When khalwat leads to rape threats

The pessimistic side of me was not surprised when sexual innuendos, rape and death threats were made towards Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin.

After all, we have seen this before: similar threats, sexts, bigoted comments and even violation of rights were committed against Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Maria Chin Abdullah for their involvement with Bersih, and Aisyah Tajuddin for hosting an episode of BFM Kupas.

It seems that for some Malaysian men, when women say something that do not sit well with them, they can only hope to subjugate us by threatening rape.

Isn’t it a wonder that a recent report cited rape happens every 35 minutes in this country? More mind-boggling is the assumption by some men that women tend to dramatize such threats; that for some Malay men, sexual innuendos is a part of Malay culture and can be seen as a joke.

Let me make it clear, rape threats are not a joke. Neither should we Malaysians accept such sexual connotations and rape threats as a normalcy in our culture.

The backlash from the two-day forum “Islam in a Constitutional Democracy” organised by G25 spotlights khalwat, despite the lengthy discussions during the forum on the discrepancies of shariah laws and how there are overlaps between shariah and civil laws in the country. For a Muslim, it can be double jeopardy if such discrepancies are not resolved.

However, the public’s focus was directed towards a statement made in the press conference, where Datuk Noor Farida remarked that khalwat laws are unnecessary and is a form of moral policing. Baffling, how everyone jumped to defend this piece of law that, to my knowledge, is not a part of Islamic tradition and history, and seems to serve no beneficial purpose other than exposing people’s private sins.

The Arabic definition of the word khalwat means “to be in a spiritual retreat”. Malaysia is the only country with shariah laws that define khalwat as two Muslims who are in close proximity and suspect of having intentions to have extramarital sex.

To further argue this point, I cite the respected Sunni scholar, Habib Abdullah al-Haddad (1634-1720) from Hadhramaut in his work, Taqwa and Knowledge, where he said:

“Know that there is no compulsion upon you to investigate concealed wrong doings. Quite the contrary, it is actually forbidden according to the words of the Exalted: ‘And spy not on each other,’ (Surah Al-Hujarat 49:12) and the words of the Prophet, upon him be peace and salutations, ‘whoever investigates the secrets of his brother, Allah will investigate his secrets’.” [1]

As Muslims, should we not embrace the original meaning of khalwat and find the spiritual connectivity with God in our own space? Should we not take more care in improving our own deeds and serve the community as better Muslims, other than policing others with a holier-than-thou attitude?

Further, what benefits have Malaysian khalwat laws brought upon us?

Looking at the modus operandi of khalwat operations: a group of men are given the authority to raid any private dwelling, hotels, or secluded areas on the basis of suspicion that two individuals, i.e. consenting adults, are committing sexual acts. In some cases, these authorities exerted their powers unabashedly, even to the extent of placing such suspicions on son and mother, or women who are simply moving house. In some cases, these raids have caused death.

When found “guilty”, those charged with khalwat can be fined up to RM5,000 or face incarceration up to three years, or in combination alongside six lashes of the cane. They will become statistics on the religious authorities’ website, some have their names splashed in mainstream newspapers, and some are forced to marry to resist embarrassment.

To my humble layperson understanding, laws are made to allow justice. Where is justice in exposing activities done in private, be it sexual acts or alcohol consumption, other than causing embarrassment to said individuals?

How do this law and its corresponding sentence, in particular assist to reduce the number of cases of baby dumping, mitigate HIV transmission and prevent rape or incest? The only publication I could get hold of at time of writing seems to justify the need for khalwat raids to mitigate such social issues, yet do not make analytically sound conclusions on the association between the two.

I find it sad that the outcome of a rich discourse over two days is reduced to a statement made in the press conference. Even that, the statement was taken out of context and filled with sentiments by those who for some reason, feel threatened and chose to threaten the messengers instead.

We have seen this before. Aisyah Tajudin was threatened when questioning Kelantan government’s euphoria of implementing the hudud bill over providing sustainable relief efforts to the annual floods in Kelantan. Ambiga and Maria were threatened for exposing corruption and challenges to our democracy. Noor Farida was threatened, for calling on a relook of shariah laws in order to seek justice.

Indeed, we have failed our fellow Malaysian women through our continuing silence and ignorance. – December 16, 2015.

Note:

[1] The full citation of this work is: Imam Abdullah Ibn Alawi Al-Haddad, Taqwa and Knowledge (From Al-Nasaih al-Diniyyah), Glasgow: Kitaaba, 2010, p. 18.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.