Hadi's insurgency against the Madani state

“This is because the sin of insulting Islam is bigger than the sin of insulting the courts, which is minute before God”.

– PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang

The common narrative that young PAS supporters tell me is their admiration for party president Abdul Hadi Awang’s commitment to Islam.

Some non-Malays naively think that someone like Hadi should be ignored or dismissed and this is the main reason why the theocratic forces in this country have been gaining ground in mainstream politics.

Of late, Hadi has been overtly calling for the dismantling of whatever is left of our secular and democratic state. His recent call for the faithful to rise and defend Islam against “parties who try to divert them from the ‘real’ religion” is a call for insurrection against the government of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Hadi is smart enough to understand that with the Madani government going after old corrupt sacred cows of the political establishment, the system is afraid to retaliate against the theocratic establishment.

There are a couple of reasons for this. The prime minister has been desperate to burnish his religious bona fides, even ruffling the feathers of his non-Malay base.

The Palestinian issue has caused more disharmony among ethnic groups despite talking heads from within and outside the government attempting to make this a national issue.

Govt has no Islamic narrative

But most importantly, this coalition government does not have an Islamic narrative of its own, thereby enabling the theocratic forces in this country which further alienates non-Muslims and progressive Muslims.

The recent Federal Court ruling is perhaps one of the strongest rejections by the establishment of the theocratic agenda, pushed by political operatives like Hadi. Theocrats do not like pushback and when this happens they stir the pot even more.

This is the problem with using religion as a means of political control. Mainstream Malay/Muslim parties have always used this to control the majority polity.

When you use religion as a political tool, you then have to demonstrate how much commitment you have towards the religion. Then the narrative becomes Manichaean. You either support the religion wholeheartedly or you do not.

PAS gets to claim that their Islam is more powerful because they have demonstrated their will to turn the states they rule into a theocracy or as near to it as possible.

What this apex court ruling has demonstrated is that there are still constraints from the federal government. When people say the atmosphere is charged, what they are really saying is that the people against this Federal Court ruling are spooked.

For progressive Muslims who accept that this is not a theocratic state, they are not riled up. They are relieved. There is no need for them to make provocative statements, rile up the base, or make threats against their political opponents.

What happened was a part of the democratic system and the adjudication by the courts.

When Hadi calls for people to rise, he is not only talking to PAS supporters. He is talking to the religious establishment. He is talking to the thousands of Muslims who work within the federal bureaucracy in states all over the country, to rise against what PAS believes is a dismantling of the Islamic project of this country.

So who benefits?

With all these special committees being set up to study this decision, who do you think this benefits?

It certainly would not benefit the progressive forces in this country. It certainly would not benefit the secular and democratic forces of this country. It would certainly not benefit the economic and social spheres of the non-Muslims in this country.

PM Anwar Ibrahim

Do not be fooled when political operatives attack each other when it comes to the issue of religion. This is just a distraction. What really matters are the religious policies and the religious bureaucracy.

Is there a difference between the way each political coalition, which claims to champion religion, creates policy and enables the religious bureaucracy?

The people who fund these bureaucracies should be the ones shaping policies. However, after decades of letting these entities run riot, these entities think they are above the law. They certainly believe they are above secular law and actively campaign for syariah laws to trump the Federal Constitution.

PKR lawyer and Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim said this - “It is the duty of the judges to interpret laws enacted by Parliament. Therefore, we must amend the laws or the Federal Constitution. This is the duty of the current government and all the MPs in Parliament.”

Who do you think this benefits? What message do you think this sends to people within the government who support the agenda of a theocratic state?

Setting the tone

When it comes to religious policy in this country, Anwar should be a leader. He should set the tone for his administration.

So when Saudara Anwar, who literally holds the purse strings, claims he has zero tolerance for these religious provocateurs, it means bupkis. What has the state security apparatus and the religious establishment done to show that the government has zero tolerance for religious extremists?

Keep in mind that the prime minister of this country has acknowledged there is a concerted effort by religious operatives to destroy his government. He has even acknowledged that some of these people are “paid”.

What these religious extremists do not want is a leader who will put up a fight. Because if leaders put up a fight, ordinary people would be inspired to stand their ground.

If ordinary people stand their ground, the religious fascist gig is up. It is not about concentrating on the economy. It is about acknowledging that the efforts to reinvigorate the economy are being deliberately hampered using religion and race and this will ultimately lead to an economic downturn.

With each passing day, Hadi and his bunch of religious extremists are getting stronger. They are getting stronger because they believe the state security apparatus and religious bureaucracy are on their side.

If you ask the average Muslim political operative, state security officer, civil servant, and average Joe, if they agree with Hadi’s statement that opens this piece, they would say, yes.

This is why it is extremely difficult to stem the rise of extremism in this country. - Mkini

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.