MKINI
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Published: Sep 7, 2026 1:16 PM
Updated: Sep 7, 2026 1:34 PM
"What's the point of being Muslim if they (Muslims) don't want to raise the stature of their own court? The Syariah Court only affects Muslims and has nothing to do with non-Muslims. It is strange that non-Muslims would oppose it (Hadi's Private Member's Bill to amend the Syariah Courts [Criminal Jurisdiction] Act), and even stranger that there are Muslims supporting those non-Muslims."
– PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang circa 2016
COMMENT | The dumbest argument made against PAS is that it exploits religion. PAS does not need to exploit religion because PAS more often than not defines religious policies in this country.
PAS' first principles are its atavistic interpretations of religious dogma. Its political agenda, which it has sometimes sublimated when it was in Pakatan Rakyat, for instance, is to make a theocratic state in form and, more importantly, in substance.
PAS has never hidden who they are.
Here are a few examples of religious exploitation: Presiding over the religious conversion of a youth; claiming that the destruction of an illegal holy site is a victory, then attempting to walk back on that statement; the wearing of the tudung (headscarf), when many women argue that it is a choice that is denied to them; non-Muslims interpreting Quranic verse to suit a political narrative; and advocating for Islamisation through the constitutional process when you claim to be a secular party.
These are examples of politicians exploiting religion, made worse by the fact that they are supposed to be the progressive front of this country, adhering to the preamble of the Rukun Negara.
Not only are these performative, but they further erode the secular guardrails of this country while enabling the forces which want to realise the Islamic project.
What PKR, DAP, Amanah and every ally they could have mustered should have been doing is using the socialistic underpinnings of the religion of the state to benefit all Malaysians.
At the end of the day, people want to live peacefully, with economic, social and health security binding them as a society.
"What's the point of being Muslim if they (Muslims) don't want to raise the stature of their own court? The Syariah Court only affects Muslims and has nothing to do with non-Muslims. It is strange that non-Muslims would oppose it (Hadi's Private Member's Bill to amend the Syariah Courts [Criminal Jurisdiction] Act), and even stranger that there are Muslims supporting those non-Muslims."
– PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang circa 2016
COMMENT | The dumbest argument made against PAS is that it exploits religion. PAS does not need to exploit religion because PAS more often than not defines religious policies in this country.
PAS' first principles are its atavistic interpretations of religious dogma. Its political agenda, which it has sometimes sublimated when it was in Pakatan Rakyat, for instance, is to make a theocratic state in form and, more importantly, in substance.
PAS has never hidden who they are.
Here are a few examples of religious exploitation: Presiding over the religious conversion of a youth; claiming that the destruction of an illegal holy site is a victory, then attempting to walk back on that statement; the wearing of the tudung (headscarf), when many women argue that it is a choice that is denied to them; non-Muslims interpreting Quranic verse to suit a political narrative; and advocating for Islamisation through the constitutional process when you claim to be a secular party.
These are examples of politicians exploiting religion, made worse by the fact that they are supposed to be the progressive front of this country, adhering to the preamble of the Rukun Negara.
Not only are these performative, but they further erode the secular guardrails of this country while enabling the forces which want to realise the Islamic project.
What PKR, DAP, Amanah and every ally they could have mustered should have been doing is using the socialistic underpinnings of the religion of the state to benefit all Malaysians.
At the end of the day, people want to live peacefully, with economic, social and health security binding them as a society.
Only one election for the win
Pengkalan Kundor assemblyperson Mardhiyyah Johari said, “This is the story we must spread to Malaysians, especially those who are new to PAS - we only use democratic channels - elections, Parliament, and the state legislative assembly - to carry out our agenda.”
You have to remember political parties grounded in any kind of fascism always want to have that one election that gets them voted in, and then there will be no more elections.
Why? Because they hate democracy.
The most recent example was when US President Donald Trump said this to an audience of evangelical Christians.
"I love you, Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote," as reported by Reuters.
And how does Trump achieve this objective? By working with state Republican governors and a compromised Supreme Court to rig the elections.
Closer to home, in 2021, PAS central committee member Khairuddin Aman Razali said: “There are long-term (needs) that require us to win the next general election with a two-thirds majority. (Upon achieving this) the electoral boundaries need to be changed to benefit Muslims.
“We also need to increase the number of parliamentary seats in Malay-majority areas.”
Recent comments by delegates at the PAS muktamar demonstrate that PAS is itching to play a greater role in the takeover of Putrajaya.
PAS power
Folk dismiss PAS to their own detriment. While the party has no real policy ideas to govern the country, it does have the means to come into power and an overt influence over the religious discourse in this country.
PAS Ulama chief Ahmad Yahaya said, “A statesman does not merely talk about power; they talk about how to build a legacy.”
And the ulama wing chief has demonstrated that he knows how this can be done when he disagreed with the Selangor sultan on the Bon Odori festival.
The ulama chief did three things in this issue. First, he publicly disagreed with the head of the religion of a state, thereby implying that the sultan is not fluent in religious dogma and challenging the words of the state ruler on religious grounds.
Second, he encouraged the religious apparatus in all states to further investigate the Bon Odori festival, thereby bypassing the words of the sultan and establishing a narrative that the final arbiter of what is Islamic in this country is not constitutional law but rather the religious bureaucracy.
PAS Ulama chief Ahmad Yahaya
Third, and this is the most troubling, is that Ahmad went a step further and encouraged Muslims to not attend the festival on religious grounds thereby going against the words of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who, in this context, was essentially taking the middle ground.
PAS understands that not only is the political instability brought about by the machinations of a kleptocratic or kakistocracy regime useful to them but also that more democracy injected into the Malaysian body politic is detrimental to them.
Religious delirium
This is why Madani’s Federal Territories Mufti Bill was so dangerous to democracy and could have been a boon to PAS.
The bill is best defined by SIS Forum, previously known as Sisters in Islam, who said it grants unelected officials the power to legislate without transparency or due process, exemplifying the dangerous erosion of democratic principles and constitutional rights.
“Such laws risk undermining the fundamental freedoms of Malaysians, fostering a culture of control rather than empowerment, and silencing diverse perspectives crucial for a progressive society,” the group added.
There is a difference between majoritarian imperatives and democratic imperatives.
What we are dealing with here, especially as non-Muslims/non-Malays, is the prospect of PAS-Umno further destroying the country with crude majoritarian tactics and plunging everyone into a black hole of religious delirium, all the while the elites from the Malay unity project will be slurping from the diminished gravy train.
PAS understands that not only is the political instability brought about by the machinations of a kleptocratic or kakistocracy regime useful to them but also that more democracy injected into the Malaysian body politic is detrimental to them.
Religious delirium
This is why Madani’s Federal Territories Mufti Bill was so dangerous to democracy and could have been a boon to PAS.
The bill is best defined by SIS Forum, previously known as Sisters in Islam, who said it grants unelected officials the power to legislate without transparency or due process, exemplifying the dangerous erosion of democratic principles and constitutional rights.
“Such laws risk undermining the fundamental freedoms of Malaysians, fostering a culture of control rather than empowerment, and silencing diverse perspectives crucial for a progressive society,” the group added.
There is a difference between majoritarian imperatives and democratic imperatives.
What we are dealing with here, especially as non-Muslims/non-Malays, is the prospect of PAS-Umno further destroying the country with crude majoritarian tactics and plunging everyone into a black hole of religious delirium, all the while the elites from the Malay unity project will be slurping from the diminished gravy train.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
Indeed, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's conception of corruption is not one of moral or legal transgression but rather of religious interpretation. The greater the good, to religious perception, trumps malfeasance against the rakyat or secular law.
Corruption then becomes a religious failing or justification based on cherry-picking or broadly interpreting religious dogma, whose ultimate goal is to protect the faith instead of correcting the systemic dysfunction.
Hadi's definition of his religion is nearly identical to the interpretation of religion by the state, so anyone attempting to charge him is in reality opening up the mainstream interpretation of Islam for investigation.
Sacred secular cows need to be slayed by religious scholars because this will demonstrate not only the superiority of religion but also the faith of religious leaders.
The way this game is set up, even if PAS loses, it wins.
S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
Indeed, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's conception of corruption is not one of moral or legal transgression but rather of religious interpretation. The greater the good, to religious perception, trumps malfeasance against the rakyat or secular law.
Corruption then becomes a religious failing or justification based on cherry-picking or broadly interpreting religious dogma, whose ultimate goal is to protect the faith instead of correcting the systemic dysfunction.
Hadi's definition of his religion is nearly identical to the interpretation of religion by the state, so anyone attempting to charge him is in reality opening up the mainstream interpretation of Islam for investigation.
Sacred secular cows need to be slayed by religious scholars because this will demonstrate not only the superiority of religion but also the faith of religious leaders.
The way this game is set up, even if PAS loses, it wins.
S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
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