On Aug 4, 2004, the deputy spiritual leader of PAS, Ustaz Idris Omar, rapped Prime Minister Abdullah Ahamd Badawi for officiating the World Church Congress .

Quoting the Quran, he said the gesture was inappropriate and should be condemned. However, Idris' quote from the Quran was taken out of context and as such has misled the Muslim community and readers of Harakahdaily .

Idris's quoted Al-Kafirun verse 6 which is: ' Allah SWT yang bermaksud: "Bagi kamu agama kamu, bagi aku agama aku.. ' Idris was mistaken to take this quote out of context as Christians worldwide worship the same one and only God.

Idris doesn't seem to recognise the common heritage of Islam, Christian and Jews. They all share the common wisdom of the God inspired by the first five books of the Holy Bible namely, the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number and Deuteronomy.

How can the deputy spiritual leader of PAS not be aware of the various names Allah Almighty such as Jehovah as He is known by the Christians?

Idris has misunderstood in that the verse he quoted referred to idol worship by non-believers. Idols are not the God Almighty recognised by both Christians and Muslims.

Harakahdaily also reported Idris as saying: " Dalam surah al-Baqarah, ayat 20, Allah SWT berfirman yang membawa erti, 'Yahudi dan Nasrani tidak akan suka kepada kita (Islam) melainkan kita ikut agamanya' ."

However when compared to the English translation of the Quran as published by the Saba Islamic Media, Al-Baqarah verse 20 is as follows:

'The lightning all but snatches away their sight; every time the lights (help) them, they walk therein, and when the darkness grows on them, they standstill. And if God willed, He could take away their faculty of hearing and seeing; for God hath power over all things.'

As can be seen, there is nothing prejudicial about Jews or Christians or about Muslims being forced to convert.

Idris could perhaps get his quotations right prior to making public statements.

Narrow minded ulama will only give rise to negative racial and religious sentiments that will harm the future of PAS. Self-centered PAS ulama need to get out from their comfort zones and realise that Allah is not just the God of the Malays.

He is Lord God of the entire universe beyond the definitions set by the narrow paradigms of PAS spiritual leaders.