A young Umno ulama has defended the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor over her role in the controversial Islamic fashion festival.

NONE Speaking at the Umno general assembly for the first time, Arau delegate Fathul Bari Mat Jahya - who was one of the 40 young clerics who joined the party in June - said that the opposition are merely blaming Rosmah ( right in photo ) without any basis.

"The protest should be directed at the organisers or the designers, when Rosmah was merely the patron," he said when debating the motion on religion this morning.

He said that like anyone, they should have investigated whether the mistake was deliberate or not.

"Without studying the matter more, they simply pass judgement and attack. Is this the attitude of Muslims who profess to live by the laws of Islam? It is becoming obvious that this is a misrepresentation of Islam," he said.

NONE PAS Youth attacked Rosmah alleging that the fashion festival, held in Monte Carlo recently, had humiliated Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan had in particular singled out one of the items on display  that had the Prophet’s name emblazoned across the chest of a female model wearing a sleeveless T-shirt; furthermore, the model had not covered her aurat .

'Islamophobia, work of ignorance'

Moving on in his address, Fathul Bari, the son of the former Perlis mufti, also said that Islamophobia is a two-dimensional issue.

At one point, he claimed that it stemmed from the non-Muslims' fear of Islam.

NONE "They think that Islam is a terrorist religion and that it is extremist. They also think that Muslims themselves don't show the true side of Islam.

"Secondly, it is also through the fault of Muslims who are ignorant of their own faith. They don't take the effort to explain the beauty of Islam to those who fear it and at the same time, they refuse to accept the ulamas' teachings.

"It is their own image and attitude towards the faith that brings about this fear to the non-Muslims," he added.