Story highlights Proposal will be debated in October and if approved will replace current provisions

Hudud law allows for penalties such as amputation of limbs and stoning

Kuala Lumpur (CNN) A proposal in Malaysia's Parliament to introduce the strict Islamic penal code known as hudud law is threatening to split the country's government apart.

The proposed bill was introduced in parliament last Thursday by Abdul Hadi Awang, the president of the country's opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party.

It will be debated in October and, if passed, will replace current provisions in the country's Sharia courts -- which govern Muslims -- with harsher hudud punishments. Hudud law allows for penalties such as amputation of limbs and stoning.

The tabling of the bill was made possible with the support of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the majority party that makes up the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. Prime Minister Najib Razak has been trying to calm the uproar that has erupted since the tabling of the proposal, denying that the bill will lead to the full implementation of hudud law.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak

"I would like to state that it's not for the implementation of hudud. It's just to give the Sharia courts enhanced punishments. From six-strokes caning to a few more," he said, in an interview with local media.

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