Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken a page out of the history books to show how PAS is dicing with danger.

Though he did not mention names, it was obvious that the former prime minister was referring to the Islamic party working with DAP.

In a blog posting today, Mahathir noted how Muslims from northern Africa crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and conquered the Iberian peninsula.

Under the stewardship of general Tariq ibn Ziya, he said, they defeated the Spanish and Portuguese forces.

“For 800 years, Islam reigned in the peninsula, which was known among the Arabs as Al-Andalus,” he added.

However, he said, the Muslims in Al-Andalus fell apart and broke up into various provinces which waged war against one another.

During this bloody period, Mahathir said, some Muslim leaders sought the help of Spanish Christians who commanded a strong army.

“Those who worked with the Spanish were able to defend their Muslim enemies.

“But the Spanish took control of the conquered provinces and the Muslims who sought their help could not do anything because they were weak.

“In helping the rulers of Muslim provinces, Spain managed to reclaim the whole peninsula,” he added.

The last to fall, Mahathir said, was the Granada province, which was conquered by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

“With this, the history of the Iberian Peninsula being an Islamic state came to an end.

“The Muslims and Jews in Granada were given three choices - return to Northern Africa, embrace Catholicism or be killed,” he added.

Returning to the present, Mahathir hinted that PAS was in a similar situation in its alliance with DAP, which the Islamic party describes with the Arabic term of “tahaluf siyasi.”

“This is the end product of ‘tahaluf siyasi’ between Muslims and those stronger than them,” Mahathir said in reference to what unravelled in the Iberian Peninsula.

“Is there a lesson to be gleaned from the Islamic history of the Iberian Peninsula?” he asked.

Yesterday, Mahathir criticised PAS for condemning Umno as an infidel for working with non-Muslims but it was doing the same in Pakatan Rakyat.

He said since PAS was clever in using the Arabic language and Islam to make the forbidden permissible, it had used the term “tahaluf siyasi” (political cooperation) to justify its ties with DAP.

However, Mahathir said, unlike MCA and MIC, which never questioned Umno’s Islamic stand, DAP, however, was clearly opposed to PAS’ theocratic ambitions.