Hadi’s faux PAS

FMT:

Hadi’s faux PAS

Hadi’s lack of political maturity affects the viability of a PAS-led coalition government.




Has Abdul Hadi Awang, the PAS president, lost his marbles?

To him, leading a party with the most seats in the Dewan Rakyat – 43 of 222 – without being able to form a government must be like being in a pressure cooker. All he can do is to let off steam intermittently.

It must frustrate him to watch a unity government from the sidelines without being able to implement his “Malay and Islam first” doctrine.

Hadi’s latest bout of delirium began with his doomsday prediction that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government was on the brink of collapse.


Anwar’s curt reply was short and pointed: “Keep on dreaming”.

Unlike Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I have a dream” speech which called for “equality and freedom”, Hadi’s dream would likely involve a change in government, with him enthroned as the new prime minister with a mandate to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state. Many would say, God forbid.

Hadi’s ramblings are in direct opposition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s hope that Anwar will be the final prime ministerial appointment during the King’s tenure as monarch, which ends next year. His Majesty had when appointing Anwar expressed the hope of a lasting unity government.

When Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu banned politicians from delivering religious talks and sermons in mosques and suraus, Hadi defied the ruler, saying he will continue as usual.

A similar royal edict was issued in January by Johor’s Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

Hadi has always played on racial sentiments, saying that it falls on the Malay race to protect its rulers. However, as the rulers are the head of Islam in each state, his defiance can also be seen as disobeying the rulers’ edicts.

In the old days of the sultanate, such open defiance would probably have led to Hadi’s banishment to some remote area in Borneo to learn respect from the natives’ chiefs so that he would repent and ask for the rulers’ forgiveness.

Hadi, however, says there is nothing wrong with Muslim politicians delivering sermons in mosques or surau. According to him, it is important that leaders speak up on various matters, including politics.

“We have to understand that when we talk about Islam, we cannot separate politics from religion,” he said.

There are various opinions and debates about whether religious institutions should be used as a political forum. Many scholarly articles and papers have been presented on this issue.

In many instances, Friday Jumu’ah has been used by various parties to indoctrinate the masses on the political worldview of the various party platforms. Hadi is not wrong to point this out.

In October 2022, the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (religious affairs), Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, said Friday sermons touching on political issues, especially those which lean towards a certain party, should not be preached.

He said: “Friday sermons are to unravel issues which arise in our community. But if it is used for the purpose of campaigning for a certain party, which is not a public matter, then it is not allowed.”

PAS has always used Islam to further its political goals.

Encroaching into a religious institution with political talk will create a dangerous precedent and turn places of worship into a political tool for wayward politicians like Hadi.

Hadi’s open defiance cannot be treated with kids’ gloves.

It has been reported widely that Hadi was vice-president of the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars, declared a terror group by the Anti-Terror Quarter of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

This gives rise to many concerns, especially if Hadi, who is well known for his extremist views, is given a free reign to preach his brand of Islam in the mosques.

Malaysians have waited for a unity government for a very long time and the Borneo states demand inclusiveness in governing the country. Hadi, however, has always played up the supreme position of the Malays, leaving other Malaysian citizens to a secondary role.

He is well known for using Islam to discredit other races and religions. He blames other races for corruption and preaches that their members cannot occupy certain positions in the government.

In January, Hadi called Islamophobia the “new weapon” currently asserted by “orientalists” who study the religion to find its faults and weaknesses. He also said Islamophobia is being used to stop the “true Islam” from taking back power and governing the country.

The truth is, the Malays are still in a position of power and running the country. It has been that way since Malaysia was formed in 1963.

What then is “true Islam”? Hadi did not elaborate.

By his behaviour and utterances, Hadi perhaps envisions a Taliban country where the rule of Islam is forced by the barrel of the gun, freedom curtailed, women discriminated against, and the economy takes a backseat, replaced by religious edicts.

Ultimately, despite being in control of the biggest block in parliament, Hadi has not shown any political maturity for people to accept PAS as a viable alternative to lead a coalition government.

His delirious rants are damaging his own party’s chances of being a political force in Malaysia.