INTERVIEW At the height of the push for hudud by PAS when it was in power in both Kelantan and Terengganu, Zaid Ibrahim emerged as one of the few Muslims opposing the syariah penal code and publicly spoke out against the Islamist party.

Zaid, who was then Kota Bharu Umno division chief, had in 2002 filed an application at the Federal Court for a declaration that Kelantan and Terengganu had no power to legislate the Islamic criminal law, including hudud.

A decision then could have put the debate on hudud to rest. But Zaid later withdrew his court application.

"I was told to withdraw the court application," he explained in an interview with Malaysiakini at his residence in Tropicana, Petaling Jaya, last week...