Kelantan's new syariah laws criminalises tattooing and plastic surgery

GEORGE TOWN: Attempts of converting out of Islam, distortion of Islamic teachings, disrespecting the month of Ramadan, destroying houses of worship, tattooing and undergoing plastic surgery are among the offences that will be punished under Kelantan’s Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 which came into effect on Monday (Nov 1).

Other matters related to the 24 new provisions in the enactment were sexual intercourse with corpses and non-humans, witchcraft and false claims.

According to Sin Chew Daily, the enactment has been amended based on the Syariah Criminal Code (II) 1993 and the existing 1985 Syariah Criminal Code.

Under the Kelantan’s Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019, Syariah courts will have the power to hear the cases in which the punishments include a jail term of not more than three years and a fine of up to RM5,000 or six strokes of the rotan, and that the punishment is categorised under ta'zir (crimes with discretionary punishments) and not under hudud (Islamic Penal Code).

The enactment also differs from the amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355), which had proposed for the increase of the maximum punishment in the Syariah Courts to 30 years’ jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the rotan.

Present punishment for Syariah offenders in all the states in the country are capped at three years’ jail, a RM5,000 fine and six strokes of the rotan to enhance the powers of the Syariah Courts.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of religious affairs Idris Ahmad had said Act 355 and other Islamic-related enactments would not affect non-Muslims.

It was reported that Kelantan’s Sultan Muhammad V had consented to the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019.

Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob, in a briefing programme on Sunday (Oct 31), said that it was hoped that the enforcement of the Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 would be beneficial in strengthening the syariah law, not only in Kelantan, but also in other states in Malaysia.

He was quoted as saying that the enforcement of the enactment was aimed at educating and bringing the offenders back to the right path of Islam, not just merely punishing them.

The enactment was tabled at the State Assembly in October 2019 before it was passed and eventually received royal assent on July 14, 2020, and gazetted on Dec 31, 2020.