Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said a Muslim should not pledge bai'ah (allegiance) to a leader because a leader is merely a mortal.

"Bai'ah means to pledging loyalty to a leader. As a mere mortal, a leader can do wrong... we found many PAS leaders did wrong in terms of religion," he said.

He said a Muslim must submit to God and acknowledge Prophet Muhammad as the messenger of Allah.

NONE PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang (left in photo) was reported as saying that the party's candidates for the next general election were required to take the bai'ah oath which he said was higher than loyalty pledge, and those who broke the oath would pay dearly in this world and the hereafter.

"There is no need for bai'ah... he (Hadi) is not even a prophet, so what is the bai'ah for?" Dr Mahathir told reporters after delivering a lecture entitled 'Mental transformation for young researchers' hosted by Universiti Teknologi Mara's Faculty of Applied Sciences Postgraduate Association in Shah Alam today.

Dr Mahathir said PAS was stifling the thinking of its members by practicing bai'ah.

On opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's move not to sue the Wall Street Journal pertaining to his statement proclaiming support for Israel's security, Dr Mahathir said it showed Anwar was supporting Israel.

"So Nik Aziz (Nik Mat, PAS spiritual leader) tried to defend him (Anwar) by questioning why the government allowed an Israeli ship to call at our port.

International practice

"It is an international practice. If we impose restrictions, we might violate international laws," said Dr Mahathir.

Malaysia should not support Israel at any cost as it was created by displacing the Palestinians from their homeland, he said, adding that the regime violated international laws by imposing a blockade on Gaza and inflicting atrocities on the Palestinians.

"Are these people whom we should safeguard their security?

NONE "These people should be kept under surveillance from attacking other people, not providing security for them," he said.

On the launch of Jati, a non-governmental organisation, yesterday, he said its president Hasan Mohamed Ali should expound on its objectives such its struggle to uphold Islam.

"I do not like to see more parties being set up as it will further erode Malay unity.

"The Malays are already divided into three parties and they might be further split into four, five, six groups and eventually reduced to a minority," said Dr Mahathir.

On the Umno-PAS unity government, he said: "We had done it before by admitting PAS into the Barisan Nasional, but instead of fighting for the BN, ministers from PAS were more interested to expand the party's influence.

"There was no sincerity in wanting to cooperate, so we split. And now they do not like to work with Umno, they want to cooperate with the DAP to the extent of abandoning their struggle for an Islamic state," he said.

- Bernama