Penang mufti Wan Salim Mohd Noor has denied PAS' claims that the DAP-PKR led state government had allegedly "interfered" in the issuing of fatwas ( religious edicts) in the state.

Wan Salim was responding to State PAS commissioner Fauzi Yusof's claims in a press conference on Sunday that the Penang government had directed all fatwa decisions to be tabled at the state executive council (exco) meeting before obtaining the approval of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Fauzi was quoted in the media as reportedly saying that such a move by the state government contradicted with Section 48 of the 2004 Penang Islamic Religious Administration which stated that all fatwas issued in Penang must be submitted to the Agong for approval.

Wan Salim urged PAS not to politicise the issue of fatwa, and he expressed hope that politicians and the public would respect the decisions of the national or state fatwa committees.

He said the decisions on fatwas were made following certain procedures, after giving due consideration to public interest and the current environment.

"In Penang, a fatwa which will be gazetted is tabled at the exco meeting, to inform the excos about the matter. It is not tabled to be debated," Wan Salim said when contacted.

"The Penang government and none of the state excos have prohibited or tried to prevent any fatwas from being gazetted," he added.

Mufti hopes clarification will clear confusion

Wan Salim explained that when the state fatwa committee decided to gazette a fatwa, the state secretary would table it at the exco meeting.

The fatwa would then be submitted to the state legal adviser, who reported to the federal government, for fine-tuning or amendments as to the legal language of the fatwa, Wan Salim said.

The fatwa would then be submitted to Istana Negara to obtain the approval of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

"After obtaining the approval of the Agong, the fatwa will be resubmitted to the state legal adviser for it to be gazetted," he said.

"We hope this clarification will clear any confusion regarding the process to gazette a fatwa issued by the state fatwa committee," Wan Salim said.

"We hope after this clarification, the issue of fatwa will not become a polemic between any quarters anymore," he said.

PAS was booted out of the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government in Penang in 2015, after PAS and DAP decided to break up over differences in views over hudud law.

Penang then announced a Pakatan Harapan government in Penang on Sept 23, 2015, which took in PAS splinter Parti Amanah Negara.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang had been courting PAS lately to join in its campaign to 'Save Malaysia from being a global kleptocracy'.

But PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang snubbed such overtures by DAP, saying that the Penang government had marginalised Malays and Muslims in the state, which the latter had vehemently denied.