PAS MP Khalid Samad does not rule out the possibility of appealing directly to the Selangor sultan to obtain his permit to preach in the state's mosques if the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) does not allow him to do so.

NONE "The purpose of giving permits to preachers is aimed at stopping deviant teaching. And unless they can prove that I'm guilty of this, Jais should give me back my permit," he said.

Khalid has been denied tauliah (permission) to perform khutbah (religious classes) by the (Jais) ostensibly because of this "criminal record".

Last year, Jais gave Khalid the green light under the D1 category (to teach or preach) and D2 (teaching the fardhu ain or basic religious classes).

However, this was withdrawn by Jais in another letter dated Oct 28, 2008 to Khalid citing the existence of his 'criminal record'.

Consider both views

The Shah Alam MP has since asked for an explanation on the alleged police report.

Khalid came under Jais' scrutiny not long after the arrest of former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin for delivering sermons without authorisation.

Khalid, who is the former Selangor PAS deputy commissioner, said that Jais should be fair and just in striking out his appeal for the return of his preaching permit.

"According to Jais, more than a thousand people from Shah Alam had signed a petition to stop me from preaching.

"But a report in one of the papers today said that 1,013 residents from Shah Alam had also appealed for me to get my permit back," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

The religious authorities should consider the views of both sides of the divide, he urged.

Khalid claimed that a Jais religious teacher had admitted that the former was competent and said that his permit was revoked due to some "political interference".

"If this goes on, I will have to appeal to the state government or the Sultan of Selangor," he said.

Disciplinary probe results this week

On another matter, Khalid told reporters that specifics of the disciplinary action against him and Selangor PAS state commissioner Hasan Ali, will likely be known this week.

He said once the disciplinary action committee chairperson Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man returns from his pilgrimage this week, the results will be made known.

The disciplinary board is to act on the show-cause letter sent to Khalid for "constantly contradicting the state bureau."

Khalid, who is known to have been at loggerheads with Hasan over certain matters in the state, said the decision indicated that the issues were "not being swept under the carpet like in the past".

"Actually, most of my opinions have been against Hasan and not the state bureau as his decisions were not passed in the liaison committee," he explained.

"I have already replied to the show-cause letter and have explained my case to the disciplinary board," he said.