PETALING JAYA: Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, better known as Dr Maza, says that public caning under syariah law should be limited to adultery.
He said there were no stipulations in Islamic law which states that khalwat (close proximity) offenders should be publicly caned.
"Opposing public caning does not mean opposing Islamic teachings as my view is that publicly caning for khalwat offenders is not Allah's law but the authorities," Mohd Asri said in a Facebook post Saturday (Dec 28).
"Public caning, in fact, contradicts the principles of Islamic law which says that an individual's faults must be concealed.
"However, caning for adultery is found in the Quran, although subject to strict conditions, as there must be four credible witnesses who see the act, which is almost impossible," he said.
Mohd Asri added that Islam opposes slander and prohibits sin between Allah and an individual to be turned into a public spectacle.
Several parties have voiced their dissatisfaction on Terengganu's decision to carry out public caning for syariah offences.
A construction worker received six strokes of rotan on Friday (Dec 27) after he was found guilty of repeated khalwat offences.
