Mat Taib: A vote for BN is sinful

Muslims must vote for an Islamic party or face repercussions in the hereafter, warns ex- Umno leader Muhammad Muhammad Taib.

TEMERLOH: Muslims who cast their votes for Umno and its allies this Sunday are committing a sin because the BN lynchpin does not adhere to Islamic guidelines, former Selangor Menteri Besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib said yesterday.

“A party can do anything if it is not founded upon the Quran and the Hadith (prophetic traditions). When voting, do you want to be conspiring with these kind of people?

“There will be implications in the hereafter,” the ex-Umno chief, populary known as Mat Taib, warned about 100 PAS supporters during a high tea session here.

Muhammad stressed it was obligatory for Muslims to choose an Islamic party at the ballot box – and he believed PAS was the answer to this religious quandary.

This was because PAS was the only party in Malaysia which refers to the Quran and Hadith (prophetic traditions) for guidance.

“In the afterlife, Allah will ask us, which party do you support? If our answer is Umno, He will then ask: Is there no Islamic party in Malaysia for you to support? And the answer is yes: there is PAS,” he said, bowing his head.

“Thus, we must support PAS. We must not think about just this world, but the afterlife as well,” he cried, to shouts of “Allahu akbar” (God is great) from the attentive audience.

‘Return to religion’

Muhammad joined PAS on April 22 after being a member of Umno since 1964. His sudden “hardline stance” on Islam has reportedly caught his former BN colleagues off guard and has drawn the ire of MCA chief Donald Lim Siang Chai.

But Muhammad explained yesterday that he left Umno because the culture of violence and dirty politics was not inherent in the Quran.

And while he acknowledged that the development of mosques and suraus were a result of the BN’s efforts, he pointed out that there was a lack of maintenance – and this reflected the party’s shallow faith in the religion, he said.

“Even though I was an Umno member for a long time, I will bring other Umno members back to Allah’s path, and I believe that path lies within PAS,” vowed Muhammad.

Taking a swipe at Umno’s “hidup Melayu” (long live the Malays) slogan, Muhammad asked: “Does the Quran ever mention ‘long live the Arabs’? No, it just says ‘O humankind’, ‘O you who believe’.

“So let us return to religion,” he urged.

Among the audience was first-time PAS Temerloh candidate Nasrudin Hassan, whom Mat Taib had embraced warmly upon greeting him.

Nasrudin is up against BN’s Saifuddin Abdullah, who has received ex-Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin’s full endorsement.