SIS executive director Rozana Isa said the punishment for khalwat or close proximity goes against Islamic law, which does not prescribe such harsh penalties for the offence.

“This is an unjust punishment done in the name of Islam. What does the Terengganu shariah court want to prove against a man who can hardly be considered a criminal?” she told FMT.

Rozana said it was shameful of the Terengganu government and its shariah court for choosing to make the punishment a public spectacle in a mosque.

Affendi Awang, 42, was publicly caned in Terengganu last Friday at the Al-Muktafi Billah Shah Mosque after Friday prayers, having been sentenced to six lashes on Nov 20 by Terengganu shariah high court judge Kamalruazmi Ismail.

He pleaded guilty to committing khalwat with a 52-year-old woman at a house in Kampung Pengkalan Ranggon, Kemaman, at 1.40am on June 16. He was also fined RM4,000, or six months’ jail if the fine is not paid.

Rozana took aim at claims by PAS figures in Terengganu that the caning was an act of “rahmah” (compassion) and “hikmah” (wisdom).

“They certainly do not have a very good comprehension of what compassion and wisdom actually mean. This public spectacle is an abomination condoned in the name of religion,” she said.

Over the weekend, Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin said rejecting public caning for shariah offences does not mean opposing Islamic teachings.

“There is no stipulation in Islamic law requiring khalwat offenders to be caned in public,” he said in a Facebook post.