In an article appearing in AsiaOne News Online, it is revealed how Dato’ Dr. Haron Din, a head teacher of a basic course conducted by Darusysyifa’ Warrafahah, suggested in one of his papers that witchcraft and/or black magick should be punishable by law and that a judge should be able to sentence people according to the offense. The title of his paper is “Witchcraft: Its Effects on Beliefs and How to Overcome Them.”
And this is no ancient scholarly paper folks. This is a paper that was offered up at an inaugural presentation of authorization certificates and it was presented to 165 medical practitioners in Islam this past week.
According to Dato’ Haron, by putting such legislation in place, those people that use witchcraft or black magick can then be exiled from their homes, put in prison, and whipped. What’s more, Dato’ Haron argues that the offender can be forced to take a course on aquidah, or faith, once they have completed serving their prison sentence. Of course, the offender would then have to be closely watched to ensure that they did not slip into their former practices again once released from prison too.
Dato’ Haron argues that witchcraft is immoral and has been banned from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; he believes that the effects of witchcraft are cruel and it forces people to suffer from unbearable suffering and misery. Dato’ Haron argues that witchcraft is widespread because nobody is doing anything about it.
This argument comes from an allegedly educated man who holds a degree from the Malaya Islamic College and another from the Al-Azhar University in Egypt. This argument comes from a man with a diploma in Education and a PhD from Darul University. While I firmly believe that everyone has the right to believe as they choose to, I don’t believe that people should be punished, whipped and imprisoned because of another group’s intolerance, ignorance, or stupidity. I wonder if this gentleman has read the Malleus Maleficarum? It sure seems like he’s using it to support his paper.
In the Malleus Maleficarum, the Witches Hammer, it reads:
It is asked first what is to be done when, as often happens, the accused denies everything. We answer that the Judge has three points to consider, namely, her bad reputation, the evidence of the fact, and the words of the witnesses; and he must see whether all these agree together.
And further:
If he confesses and is impenitent, he is to be handed over to the secular courts to suffer the extreme penalty, according to the chapter ad abolendam, or he is to be imprisoned for life, according to the chapter excommunicamus. But if he does not confess, and stoutly maintains his denial, he is to be delivered as an impenitent to the power of the Civil Court to be punished in a fitting manner, as Henry of Segusio shows in his Summa, where he treats of the manner of proceeding against heretics.
Sounds strikingly similar, doesn’t it?
Read the full horrific story about this presentation.
Malleus Maleficarum Source
