Slander against party forced Nik Abduh to lie - PAS spiritual leader

PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin defended the party's central committee member Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz's decision to lie about an audio recording of him admitting that PAS had taken money from Umno.

Hashim said Nik Abduh may have been forced to lie considering that PAS was facing much "slander".

"There was a necessity (to lie) as it was a situation where PAS was constantly slandered," he told Malaysiakini.

Hashim likened this to the situation where Prophet Muhammad's friend Naim Masud had lied to split the enemies of Islam.

He said: "It's true that we can't lie in Islam, but it has happened before during Prophet Muhammad's time when Naim Masud converted to Islam, but the Prophet told him not to declare he is Muslim.

"He (Prophet) asked him to maintain a good relationship with the Jews so that they trusted him and the Quraysh trusted him too.

"So the Prophet used it as an opportunity for psy-war (psychological warfare) to split the Jews and Quraysh."

Hashim said the Nik Abduh matter was not brought to the syura council which he led.

The incident will likely die down eventually, he added.

'Consider the context'

Nik Abduh had previously denied the voice heard in an audio recording of a person admitting that PAS had taken money from Umno was his.

However, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan on Tuesday admitted that the audio recording was genuine and was that of Nik Abduh.

Takiyuddin, however, said it did not carry the true context of Nik Abduh's meaning.

Yesterday, Nik Abduh insisted he lied at the behest of PAS leadership to protect the party's reputation in the lead up to the last general election as "slander must be stopped".

He added that PAS president Hadi Abdul Awang had given his blessing for the former to deny the matter.

"When I referred to several party leaders who understood the issue well, they decided that I should deny (the recording). I fiercely refused and objected, but they insisted.

"Faced with a conundrum, I sought an answer from the PAS president. He immediately consented to the decision that I deny (the recording). I followed, and was happy to receive a mandate," Nik Abduh said. - Mkini