A member of parliament has urged former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to retract a statement and apologise to the people sponsored to undertake the haj pilgrimage under the Prime Minister-1Malaysia Development Bhd Foundation Special Programme.

Irmohizam Ibrahim, the MP for Kuala Selangor, said Dr Mahathir had to do so because many haj pilgrims were hurt by his allegation that performing the haj under the programme amounted to their pilgrimage being 'tidak mabrur' (unaccepted).

"The accusation makes it seem as though all the good done by (Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak is not accepted by Allah (God).

"We do not want all the good deeds of Mahathir to be forgotten due to his excessive questioning of the good done by the Barisan Nasional government," he said in a statement today.

Irmohizam said Dr Mahathir, who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairperson, seemed to have gone overboard for political reasons, to the extent of questioning the status of the haj performed by an individual.

- Bernama