993 and in Terengganu in 2003.
'Thinking about impact of hudud'
Zaid lamented the obsession that hudud is an obligation for Muslims - and that only a few have given any thought to its impact on a modern society.
"Everybody wants to pretend to be a good Muslim, but hudud has nothing to do with that. There are other good Muslims in other parts of the world who do not want this penal code for crime implemented. There are 250 million Muslims in Indonesia who don't want it," he said.
The reality is markedly different in Malaysia. A 2011 survey titled "Muslims Youths in Southeast Asia" showed more than 70 percent of Muslim Malaysians aged between 15 and 25, wanted hudud in country.
"It will be 90 percent soon," warned Zaid. "It is 70 percent because our leaders have abandoned their responsibility in the last 20 years. They should be addressing the problem and explaining to the people".
Zaid stressed that it was not for leaders to simply comply with what that appeared to be popular opinion.
"If people want slavery, do we introduce slavery again? It is, after all, in the Quran and it never says slavery is banned," he said.
'Hudud incompatible with democracy'
Islamists, and the party PAS in particular, have insisted that they will only bring about hudud through the democratic process of the Dewan Rakyat.
However, in what would surely rile up Islamist politicians, Zaid insisted that hudud is incompatible with democracy.
"When it comes to God's law, you can’t argue, there is no debate. The ulama (religious scholars) will tell you they know better than anybody else.
"So then, democracy will be dead, because you cannot argue about it, you cannot debate about it, you cannot talk about it and you cannot give your opinion. That's the law.
"If you can’t, then the whole basis of democracy is destroyed. That is why I am against hudud," Zaid said.
The spotlight fell on hudud once again after PAS declared its intention to push through with a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to give force to the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (II) 1993 in Kelantan, which among others, provides for amputation, stoning and death for various offences.
However, PAS yesterday put on hold its plan for the Private Member’s Bill, pending the hammering out of details for the implementation of hudud in a bi-partisan technical committee with Umno.
Part 2 - A weary Zaid to let others challenge hudud in court
