GOOD FIRST BABY STEP FROM MAT SABU – BUT SAD TO SAY, NOT ENOUGH: ‘MUSLIM ULAMA WHO WANT TO HOLD OFFICE MUST KNOW OTHER IDEOLOGIES BESIDES ISLAM’

PERAK 14-12-2018.Amanah is ready to accept any of the Umno member of parliament in Sabah who left the party en bloc on Wednesday. Amanah president Mohamad Sabu said the party would discuss the matter within the party and also among its Pakatan Harapan (PH) counterparts. "If there are applications, we will discuss and decide on it. We are a democratic party," he said. Speaking to reporters after opening Amanah national convention at Casuarina Hotel @ Meru here today, Mohamad however stressed that the party had yet to discuss the latest exodus.MALAYMAIL/Farhan Najib

KUALA LUMPUR – Parti Amanah Negara wants the Muslim ulama to lead the country, but they must possess knowledge about modern civilisation beyond Islamic jurisprudence, president Mohamad Sabu said.

In an interview with pan-Arabic channel Al-Mayadeen, the politician popularly known as Mat Sabu told journalist Zainab Al-Saffar that the concept of leadership by the ulama was introduced during his time in PAS.

“At the time we were influenced by the Islamic Revolution in Iran (in 1979). We respect the ulama but they must have full knowledge in leading people,” he said.

Mohamad was answering a query which claimed PAS was unimpressed with Amanah’s claims of being an Islamist party since it lacked top ulama figures within its ranks.

“We are trying to include more ulama into Amanah. And we have a special body to look after all these ulama who graduate from the Middle East to join our party in the hopes they can someday lead.

“Their knowledge must be not be limited to certain sectors of the people, but the whole of society. They must have knowledge of other ideologies as well, so they are able to deal with various issues related to Malaysians,” he said.

Mat Sabu also added he remained confident in Amanah’s future even though PAS may command the majority of the grassroots.

“Even now in the PAS stronghold of Kelantan, its foundations are starting to shake as many PAS members are joining Amanah.

“At present we are seeing more than 2,000 new members from Kelantan a month, so we are very confident of the future,” he said, without further elaborating.

– Malay Mail