- Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has announced that it would begin the phase one of enforcement of sharia law, the Islamic penal code, making it the first such country in Southeast Asia to implement it on a national level.
- Implementation of sharia, penalties under which will eventually include death by stoning, flogging and severing of limbs, has been condemned by people across the world, including the non-Muslim ethnic Chinese which form 15% of the country’s population.
- Majority of the citizens who are ethnic Malays have welcomed this move by their father figure who had first proposed in the 1990s and believes Islam is the firewall against globalization.
- Brunei is known to practice a relatively conservative form of Islam with measures such as ban on the sale of alcohol and restricting other religions.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/brunei-pushes-ahead-with-tough-sharia-code/article5964656.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Sharia Laws