The sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, announced that in six months the Shariah Law will be instituted as part of strict Islamic criminal laws, making Brunei the first Southeast Asian country to enforce Sharia law at a national level, the Associated Press reported.
Shariah Law includes penalties like arm amputation for theft, and stoning for adultery. The sultan has planned to implement the set of laws for years as part of a plan to greater the influence of Islam in the Borneo Island of Southeast Asia, the AP reported.
Hassanal, who has complete executive authority, has reigned over Brunei since 1967, and has enforced conservative policies like banning the selling of liquor. Opposition to his policies almost never occur, according to the AP.
The sultan said the Islamic law would only apply to Muslims living in Brunei who make up two-thirds of the island's population, and that the code should be "regarded as a form of "special guidance" from God and would be "part of the great history of Brunei," the AP reported.
"By the grace of Allah, with the coming into effect of this legislation, our duty to Allah is therefore being fulfilled," Hassanal said during a conference in Brunei's capital on Tuesday, the AP reported.
Brunei already uses caning, a physical beating with a cane-like stick usually made of rattan palm trees, for immigration offenses.
According to the AP, Mufti Awang Abdul Aziz, who is a top Islamic scholar in Brunei, said during the conference on Tuesday that the implementation of the Shariah law will guarantee "justice for everyone and safeguards their well-being."
Instead of viewing the Shariah law negatively, Aziz said the acts which call for Sharia law should be viewed negatively.
"Let us not just look at the hand-cutting or the stoning or the caning per se, but let us also look at the conditions governing them," Aziz said. "It is not indiscriminate cutting or stoning or caning. There are conditions and there are methods that are just and fair."
Aziz told reporters Brunei is not concerned with foreign travelers' decision to avoid Brunei after the Shariah law is implemented.
"Please listen to our answer. Sir, do all potential tourists to Brunei plan to steal? If they do not, then what do they need to fear," Aziz said during the conference, the AP reported. "Believe me when I say that with our Shariah criminal law, everyone, including tourists, will receive proper protection."
