The Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) has taken former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to task for sowing further "confusion" over the hudud law.

Referring to a television interview with Mahathir on April 17, Abim president Amidi Abdul Manan said the ex-premier unfairly portrayed the Islamic code as "absurd and cruel".

He said Mahathir's remarks, which mirrored his previous jeer that "those who want to have a soup of (dismembered) hands can go to Kelantan", encouraged others to oppose the proposed Hudud private member's bill.

"He tried to give an example that many Muslims will be without hands because they stole while the same crime will only send a non-Muslim to jail for two months...

"He should understand that the burden of proof in the hudud is based on the principle of 'beyond the shadow of doubt' which far outweighs 'beyond reasonable doubt'.

"(This) ensures the rights of the accused and provides lessons for society," Amidi (photo) said in a statement.

Repent and retract remarks

Amidi added that Mahathir's "casual question" on whether punishment for extra-marital sex is explicitly stated in the Quran or just in the hadith (sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) is also troublesome.

Calling on Mahathir to "repent", he said that the hadith is the secondary source in Islam and should not be looked down upon.

He also urged the former PM to retract his statement "for the sake of his faith and love for the prophet".

"Abim feels that it is best for him not to share his views in public...(as) his views are not based on real knowledge and are unfair...

"As Muslims, we should be fair to all including in our descriptions of Islam. Abim hails what he has done to raise the stature of Islam but his statements (on hudud) are dangerous and confusing," he added.

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