PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has been drawing flak from various quarters over his move to push for the hudud bill.

Now his son has weighed in on the issue, among others, addressing those who call the law barbaric and argue that it is not the proper time for it to be implemented.

Muhammad Khalil, who is also PAS Youth deputy chief, called this "hududphobia", which is part of "Islamophobia" that is prevalent around the world.

"There are those who condemn hudud on the grounds that it is barbaric and violates human rights. Strangely, they can accept the death sentence via hanging and the electric chair.

"There are those who disagree because the timing is not right. So the question is, when is the right time?" he asked.

Khalil also noted that some felt the hudud issue would affect votes for PAS in the next general election.

'Muslims are with PAS'

However, he said the Islamic party's membership is now close to one million.

"This shows the Muslim community in Malaysia respects PAS because of being firm with its Islamic principles and at the same time, respects the position of non-Muslims," he added.

The PAS leader said Malaysians must wait and see how this ongoing "hududphobia" saga ends.

"DAP has stated its stand. PKR is still malu-malu (diffident). What about Umno and its coalition partners? The people would see and evaluate," he added.

Similar to its foes in BN, DAP has stood firm in rejecting the implementation of hudud and even severed ties with the PAS president.

PKR’s top leadership has also disagreed with PAS’ move to enforce the Islamic law in Kelantan via a private member’s bill in Parliament.

However, Umno's stand remains ambigous with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak dragging his feet on the issue.