ABSTRACT
One area in which re-evaluation of the shariah is urgently needed is the hudud, which forms part of the criminal law of Islam. The advent of public beheadings, amputations, and other forms of corporal punishment in Afghanistan after the Taliban's assumption of power in 1996 epitomised the misguided priorities and misapplied principles of some contemporary Islamic movements. Closer to home, the Hudud bill passed in Kelantan in 1993, although found to be in conflict with federal law, reflected that same inversion of priorities. This article, written in 1992 before either of those events, appeared in Aliran Monthly (Volume 12, No. 6).
