Ever since we discovered the true meaning of being a Muslim, we have always had one ultimate goal in life, i.e. to see Islam live up to its actual and utmost sense as it should be. Being a Muslim who lives in Malaysia, an exemplary 'Islamic country' (as claimed so often) I must say that anyone who's ignorant enough would easily fall into believing that the claim is the absolute truth.

This could not be so wrong as literally there are no other Islamic countries in this world that has gained 'economic stability' and long 'political sustainability' such as Mahathir's Malaysia. While no other countries can be as outstanding as Malaysia in terms of proclaiming its Islamhood, Mahathir and Umno will remain proud and arrogant with their Islamic Malaysia.

The sad truth is, Umno has reduced Islam to mean ritual practices only, like prayers, fasting, reading the Quran, Awal Muharram, Maulidur Rasul, etc. To be Islamic is to give salam , to be able to quote Quranic verses in speeches, and even just by wearing a songkok and a mere selendang .

Thus, the current government now feels satisfied as long as the word Islam exists in our social institutions like Universiti Islam, Bank Islam, Institut Kefahaman Islam, Pusat Islam, Muzium Kesenian Islam, and the list goes on and on. Such effort to 'islamise' the society was only triggered by the Islamic revivalism movement back in the 1970s, as a political attempt to counter PAS' call for an Islamic state.

Against this background, i.e. to 'islamise' society for political purposes, we see no real commitment in such action, everything is just plain symbolic and rhetoric. And disgusting.

As for PAS and its goal for realising an Islamic state, the strategy employed is void of diplomacy. It does not mean that we should tolerate when people downplay Islam or make a fool of it, by right we should fight back. Sometimes PAS can be too rigid and too aggressive in its campaign for Islamic state. Hence, it is no surprise that non-Muslims would fear PAS controlling the country.

Imagine, how would Muslims feel if there's a group campaigning hard for a Christian state, or a Hindu state, or a Buddhist state for that matter?

We cannot expect non-Muslims to comply and accept the existence of an Islamic state because it is not their religion. Some might argue that an Islamic state will protect them and respect their needs and wants.

Well, PAS tries to tackle this type of people with a series of ceramahs and dialogue, but how effective are these? Remember, most who attend ceramahs are those who already support the party and Barisan Alternatif (BA) and those who go for dialogues are intellectuals and lay people. In short, the success of these 'awareness road shows' is a tad too slow and time is running out.

The point we are making is that we feel that PAS, instead of shouting for an Islamic state, should just say that they want to establish a state with good moral values (and all these are, of course, Islamic and accepted by other religions and sensible human beings). Do not be obsessed with the term and give Umno the opportunity to manipulate and confuse Malay the Malay community.

BA is crumbling and this would only bring pleasure to BN. They have always wanted the divorce to happen and it is unfortunate if BA succumbs to their wish. With more intellectuals and professionals running PAS nowadays, we should expect PAS to be a little bit more 'sophisticated' while at the same time continue its holy struggle to see Islam manifest in its true sense.