Acknowledging how PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's remarks may have offended non-Muslims, a PAS leader yesterday apologised for any hurt that it may have caused.
Kapar MP Dr Halimah Ali, who is also a PAS central committee member, however, said she believes Hadi did not intend to annoy and was just stating facts.
"I suppose (those remarks) hurt people, especially when they already have a picture of him being not so friendly to the non-Muslims.
"To put it in context, maybe he was saying it factually. He doesn't mean to hurt people. He cares about everybody and I can certify this because I have seen him in different conditions," she said, during an interview on radio station BFM yesterday.
"I have to apologise if that was meant to make the non-Malays not happy about it but I don't think he meant it."
She was asked about Hadi's recent statement, where he said non-Malays should be grateful they are given citizenship of Malaysia because not many countries will award the same.
Halimah (above) was asked how remarks like this, as well as his assertion that non-Malays are responsible for corruption in the country, squares with her claim that the PAS president acknowledges Malaysia's majmuk (diverse) identity.
In his commentary, published by PAS mouthpiece Harakah last month, Hadi said: "Non-Muslims should appreciate this nation's contributions to give them a place. In fact, they must accept the fact that most countries in the world do not give a place for anyone who are not the original people and do not follow the same ideology, but in Islam, non-Muslim residents are given fair rights even if they don't follow the religion of the nation."
Explaining further, Halimah, who is Australian-educated, contrasted Malays in Malaysia with the Australian aboriginal.
"The aborigines are the minority and people who come and live, grow and prosper there are the majority.
"Whereas in Malaysia, the Malays - because it was a Malay land, Malaysia is a Malay land - they are still the majority and people who come later are the minority," said the Sarawak-born physician.
She said while many non-Malays largely could accept the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat, he was only the spiritual leader of the party while Hadi helmed executive power, even when Nik Aziz was alive.
However, she acknowledged that Hadi was probably less well-versed with mingling with non-Malays as Nik Aziz.
To ease him into different cultures, she said, the national unity bureau of the party, which she leads, bought him some ethnic Chinese traditional attire to wear for Chinese New Year and Hadi obliged without a fuss.
"I have seen him in his party capacity and in his private capacity while resting or while he's sick, and I was trying to catch... incongruencies about his relationship to the Muslims or non-Muslims. I have to certify, he is definitely honest," she said.
Blown out of proportion
Meanwhile, she said while PAS is seen to be "anti-fun" and "anti-individual rights", she believes much of it is blown out of proportion.
She also said PAS believes there is room for fun, but there are ways to do so without causing harm and social ills.
She said while people hold things like concerts as very important, these matters are not what PAS is chiefly concerned about.
The party is more concerned about key matters like good governance, youth development, and economic progress.
"Maybe making a mountain out of a molehill as far as we are concerned," she said.
She added that if PAS is opposed to anything, it is because its constitution is tied to the Quran and it must follow what the Quran says.
"The few things that PAS is notorious about are not necessarily the needs of the people. Maybe it's the wants but not the needs.
"We are going for the basic needs. We want to prosper, to have a blessed nation, to make people happy," she said.
Preventing extremism
Halimah also said that it is not a true characterisation of PAS to call it conservative.
Rather, the party follows the fundamentals of Islam.
"Maybe the interpretation of certain Muslim leaders may differ from PAS but we go with the fundamentals," she said.
She also cited Hadi, who said that in the political arena, PAS's role is to "prevent extremism".
"ISIS is not PAS, Daesh is not PAS. PAS does not want Muslims in this country to be like that. Actually, PAS is the moderate one," she said. - Mkini
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