And you thought Islamists & I could never agree!

‘ And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors’ – Surah 24 verse 4 of the Holy Qur’an

‘If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way’ – Surah 4 verse 15 of the Holy Qur’an

‘If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, Leave them alone; for Allah is Oft-returning, Most Merciful’ – Surah 4 verse 16 of the Holy Qur’an

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“I have been advised by Muslim scholars, ulamas and my legal counsel to bring this case under the laws of Qazaf. As Islamic issues have been raised with regards to this case, I have conferred with religious experts and have found provisions under Syariah law for this,” – DSAI on Wednesday, 9th July, 2008, on his complaint to the Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (JAWI) that Saiful had committed Qazaf, an offence under Section 41 of Act 559 Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) 1997, as reported in the Malaysian Insider.

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In my ‘No more teasing, please’ post, I had asked :

‘Or have I got it wrong and that the ‘four witnesses to penetration’ requirement only applies to a situation where the ‘penetratee’ is of the fairer sex, or when a member of the fairer sex is accused of unchaste conduct?’

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NST online reports today that Syariah Lawyers Association president, Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, took the view that Anwar’s complaint may contradict 2 elements of Section 41, given that the offence of qazaf here is stated to be in connection with an allegation of zina.

“The code does not state that zina is equivalent to liwat, which is sex between a man and another man…This means that Mohd Saiful would have had to accuse Anwar and someone else, not Anwar and himself, of zina,”, NST online quotes Zainul as saying.

NST online also quotes Universiti Malaya’s Syariah and Law Department head Dr Siti Zubaidah Ismail as saying that “In Malaysian syariah, you only need four witnesses if you accuse someone of zina but not of liwat. Mohd Saiful can bring whatever evidence he has as long as it fulfils the rules of evidence. It is not necessary for him to bring four witnesses…The burden of proof would be on Anwar as he has to prove that Mohd Saiful’s accusations are false. But before any of that occurs, it would be interesting to see whether or not the Syariah Court interprets what constitutes zina and liwat when it comes to qazaf,”.

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Section 41, Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) 1997 :

Except in cases of li’an, any person who accuses another person of committing zina without procuring four male witnesses or an iqrar of the accused person in accordance with Islarnic Law shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

Section 2 ( interpretation section ) of Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) 1997 :

“zina” means sexual intercourse between a man and a woman out of wedlock.

“li’an” means an allegation made by a man under oath in accordance with Islamic Law that his wife has committed zina;

“liwat” means sexual relations between male persons;

“qazaf” means making false allegation on any person;

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I think Zainul and Dr Siti Zubaidah are right.