You will be doing harm under hudud, G25 tells Muslim docs

PETALING JAYA: Muslim doctors taking part in amputation, stoning and executing the death penalty according to PAS’ hudud will be acting against their professional code of ethics as well as the principles of Islam, said the group of prominent Malays, G25.

“The ethical principles that guide every doctor’s practice are not only enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath but also in the four common basic moral commitments - respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice,” they said in a press statement yesterday.

The group said the principles of Islam were in tandem with the same principles that guide every doctor’s actions.

It also lauded the Health Ministry’s directive to not allow doctors from the ministry to perform amputations on criminals.

The G25 said it was a doctor’s moral obligation to act for others’ benefit, helping them to further their important and legitimate interests, often by preventing or removing possible harm.

“In healthcare, respecting people’s autonomy has many implications. It requires medical practitioners to consult their patients and obtain their agreement before things are done to them, a process that is unlikely to occur in hudud.

“At the heart of the current debate around the hudud Bill is also justice, in itself a fundamental principle of the syariah legal system.”

On Friday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry would not allow its doctors to perform amputations on criminals.

Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also weighed in by saying that the Hippocratic Oath required doctors to heal and not do otherwise.

They were responding to a news portal report quoting Kelantan’s hudud implementation committee member Dr Azhar Abdullah as saying that the state might hire Muslim doctors to perform amputations under its Syariah Criminal Code (II)(1993) 2015.

Islamic women’s group Sisters in Islam (SIS) also attacked PAS for pushing its hudud plans in Parliament.

Its spokesman said the move was unconstitutional, and told PAS to focus more on Kelantan’s economy, which had been badly affected by the December 2014 floods.