When Hadi met the Prophet

 

I DON’T have much to say about the philosophical and theological meaning behind PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang claiming that he met his prophet in his dreams, but I do have a political interpretation.

For context, Hadi has recently resurrected an old story about how he had met the Prophet Muhammad in his dreams, and in the meeting, the Prophet had told to unite the Muslims.

Philosophically and theologically, I don’t know what to make of supernatural claims like the one that Hadi is making.

Politically speaking, I see Hadi’s decision to resurrect his meeting with his prophet in a dream as a sign that Perikatan Nasional (PN) is close to throwing in the towel in its contest with Pakatan Harapan (PH).

That Hadi is now resorting to extraordinary claims of miracles and supernaturality is to me a sign that PN has reached a dead end in its attempt to conquer Putrajaya.

That is why Hadi is scraping the bottom of the barrel. This is his last attempt to keep PN politically relevant. If Hadi can’t make an impact even after resorting to such extremes, I believe that PN, or at least PAS, is close to waving the white flag.

After GE15, talk was rife with something called the “green wave”, or the counter-reaction of the Malay-Muslims towards PH’s victory, which was perceived to be not favourable to the Malays and Islam.

For quite a while, it did look like PN had the potential of harnessing that green wave and ride it all the way to Putrajaya. That however, is likely no longer the case.

To Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PH’s credit, despite facing the rough sea with a rickety boat in the last two years, the coalition have somehow managed to navigate the unity government through the storm and take it to calmer waters.

In a few weeks, Anwar’s reign would have reached two years. In those two years, the economy did not crash and Anwar has also proven his worth to the working class, both foreign and domestic, by taking such significant actions to raise their wages and increase their social security.

Despite what his critics claim, nothing has also happened to the Malays and Islam under his watch.

Now that Anwar has crossed the half-way point and is now closer to the end of his term than the beginning, no one has any reason to want to see his government to fall and every reason to want him to finish his term.

Next year, we will also see the Sabah state election and in the year after that, the Sarawak state election will also be upon us. The battleground is shifting.

If in the last two years, the main political contention in the country was between PH and PN for the right to rule Putrajaya, next year and the year after that, the political battle that will receive the most attention from the nation will be between PH and the East Malaysian parties for the fate of the Federation.

So where does all this leave Hadi and PN?

Considering everything, I’d say that until the next general election is called, Hadi and PN would likely have nothing else to do other than to waste away while waiting idly or implode from within.

In other words, in the next two years, PN is going to fade away in importance from the eyes and mind of the people.

On one hand, it has lost the battle for Putrajaya and it doesn’t look like will get back to its feet before the count is up, and on the other hand, it also doesn’t look like it has what it takes to join in the fight for the fate of the Federation in Sabah and Sarawak.

It is perhaps in recognition of its abject state of decline and deterioration that Hadi is resurrecting a 10-year-old supernatural story about him meeting his prophet in his dream.

When you feel like a winner, you are interested in politics and power but when you feel like you are the least, the lost or the last, it is in religion that you will seek refuge.

I am not the least surprised that Hadi is getting even more religious today than he usually is.

At the rate that PN is sinking, I won’t be surprised if its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also starts talking about miracles and signs in the foreseeable future too. 

Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a roving tutor who loves politics, philosophy and psychology.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

-Focus Malaysia.