Kelantan had made sorcery a chargeable offense. Here’s why it’s not such a weird idea.

[This article was originally written by our friends at Soscili. To read this article in BM, click here!]

If you ask a modern Malaysian what they think of black magic, perhaps many will scoff at the notion. Like, if black magic is real, why aren’t any of our politicians coughing up nails yet? because they have stronger black magic duh

But deep down, it’s kind of hard to dismiss it entirely either. Black magic, witchcraft, sorcery, or whatever you want to call it, had always been in the Malaysian psyche: it practically props up the local horror movie industry, and mentions of black magic make their way into news headlines now and then. Some academic papers even speak about the topic, and Malaysian academicians occasionally come up with solutions for it.

With that in mind, perhaps it’s no surprise that black magic is serious business™ to a large section of Malaysians, and quite recently, sihir (the Malay/Arabic term for black magic) was made a chargeable offense in Kelantan. As for why anyone would do that…

Sihir is seen as a heavy, yet unpunishable crime… until now

According to a UKM paper from 2015, the belief in black magic is so common in Malaysia that it’s not unusual for someone to think that they’ve been the victim of a black magic attack, and allegations of black magic can be heard from business people, married couples, celebrities, politicians, academics, and even religious institutions.

For example, black magic can be behind why your restaurant is failing, because a competitor’s black magic makes it appear that your shop is always closed to customers. Celebrities can waste away and die because someone made them sick through black magic. You can also be scammed into giving someone money or sleeping with them through black magic.

The applications of black magic are quite wide, so judging by how prevalent and damaging black magic is, and how there’s no law to scare people off from doing it, the paper called for the authorities to do something about all these sorcerous shenanigans.

And Kelantan did just that recently. After six years of researching various matters relating to sharia offenses, the Enakmen Kanun Jenayah Syariah (I) 2019 was drafted, approved, and finally gazetted at the end of 2020. Besides black magic, 23 other things are now either offenses or carry a higher penalty, like necrophilia, bestiality, and false accusations of sodomy, adultery, and lesbianism, among others.

While we can’t find the enactment itself online, penalties vary depending on the offense, with a maximum of 3 years jail, a RM5,000 fine, and six strokes of the cane. Alternatively, the law also allows for the court’s discretion in sentencing offenders to either rehabilitation of not more than six months, or up to 240 hours of community service.

And while it’s still new…

Kelantan had started investigating witchcraft cases in March

We have to note that as far as we can tell, the only other country which criminalizes witchcraft is Saudi Arabia, which employs a special ‘Anti-Witchcraft Unit‘ to educate the public about the dangers of witchcraft, investigate cases, neutralize hexes, and dispose of magic paraphernalia.

This criminalization of witchcraft wasn’t exactly seen as a good thing, though. Getting back to Kelantan, the first two cases of witchcraft are already being investigated under the new enactment as of March this year.

“[There had been] two new prosecutions involving witchcraft cases between January and February this year. For example, after receiving a report regarding a victim of witchcraft, we will be conducting investigations before making a decision.” – Hasnan Ramli, Deputy Operations Director of Kelantan’s Religious Affairs Department, translated from Astro Awani.

How the investigations will be done hadn’t been revealed yet, but according to Prof Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal, a lecturer of law from the International Islamic University of Malaysia, one possible way to do it is through forensic techniques, like using DNA evidence.

“For example, the witch doctor needs to own things that belong to the victim such as hair, clothing, a favorite possession, or other things that can be linked back to the act of witchcraft,” – Prof Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal, translated from Sinar Harian.

Other than DNA, he also gave an example of working with an expert bomoh to determine the modus operandi and rituals needed for witchcraft to happen. So it’s kind of possible to prove that someone is involved in witchcraft. Prof Dr Nik himself believes that laws regarding witchcraft can be drafted well, as long as they can address the vital issues of intention, action, and evidence.

So it seems that a law for witchcraft may not be the craziest idea, but whether or not it’s a good idea will remain to be seen.