Non-Muslims can form religious parties if PAS rules: Hadi

comments     Arfaeza A Aziz     Published     Updated

Non-Muslims will be allowed to establish their own religious-based parties should PAS come into power, said its acting president Abdul Hadi Awang.

The PAS leader said this when responding to a question at a forum and dialogue on the 'Concept and implementation of Syariah laws' organised by Keadilan in Shah Alam, Selangor, last night.

"We will allow them to form their own parties if they want to. And if their religions have their own set of laws and they want to enact their own laws to regulate them, they will be allowed do so.

"This is their right," said Hadi whose statement was greeted with applause.

The PAS leader said the non-Muslims' right to practise their religions cannot be stopped by anyone least of all the government which has the obligation to preserve and protect these rights.

Hadi, who is also Terengganu menteri besar, is confident that if the state is allowed to implement syariah laws, both Muslims and non-Muslims in other states will realise how fair an Islamic government can be.

He said whenever possible, the state government adopted Islamic values and concepts in administrating the state not only through law and regulations but in other aspects like social and economics.

"For example, we granted land and houses to the needy, both Muslims and non-Muslims. We don't care if they support Barisan Alternatif or Barisan Nasional.

"During the recent Chinese New Year celebration, I gave aid to them like food and computers for their schools. This is their right. I did the same for the Muslims during the Hari Raya celebration," he said.

Support increased

Hadi said such fair treatment by the PAS-led governments in Terengganu and Kelantan has increased the support from non-Muslims.

"We cannot neglect the non-Muslims. That is why we will amend the state constitution to allow the government to appoint non-Muslims and women representatives if none of them manage to win a seat in the state," he said.

He said this will allow them to bring their plights to the state government's attention thus ensuring that their rights will not be violated.

Hadi added that the draft bill on the amendments to the proposed syariah laws will be ready to be tabled in a few months.

The Terengganu state government's proposed implementation of syariah laws met with strong criticism as certain aspects of it were said to be unjust and discriminatory towards women.

The requirement for four male Muslim witnesses to prove a rape became a sore point for women groups who said it shifted the burden from the perpetrator to the victim.

Following the widespread opposition, the state government agreed to amend the controversial provisions.

Pious witnesses

Meanwhile, responding to a question from PRM vice-president R Sivarasa, Hadi assured that women and non-Muslims are allowed to be witnesses in cases which involve their rights, properties and dignity.

"If non-Muslims are to testify, they must be of pious character according to their religions, have good morals and are honest," he said.

The PAS leader said the sensitivities of non-Muslims will always be considered and that was why they distributed the bill before tabling it at the state assembly.

He said provisions relating to rape, women and non-Muslim witnesses and other punishments have been amended after considering the objections and views by the non-Muslims.

Hadi also questioned why women groups did not object the blatant exploitation of women in society.

"For example, [businesses] want to sell cigarettes, cars and soaps but it is the women that are advertised! The exploitation is so bad that even for MOU (memorandum of understanding) signing ceremonies, they look for a woman just to wipe the ink," he said.

He stressed that such exploitation will never be allowed by an Islamic government.

Others on the panel at the at the four-hour dialogue included Terengganu state executive councillor Wan Abdul Mutalib Embong and Keadilan vice-president Sheikh Azmi.



Malaysiakini
news and views that matter


Sign In