Umno, not DAP, against Islam, says Hadi

The PAS president says it is normal for differences of opinion.

SHAH ALAM: PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang today accused Umno of opposing Islam while delivering his closing speech at the 59 th PAS Muktamar in Stadium Malawati today.

On that note, he also defended DAP’s differing stand on that issue.

“The party that opposes Islam the most is Umno. The DAP doesn’t agree with Islam. We have differences of opinion but the DAP voices out their differences,” said Hadi.

He added that PAS had organised seminars with the DAP, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and various other groups some time ago.

“They all came but not Umno,” said the PAS leader.

He also said that in the event the DAP agreed with PAS, they would have joined PAS.

Hadi reminded delegates that Umno is PAS’ enemy.

“Now they are inviting us to sit and talk but in the 1990s they passed a motion that was brought up to the Council of Rulers so that we are forbidden from using the term Islam for our party,” he said.

However the muftis ruled that it is fine for a political party to use the word Islam.

There was also an attempt within Umno to do that in the 1980s.

On that note he criticised the Umno-led government for having two rules over the usage of the word Allah.

Last month, the Court of Appeal decided that the Allah term cannot be used by The Herald, a Catholic weekly. The government however announced that the ruling was limited to Peninsular Malaysia.

Karpal’s right to plea

Later at a press conference, when asked on DAP national chairman Karpal Singh’s plea for PAS not to implement hudud in Kelantan, he said: “It is his right to say whatever he wants as everyone has their own ideology.

“However, we also have our right to continue with plans to implement hudud in Kelantan,” he said.

Karpal yesterday said that the state government has no jurisdiction or power to pass the hudud law in the state.

Commenting on Johor’s change of weekend holidays from Saturday and Sunday to Friday and Saturday, Hadi said it was up to each state’s jurisdiction.

He added that it was the colonisers who made the change initially, as the Christians’ day of worship is on Sunday.

“Friday on the other hand, is Islam’s holy day where we perform our religious obligations,” he said.

Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar made the announcement yesterday and said the decision to change the the state’s rest days was made after receiving feedback from various quarters.

Hadi also disagreed with opinion which states that the ulama did not make a dent in the recent party polls.

“I do not think it is right to say the ulama’s presence in the central leadership is not prominent as there are nine of us in the leadership,” he said.