Fickle finger of fate tests Islamists in Malaysia

A Malaysian lawyer could face charges of insulting Islam for ­‘flipping the bird’ to Islamic supporters of sharia law.

‘I flashed my finger to show my contempt for them,’ says Malaysian lawyer and activist Siti Kasim.

A Malaysian lawyer and activist is being investigated and could face charges of insulting Islam for ­“flipping the bird” to Islamic supporters of a push to introduce extreme sharia law punishments such as stoning and amputations in the Southeast Asian nation.

Siti Kasim was summoned to a Kuala Lumpur police station on Monday night after a complaint was lodged against her for making the middle finger gesture in frustration as audience members ­heckled her during a public forum to discuss introduction of the extreme Islamic penal code, known as Hudud law, in Malaysia.

The investigation comes just days before a private member’s bill is to be tabled in the national parliament on Monday proposing greater powers for the nation’s sharia courts by increasing the punishments they may impose.

Sharia courts in Malaysia are currently restricted to imposing so-called “3,5,6” penalties — three years imprisonment, 5000 ringgit ($1587) fines or six lashes of the rotan cane — for transgressions of Islamic law.

The new bill proposes sharia courts be able to “impose penalties allowed by sharia law … other than the death penalty” in the state of Kelantan, leaving the way open for other states to adopt the law.

Malaysia’s Pan-Islamic Party (PAS) has been championing the bill, with the backing of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling UMNO party, and has been holding public discussions around the country to build popular support.

Ms Kasim and other opponents say the private member’s bill — which requires only a simple majority to pass into law — is a way of introducing Hudud law into Malaysia by stealth, rather than through a change to the constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority.

Footage of Ms Kasim challenging Hudud law supporters at a public forum early last month amid rowdy heckling, and finally turning around to raise a middle finger at her detractors, has gone viral in Malaysia, but it is only as parliament prepares to debate the law that police have acted on the complaint.

Police in Malaysia have the discretion to ignore frivolous complaints, but in this case opted to investigate whether Ms Kasim should answer charges of “outraging the modesty” of a male participant at the forum.

Ms Kasim, a Malay Muslim, told The Australian: “This is not about my middle finger. It is about them being shaken by a Malay woman daring to speak up against their idea of Islam, their wish to ­Islamise Malaysia.

“The man who has lodged the report is trying to pin on me that I have insulted Islam, a serious offence in this country. But everyone can see the video. I didn’t say anything about Islam. They were heckling and booing me and it was an automatic response. There was no point in shouting back at them. I flashed my finger to show my contempt for them.

“If they really want to introduce sharia, then be specific about the penalties they are seeking.”

Those advocating Hudud law say they want to elevate the power of the sharia courts for Muslims in Malaysia, and that changes will not affect non-Muslims.

Critics argue that will lead to an unjust system where two people charged with the same offence may face vastly different punishments depending on their religion. It could also conceivably lead to situations where a non-Muslim victim of rape committed by a Muslim would have to produce four male Muslim witnesses to prove her case in a sharia court.

In Indonesia’s Aceh province, where Hudud laws were first introduced for Muslims in 2001, a by-law passed late last year expanded its authority to all residents of Aceh. In April, a 60-year-old Christian woman found guilty of selling alcohol became the first non-Muslim in the state to be whipped under the laws.

The Malaysian bill will be ­tabled for the second time next week by Kelantan chief minister and PAS president Hadi Awang. He tabled it in May but withdrew it amid outrage from non-Muslim members of the government’s Barisan Nasional coalition.