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Tag: PAS

  • Dr Mahathir: I Have Not And Will Not Apologise To Anwar Ibrahim

    Dr Mahathir: I Have Not And Will Not Apologise To Anwar Ibrahim

    KUALA LUMPUR — Former Malaysian premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has revealed that he has not and will not apologise to his former protege-turned-enemy and now ally, incarcerated opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim.

    In an interview with Australian broadcast agency SBS World News, Dr Mahathir said this is because he has never asked his detractors to apologise for criticising him.

    “We have all said nasty things about each other. I don’t ask people to apologise for calling me all kinds of names and accusing me of all kinds of wrongdoings.

    “What happened is in the past and we can’t be apologising for something that happened in the past,” he was quoted as saying.

    Anwar was Dr Mahathir’s deputy until they had a falling out in 1998, an event which sparked protests by Anwar supporters calling for political reform in the country.

    He was imprisoned on charges of corruption and sodomy shortly after, though Anwar claimed he was innocent and that the charges were politically-motivated.

    The former Umno man was released from prison in 2004 and went on to lead the opposition coalition, but was jailed again in 2015 on separate sodomy charges and is currently behind bars serving a five-year sentence.

    Last September, the two nemeses met face-to-face, under friendly circumstances, for the first time in 18 years — but the reunion has been described as a political ploy which “demonstrates the depth of their political opportunism and desperation”.

    Aside from Anwar, Dr Mahathir has also showed support for the DAP and its advisor, Mr Lim Kit Siang, who has been one of the former premier’s harshest critics for decades.

    When asked who will be named prime minister should Pakatan Harapan win the upcoming 14th general election, Dr Mahathir responded by saying “party infighting” has prevented the opposition pact from uniting and discussing the issue.

    “It is divisive. The moment you name a (candidate for) prime minister, there is going to be a lot of unsatisfied people who may sabotage the new opposition coalition,” Dr Mahathir said.

    “So it is better for us to name a prime minister (once) we win. It becomes irrelevant to name a prime minister now and then we lose,” he added.

    It is believed that Dr Mahathir was referring to Anwar’s party, PKR, which recently lost an ally, Pas, which ended its “tahaluf siyasi”, or political cooperation.

    Pas’ Syura Council decided that the move was necessary in order to defend the party’s Islamic agenda, aside from accusing PKR of breaking many terms of its conditional cooperation, including failing to support Pas in its Islamic agenda, and working against it in two by-elections last year.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Malaysia’s Islamic Battle Takes A Heavenly Path

    Malaysia’s Islamic Battle Takes A Heavenly Path

    In the Islamists version of hell, that is the one in Malaysia, voting against the PAS is a vote to hell.

    This is part of the campaign to promote a united PAS-UMNO front in Malaysia, and the elite of the Islamist party are going national in their attacks against Muslims who are resistant to the idea.

    “It is important to unite PAS and UMNO in order to eliminate the DAP,” says a WhatsApp group message.

    The group – unknown since the name is not published on the posting in a pro-opposition Facebook page – changed its Icon to that of a PAS-UMNO hand shake.

    The message continue: “If you want to enter hell, you can vote DAP.”

    But if you wan to enter paradise.”Vote PAS”

    The message does not end there.

    It goes further into declaring – similar to an Islamic edict or Fatwa – that people who does not vote the PAS will be made ‘kafir harbi.”

    The threats are not new in Malaysia.

    On 23 June 2016, the Mufti of Pahang shocked Malaysians by stating that it is a sin for Muslims to support the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which he labelled as Kafir Harbi (infidels against whom war can be waged).

    The statement received mixed reactions from the Muslims: some voiced their support while many opposed it. For non-Muslims, it became a source of fear, given recent threats announced by the Malaysian Islamic State (IS) based in Syria, and the first bombing incident by IS in Malaysia.

    Following the overall rejection of the labeling by Muslim scholars and intellectuals who claimed that the label was invalid and unsuitable under contemporary circumstances, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that no Malaysians should be placed under the Kafir Harbi category.

    There is in Malaysia an unfortunate practice of using the term Kafir Harbi for political reasons, and for demonising certain opposition political parties and certain non-Muslim groups.

     

    Source: www.theindependent.sg

     

  • How PAS Bit The Bullet Once Again

    How PAS Bit The Bullet Once Again

    The Party Islam Se-Malaysia, or PAS, will never learn the lesson particularly the political ones as history seems to be repeating itself for the Islamists.

    Their leader Hadi Awang thought he had a well laid plan, in which his would be the hero of Islam in Malaysia with a personal bill to amend the criminal laws in Malaysia consistent with  upgrading it to Shariah or Hudud Islamic laws.

    He had this planned for years, while he was the deputy leader of the Islamic party and he also thought he was even more brilliant than the former spiritual leader of the party, Nik Aziz Nik Mat who warned the Islamists not to enter in any political alliances with the United Malays National Organisation or Umno.

    But Hadi did not wait too long after the passing of Nik Aziz in 2015 to show his true colours and to push his luck on the national scene, with the Hudud in one hand and the idea of a pact with the Umno in the other.

    All seemed to be well for Hadi – until the fatal Wednesday this week – when Prime Minister Najib Razak made an incredible (but expected by The Independent) on the bill called the RUU355.

    The PAS had campaigned for the bill with the thought that it will be voted before the next General Elections and that would seal the alliance it was nurturing with the Umno.

    Hadi Awang took full responsibility within the party and among its followers, saying publicly he believed the Umno had veered towards Islam and with this change, the PAS was even more willing to be an ally with the ruling Malay nationalist party.

    His tactic was to get the Hudud read in Parliament this year, and even if did not get to be  voted before the elections, it would certainly be the case after his party would win at least 40 Parliamentary seats and four or five states in Malaysia.

    This after plotting with the Umno to play the ‘third force’ at national level, forgetting that a third force has always failed in realising anything but a trashing of the opposition forces and big win for the Umno-cum-Barisan Nasional (BN) in any elections in this country.

    Now, licking his deep wounds, Hadi must be planning to reverse the situation in his favour amid calls within and outside the PAS for him to quit after failing to get the RUU355 amended.

    But Hadi is adamant. PAS leaders who supports the Spiritual leader of the party are now saying the Islamists have gained from the setback from Najib, instead.

    The Islamists are now saying even if Najib has abandoned the project – in order to salvage a breaking apart BN – Hadi’s motion still stands and if it is put to vote soon the party would have won in its battle for the Hudud.

    Dismissing the political implications of the Najib rejection of the RUU355 is a fine consolation for the Islamists, but it is widely seen as a slap in their faces in the public eye.

    The only real thing that matters now, is how the Islamists will take to the streets and ask people to vote for them individually with the hope that the Umno would not sabotage them in the course of the next General Elections?

    Would they be so proud to say that a defeat in the next elections would have taught the PAS lessons and that they did not lose after all?

     

    Source: www.theindependent.sg

  • Former Malaysian Minister: Muslims Must Speak Out Against Unilateral Child Conversion

    Former Malaysian Minister: Muslims Must Speak Out Against Unilateral Child Conversion

    Former minister Zaid Ibrahim today appealed to Muslims, urging them to speak up in kindness and fairness against unilateral child conversion.

    “I don’t know if I’m going to heaven, but those who have no heart will go nowhere. How can anyone condone a unilateral child conversion?

    “It’s not too late for good Muslims to speak up. We need to have capacity for kindness and being fair to others, even if not a Muslim.”

    The lawyer turned politician declared on Twitter that “we have lost our soul” if Malaysia did not prohibit the conversion of a child to Islam by one parent at the expense of the other.

    “Is being a Muslim more important than being human?”

    He asked whether the pain of a mother deprived of her child had no bearing in Islam.

    To resolve interfaith custody conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim parents, a bill to amend Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (Act 164) was tabled in Parliament last November.

    It was to be debated at the present sitting of the Dewan Rakyat but has been pushed back to No 8 in the order of proceedings.

    Once passed, the amendment allows only the civil courts to rule in matters pertaining to civil marriages, even if one spouse converts to Islam.

    However, Muslim legal experts have argued that the bill is “null and void” as it contradicts Islamic jurisprudence, which states that when a parent converts to Islam, his or her child (if the child has not yet reached puberty) automatically becomes a Muslim, too.

    Former chief justice Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim said any law which contradicts Islamic jurisprudence, derived from the Quran and Sunnah, was null and void.

    On these grounds, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who is legal aide to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has challenged the validity of the bill that seeks to end unilateral child conversions.

    “In Islam, there is jurisprudence dealing with issues that arise when a person converts to Islam.

    “These include disputes over what happens to the convert’s previous union, to the child from that union, the religion of that child, the matrimonial and custodial rights.

    “On that basis, any amendment to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (Act 164) which does not comply with Islamic jurisprudence, in that situation, would be null and void. That’s what I’ve been arguing for the last 12, 13 years,” Haniff Khatri said.

    Zaid, however, has expressed empathy for those embroiled in custody battles for their children, who along with their spouses, had converted to Islam.

    Among the better-publicised cases is that of kindergarten teacher M Indira Gandhi, who challenged the conversion of her three children after a protracted court battle for custody.

     

    Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

  • Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association: Shariah Offenders Should Be Placed In Special Prisons

    Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association: Shariah Offenders Should Be Placed In Special Prisons

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 ― Muslims convicted of Shariah offences should be placed in exclusive prisons instead of with inmates from the criminal system, said the Malaysian Association for Muslim Lawyers.

    Its president, Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, argued that Shariah offences were largely victimless crimes and should not be treated similarly as those from the Penal Code.

    “Most of these cases are behavioural in nature, it would be unfair for them to be placed in a civil prison with drug and rape offenders,” he was quoted as saying by the Berita Harian newspaper.

    “They should be placed in a special prison that provides education and explanation on Islam to ensure rehabilitation”

    He said this at a forum on efforts to increase punishments under the the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 yesterday.

    He also denied the proposal would lead to hudud, the Islamic penal law, and argued that the higher punishments were prevent jurisdiction shopping.

    “The criminals would definitely choose a court that gives a lesser sentence, hence where is the justice for the victims in the relevant cases,” Zainul said.

    It is not clear what he based this argument upon, as there are currently no overlaps between Shariah offences that are religious in nature and crimes under the Penal Code.

    However, such overlaps would exist if hudud is implemented in the country.

    Parliament is due to debate PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private Bill to enhance Shariah punishments.

    It proposes to allow Shariah courts to impose maximum penalties of up to 30 years’ jail, 100 strokes of the cane, and RM100,000 in fines.

    The limits now are three years’ jail, six strokes, and RM5,000.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com