PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has said that in Islam, it is not up to the Pardons Board to pardon and forgive the offender.

“In Islam, the offender has to seek forgiveness from the victim, but if the victim dies then the offender has to seek pardon from the victim’s parents, siblings or next of kin,” said Hadi.

He had allegedly questioned the authority of the Pardons Board, which members are the king, prime minister, and attorney-general, at a ceramah at the PAS Bakri division headquarters on August 26, an event that was held in conjunction with the Simpang Jeram by-election.

But Islamic criminal law is not confined to hudud crimes and qisas. There are the much larger crimes of ta‘zir. 

Islamic law scholar Mohammad Hashim Kamali defined ta‘zir as “basically an open-ended category (of crimes) that extends to almost all other punishments outside the ḥudud and qiṣaṣ wherein the judge and the head of state may exercise discretion in determining a deterrent  punishment  for an offence in light of  circumstances  surrounding  the  case and condition of the offender or else to grant amnesty if they deem it to be the best course of action”. (See “Amnesty and Pardon in Islamic Law with Special Reference to Post Conflict Justice,” Islam and Civilisational Renewal, v.7, no.4, October 2015).

Kamali said ta‘zir is a sub-theme of siyasah or shariah-oriented policy. Siyasah empowers the authorities to act in accordance with the spirit and objectives of shariah (maqasid al-shariah) even to the extent of departing from scholastic interpretations and ijtihad.

As such, how is Malaysia’s pardons process not in keeping with Islamic teachings, as claimed by Hadi? – August 30, 2023.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.
 

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.