Muslim doctors don’t see eye to eye

PETALING JAYA: A group representing Muslim physicians has defied the Health Ministry and Malaysian Medical Association on the hudud issue, saying that its members will amputate limbs "in the most humane manner possible".
Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia president Dr Mohammed Fauzi Abdul Rani said syariah law mandates Muslim physicians to perform the surgical procedure as instructed by syariah courts and as such, Muslim physicians must abide by it.
"It will be done in the most humane manner possible, (and it will serve) as a severe lesson for the offender," he said in a statement.
Fauzi said Muslim physicians are subservient to the higher ideals of syariah law to protect the general public.
On the Hippocratic Oath where physicians are expected to "do no harm" (primum non nocere), he said Muslim doctors are not doing any harm to a criminal who has transgressed the boundaries of social justice and has to undergo a punishment prescribed by Islamic law.
"These crimes (theft, fornication, adultery, alcohol consumption and apostasy) which threaten the social and moral order are seen as transgressing the limits set by God Himself and thus have punishments mandated in the Quran.
"Hudud laws ... are divinely ordained and Muslims are in no position to negate them," he said.
Fauzi said Muslims had no difficulty accepting that non-Muslims have different beliefs and live their lives differently from Muslims.
"We respect and celebrate religious plurality... Please show us the same courtesy," he added.
He also said that a conviction under syariah law "is extremely difficult as the benefit of doubt is in favour of the accused".
On Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam's statement that there were no provisions under the Medical Act for such amputations, Fauzi said the act of amputation (of criminals) should not be considered a medical practice.
Meanwhile, Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) director Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa described the proposal by Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Amar that surgeons amputate limbs under syariah law as "outrageous".
He said this is because the act is against medical ethics.
"This suggestion will definitely bring the entire medical profession into disrepute. The medical profession is the noblest profession on earth and to even suggest such a heinous act against another human being in the name of religion is simply callous and nefarious."