IPOH: Perak Mufti, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria has asked all parties to look at the legal benefits of the public caning of two women in Terengganu recently and not from the political point of view.
Harussani said the caning was meant to teach the offenders a lesson and the caning did not maim, torture or injure them.
"There is a way to do it, of which the cane was not raised high and it was not brutal. From an
Islamic perspective, the caning was meant to teach them a lesson.
"That was why the caning was open to the public as it was meant to teach and act as a deterrent to others.
The offenders meanwhile, will not repeat the act or risk being caned again," Harussani told reporters here after delivering a keynote address at the Wacana Kesejagatan Ummah 2018.
He was commenting on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement who denounced the caning of the two Muslim women for attempting lesbian sex in a car in April, a sentence that sparked outrage and raised fears about the treatment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the country.
The women had pleaded guilty to charges under Islamic laws forbidding lesbian sex. They were caned on Monday in front of dozens of people at the Terengganu syariah high court.
Meanwhile Harussani said the two women were eligible to receive zakat (tithe) as they have repented and the money is to assist them in their rehabilitation.
"The zakat will not be given to them irectly and will be channeled to them via religious rehabilitation activities to make them closer to Islam."