COMMENT | People were predictably up in arms after former law minister Zaid Ibrahim made some rather aspirational claims about clerical leadership or the possibility of clerical stewardship of this country.

The fact that he doubled down on his claims is vintage Zaid.

Here is the thing about Zaid the politician, he said the quiet part aloud as he did in the series of interviews I did with him a decade ago.

Needless to say, I do not share Zaid’s view of clerical leadership and ironically, it is because of how Zaid has articulated the problem of the religion of the state.

The quote that opens this piece is exactly what is wrong with the way Islam is practised in this country.

Here is another snippet from the...