PAS leader Hadi urges repeal of colonial laws limiting Sharia criminal penalties
Hadi, in a recent Minda Presiden PAS article, called for abolishing the 1965 Syariah Courts Act and the 1956 Civil Law Act to allow stricter Islamic punishments.
Hadi used his latest Minda Presiden PAS piece to criticize the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, noting its sentencing limits of three years’ imprisonment, a RM5,000 fine and up to six strokes of the cane, which he describes as insufficiently punitive under Islamic law. He cited the 1984 amendments that enforce these caps and argued they prevent the implementation of harsher Sharia punishments. Drawing on the late lawyer Ahmad Ibrahim, Hadi advocated for a broader constitutional interpretation of Islam as al-din, a complete way of life.
He further called for the gradual repeal of the Civil Law Act 1956 to end reliance on English common law, and for a constitutional amendment that would invalidate any statute inconsistent with Islamic principles, citing Article 4 of the Federal Constitution. Hadi emphasized that full adoption of Sharia criminal law would require extensive parliamentary constitutional reforms.
