Liquor (ganja) the root of all evil...

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

Reflection

The Declining Day (Al-'Asr)
1. By the declining day,
2. Lo! Man is in a state of loss,
3. Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort 
one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance.

REGARDING the 'after-match' of the Keramat tahfiz school fire, I read this report in a newspaper recently: KUALA LUMPUR: “If the seven suspects are indeed guilty, they should be sentenced to death.”

"Those were the words of 38-year old mother (I prefer not to mention her name), who had expressed her anguish over the fate of her son (name withheld) who is fighting for his life at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital burn care intensive care unit (ICU).

The fire was a tragic news; it attracted the attention of the people and saddened the nation. Parents involved were tested by Allah SWT, they were moved, perhaps, ‘this traumatized mother’ without realizing it, was speaking about ‘hudud’ and in my opinion it was a clear and positive indicator that human beings long for the law of The Most Powerful Allah SWT when they feel helpless just like the call for help to Allah SWT when one is thrown into the open sea when his/her ship capsizes.

Well, the mother spoke up that she hoped the person/persons who did the gruesome act to her son would be punished as what they had done. This is likened to ‘qisas’ as contained in the Qur’an 5: 45 with the meaning: “We have prescribed for thee therein 'a life for a life, and an eye for an eye, and a nose for a nose, and a ear for a ear, and a tooth for a tooth,and for wounds retaliation;' but he whoso will not judge by what God has revealed, these be the unjust."

Those who committed the crime should be punished accordingly to what they had done. If he kills, he must die. The Islamic criminal laws comprises of 'hudud' (hodoud), 'qisas' (quisas) and 'ta'zir'. 

'Qisas' literally means "'pursuing, seeking or to return like for like." From this it also acquired the meaning of "retribution, requital and punishment." The basic rules of qisas are mentioned in the Qur'an.

Allah SWT says, "O you who believe, retribution is prescribed for you in the cases of killing; if a freeman is guilty then the freeman; if a slave is guilty then the slave; if a female is guilty then the female. But if something of the murderer's guilt is remitted by his brother then this should be adhered to in fairness, and payment be made in a proper manner. This is alleviation and a mercy from your Lord; and for him who transgresses after that is a painful chastisement. People of understanding, there is life for you in retribution that you may guard yourselves against violating the Law." (al-Baqarah 2:178-179)

In the case of murder, it means it is the right of their heirs of a murder victim to demand execution of the murderer.  Qisas is primarily the right of the family of the victim. Allah says, "...whosoever is wrongfully slain, We have given power to his heir, but let him not commit excess in killing. Lo, he will be helped." (al-Isra' 17:33)

If a person is murdered, then according to the Shari'ah, it is the duty of the society and the state to purse the murderer and to bring him/her to justice. Once the murderer is found and it is proven beyond any doubt that the murderer is found and it is proven beyond any doubt that the murderer killed another person knowingly and offensively, as a premeditated murder, then he/she will be given capital punishment.

However, the nearest relatives or heirs of the victim have a right to make monetary compensation instead or to forgive the murderer. No one else has the right to forgive accept the nearest kith and kin of a person.

Since murder, according to the Shar'iah, is not only a crime against a family, but a crime against the society at large, the Muslims jurists have explained that even his the victim's family forgives the murderer, the Muslim judge is allowed to prescribe some punishment (other than the capital punishment) or imprisonment, if the judge sees that the offender needs that for his/her own correction or as a deterrence for others in society.

Thus, we can say that according to the Shari'ah, no one can forgive the murderer except the victim's family and nearest kith and kin. The state cannot forgive a murderer, but the state is allowed to punish the murderer if it is necessary to maintain the safely and security of the society, even if all the relatives of the victim are ready to forgive the murderer.

Regarding the tahfiz school fire, police believe that they have solved the case with the arrests of seven teenagers. Investigations revealed that the suspects, aged between 11 and 18 years old, had intended to burn down the tahfiz school. According to the police, of the seven, six tested positive for ganja abuse and they were high when they started the fire.

Regarding the taking of ganja, some 'ulama' equals it with taking alcoholic drinks which had became an issue lately when some quarters had pushed for the 'Better Beer Festival 2017' in KL this October but was cancelled after being protested by PAS. The party Ulama information chief Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali hailed the cancellation but blamed the failure to put a stop to previous beer festivals that led to the current one.

"Past successes led to another festival in 2017. Had there not been objections from the community, this festival would have also succeeded," he said.

Regarding the tahfiz school fire, it showed an urgent need to tackle the scourge of drug use and of course liquor among the 'rakyat' especially youths.

Some concerned citizens claimed that ganja and alcoholic drinks are so easily available on the streets for our kids to buy. Ganja and alcoholic drinks are often said the root of all evil (including the burning of the tahfiz school)...perhaps we including leaders of this country could learn something from this 'hadith':

Abdullah bin Amr Al-Aas narrated that the Messenger of Allah s.a.w. said: “One of the kings of the Bani Israil arrested someone and put before him certain choices. He could drink wine, kill an infant, commit adultery or eat pork. But if he rejected all of these then he must be prepared to be put to death. He chose wine. Hence, when he drank wine, none of the other things remained forbidden to him (in his eyes and he did them all).”

In the version of this hadith narrated by Uthman (radi Allahu anhu) the man was a great worshipper and an ascetic who was ensnared by an immoral woman. She sent a servant to him to ask him to come over and witness a transaction. The pious man went since acting as a witness is a virtuous deed. There he was locked in with the beautiful woman who asked him to commit adultery with her, kill the infant boy present there or drink a bottle of wine. Considering drinking to be the least harmful, the man drank the bottle of wine, got intoxicated, and ended up committing adultery as well as killing the child.

This hadith is a reminder of the great evil that can be wrought under the influence of alcohol. While intoxicated a person is unaware that he is beating, maiming, raping or killing anyone. Yet he will still carry the sins for his actions since by voluntarily consuming the intoxicant he gave himself permission to do anything. That is why Allah SWT calls alcohol “an abomination of Shaytaan’s handiwork.” [Quran 5:90]

Subhanallah, taking ganja or alcoholic drinks could lead to other crimes...perhaps to the extend of burning a tahfiz school!  Sadly in Malaysia, ‘haram’ (forbidden) drinks are sold openly in convenience stores including those situated in Muslims densely populated areas. Nowadays 'our boys' could have their 'happy hours boozing away' and some 'add the kicks' by trying 'dadah' (drugs). Who actually cares about them?