Johor DAP assistant publicity chief Sheikh Omar Ali said those accusing DAP of being anti-Islam should try and get the party de-registered if their claims were true.

He said this in reference to a commentary by Universiti Utara Malaysia's Institute for Malaysian Political Analysis (Mapan) director Kamarul Zaman Yusoff titled 'DAP memang anti-Islam' (DAP is indeed anti-Islam).

"DAP is a legitimate political party in Malaysia. DAP was approved in 1966 under the Societies Act.

Since then, DAP had operated in accordance within the framework of the law and the spirit of the Federal Constitution.

"If Kamarul Zaman Yusoff is man enough to stand by his accusation that DAP is anti-Islam, then I challenge him to take legal action to get DAP deregistered as it (being anti-Islam) goes against the spirit of the Federal Constitution," he said in a statement today.

The commentary was published on PAS organ HarakahDaily on Jan 31 and was also shared by PAS Youth chief Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz on Facebook.

Sheikh Omar said if Kamarul did not take action against DAP based on his assertion that the party was anti-Islam, then all he was doing was merely parroting Umno and BN's script to distract from the ruling coalition's scandals.

He added that the same message appears to be played up by PAS since the party's relationship with Umno warmed.

Kamarul, in his commentary, highlighted several opinions that DAP was anti-Islam, including views by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and a sermon by the Pahang Mufti Department.

He also highlighted a survey by Selangor government-linked Institut Darul Ehsan, which found 64 percent of respondents agreeing that DAP was anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

The survey was conducted between Nov 13 and 15, 2015, involving 1,716 Malay respondents throughout Selangor.