PAS-controlled Kelantan began its long-promised tabling of a set of legal amendments in order to establish what have been termed Islamic hudud law today, and reactions to the move on Malaysian social media have been divided – as one would no doubt expect.

The state government’s hope of changing an existing state enactment passed in 1993 to include the criminalisation of anal sex (technically, sodomy) between consenting married couples, imposing the death penalty for apostates who leave the Muslim faith, and (curiously enough, since they’re not Islamic at all) decriminalising bestiality, necrophilia, and lesbian sex, has been met with equal parts derision, outrage, and fervent religious celebration from Malaysian netizens.

PAS’s partners in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition (DAP is vehemently against the move, threatening to leave PR altogether, while PKR is for the moment keeping largely mum on the issue) to Barisan Nasional rivals (UMNO is pretty much on board, while everyone else in the ruling coalition: not so much) to ordinary Malaysians of every stripe, creed, and faith have weighed in on the issue today, and we’ve got some of the highlights right here.

DAP’s Tony Pua had some choice words on PAS’s insistence that tabling the hudud amendments were an exercise in democracy:

Sisters in Islam’s Suri Kempe put up a rebuttal of the proposed hudud enactments’ ostensibly “Islamic” nature:

The Malay Mail columnist Erna Mahyuni was just upset and disappointed, it seems:

So delusional some people. As though hudud has the power to purify souls. You do not create goodness with fear and pain. — Erna Mahyuni (@ernamh) March 18, 2015

And many others called out PAS’s sincerity, impartiality, and popular mandate to follow through on hudud law:

Nauseating level of hypocrisy-just becoz u claim its Hudud-doesnt make it one! Just like whn ISIS says its Islamic State-doesnt mean its one — Latheefa Koya (@LatheefaKoya) March 18, 2015

The Hudud law that YOU drafted and YOU amended is NOT God’s law. If that makes me an immoral liar, then so be it. You don’t speak for Him. — Shafiqah Othman (@sfqomhz) March 18, 2015

You cant use the argument that people want hudud when polls show that people actually want you to prioritise other things, PAS. — Syah (@syahredzan) March 18, 2015

Is imposing Hudud democratic? — P. Ramasamy (@ramasamy_png) March 18, 2015

Still, not everyone was against the proposed state laws, with many netizens applauding PAS’s chutzpah (is it ironic to describe what they’re doing with a Yiddish word?) and the party’s reaching a consensus with its archenemy UMNO on the issue:

Alhamdulillah. PAS dan UMNO Kelantan setuju hudud. Apabila umat islam bersepakat, Allah akan hantar pertolongan. Tahniah! — Tarbiah Sentap (@tarbiahsentap) March 18, 2015

Hudud untuk orang Islam…menghukum dan mendidik penjenayah..di Kelantan saja..DAP yg jadi bengong…kenapa? http://t.co/wdGDXJO6Yv — cucu tok legeh (@cucutoklegeh) March 18, 2015

Back off PKR, beri laluan PAS Kelantan bentangkan hudud, jangan pertikai. — Awang Dondang (@safuanmatyatya) March 18, 2015

Alhamdulillah. Hudud bakal terlakasana di negeri ambo — AB.HALIM (@halimrazab) March 18, 2015

hudud is above politics! hudud ni hukum Allah! – Alwi — Abae Muslim (@muslimofficial) March 18, 2015

Still others pointed out that the entire hudud debate might be distracting Malaysians from more pressing matters:

Malaysia nak laksanakan undang-undang hudud, tapi hak orang asli ditolak di UN. bukan ke islam juga pentingkan membela orang tertindas? lol — the Mata Sepet (@terrynuriman) March 18, 2015

By the power of distraction, Wave the hudud flag, And all the GST 1MDB and other embarrassing stuff will be forgotten! — soefira•FakeMeninist (@soefira) March 18, 2015

Hudud ni sebenarnya takyah dilaksanakan pun takpe kalau kita rajin sembahyang. malas sembahyang tu yang asyik buat dosa. — Gary Steven Nazri (@Nazrisuhaimi_42) March 18, 2015

Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang chided the DAP for not being able to stop the Kelantan PAS government from going ahead with its hudud debate, conveniently glossing over the fact that his BN partners in UMNO Kelantan are also throwing their full support behind the religious law:

I guess DAP ppl are now burrowing their head deep in the ground after their leaders’ failure to stop Kelantan Pakatan govt table Hudud laws — Tan Keng Liang (@tankengliang) March 18, 2015

(You might want to check if there’s any head-burrowing space left for you, sir.)

How will this all pan out? No one knows.But we searched far and wide for the most apt summation of today’s storm of arguments, counter-arguments, and furious RTing, and we have to say, this one came out ahead:

Tadi aku tanya kawan aku pasal hudud, dia jawab macam ni je: “Kawe tok kisoh pom hudud ni, kawe ore baik. Lagipun kawe duk di Melako.” — Baharom (@BaharomBahari) March 18, 2015

Yeah, pretty much.

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