The bai'ah (loyalty oath) sworn by PAS' elected representatives punishes those who betray the party. 

However what if it’s the party which betrays the oath takers, asked Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa. 

 

"The issue of betrayal; what betrayal is it? If the party itself betrays (the person who took the oath) then how are we going to follow the rules of the party? 

 

"What happens if we find out the party is not in line with what it is preaching? What if the party is doing something else? How can you stay loyal if the party goes against the teachings of Islam, for example?

 

"The betrayal part is so wide that it demands a question whether it is binding without conditions," he told Malaysiakini .

 

The bai'ah issue resurfaced recently as PAS' progressives move to set up a new Islamist party. The oath is meant to deter MPs and assemblypersons from PAS from jumping ship. 

 

It is believed that each state has its own oath, with the most controversial being the ones in Kelantan and Terengganu, which include a divorce clause .

 

Selangor had a similar oath after the 2008 polls but Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad ( photo ) told Malaysiakini that this was not part of the new oath after the 2013 polls.

 

"I understand that Kelantan and Terengganu have (a divorce clause) but not in Selangor," he said.

 

Mujahid, who is part of the Harapan Baru movement, said there is no divorce clause in Perak either, but oathbreakers were to be cursed "by God, the Prophet Muhammad, and the angels".

 

'Cursing oathbreakers wrong'

In Islam, a husband can divorce or pronounce ‘talaq’ on his wife, for up to three times. The third pronouncement is final and the man cannot reconcile with the woman, unless she remarries another man and that marriage ends in divorce.

 

The pronouncement of talaq is considered a grave matter, even if made in jest. However, the pronouncement has to be recognised by the syariah court for the divorce to be valid under the Islamic family law.

Kelantan chief syariah judge Daud Muhammad has said that a divorce clause in a bai'ah is also binding.

 

However, Mujahid claimed a bai'ah which includes a divorce clause is not applicable.

 

"An oath of loyalty that affects the larger aspects of life, such as marriage, is actually null and void. [...] Protecting your family, living a good life with your family, is something that is unquestionable.

 

"So when you take an oath that affects the life of your family just because you 'betray' the party, that will really be going against the very basis of life which is to have a good family," he said.

 

Similarly, he said, cursing oathbreakers is also wrong.

 

"As far as the curse is concerned, it is also inapplicable. If you look at the Quran and Hadith, only God alone can curse and has the right to curse because he is the creator. 

 

"No other being can take that from him, and the oath takes away God's right," he added.

 

Mujahid said the Prophet Muhammad also allowed for oaths to be broken, if it was replaced with a better one.

 

"The Prophet said if you see an oath that is better, then give food to 10 poor people, fast three days, or free a slave (to redeem the broken oath)," he said.

 

Summarising his arguments on the bai'ah issue, Mujahid said loyalty to an oath is not without its limits.

 

"It is not a blind sort of loyalty," he said, adding that he is confident that the oaths will not become a hurdle to Harapan Baru's plans to set up a new party.