DDHK News, Brunei Darussalam - This week the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam became the first East Asian country to introduce Islamic law to criminals.
The former British protectorate with a per capita income of nearly US $ 50.000 has become the first East Asian country to implement Islamic law on a national scale.
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (67) is said to have become more religious by announcing the adoption of sharia as a great achievement.
Starting on Wednesday (30/4/2014) citizens of this country, which is dominated by Malay Muslims, will face Islamic justice, fines or imprisonment, if they commit illegal acts such as getting pregnant outside of marriage, failing to perform Friday prayers and spreading religions other than Islam.
The second phase of the sentence will be applied 12 months later to the cheaters and alcohol drinkers with whipping and slashing.
The death penalty, including stoning, will be introduced in the final phase a year later for adultery, sodomy and insult. Alquran and Prophet Muhammad SAW.
This sharia law, according to the news agency Reuters , will also apply to non-Muslims. This has raised concerns from Western workers in the oil sector and tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese in Brunei as well as 30.000 Filipino migrant workers who are mostly Catholics.
Western figures including host Ellen DeGeneres and British actor Stephen Fry have condemned the Brunei initiative. DeGeneres and Fry even called for a boycott of a hotel belonging to the Sultan.
Brunei Muslim scholars guarantee that this system will not lead the country which borders Indonesia and Malaysia to "extremism".
"It will not be carelessly chopping, stoning or whipping. There are conditions and fair methods, ”said sharia expert Awang Abdul Aziz.
Brunei applies Islamic law to eradicate crime, which increased by a third in 2000-2008. Arrests for people for drug crimes increased 50 percent last year compared to 2012. (Reuters, Antara News). *
