COMMENT | Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, the deputy menteri besar of Kelantan, has conceded that Kelantan is lagging behind other states in development, but said it is deliberate.

Now, let's get a few things straight. When the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, the first verse, Surah al-Alaq, is also known as Surah Iqra, which translates as “read”: “Indeed, read in the name of thy Lord, who has created this Universe” (Surah Al-Alaq 96: 1-2).

Nowhere in the Quran or hadiths is there any emphasis on slowing down. In fact, Muhammad has said that the best among the Muslims are "those who race against one another to do good." This is in reference to giving alms, which of course implies the need to create a just and equitable society.

In fact, there is a hadith on work ethics too. Muhammad once said: "Pay the workers before their sweat on their eyebrows dry." In other words, when someone works for you, immediately reimburse him or her accordingly, so that justice is served.

And, when two or more parties are involved in any trade, the hadiths further emphasise the need to put everything down into a written contract, which in the 7th century was unheard of.

Yet, PAS has seemingly gone against the letter and spirit of Quran and the hadiths since the passing of their esteemed leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat. Instead of reading widely to attain critical reflection, one of the things Abdul Hadi Awang did was to ask his followers to take a 'bai’ah' or a pledge of allegiance to the party.

The pledges were even pegged to the matrimonial relationships of their followers. If they refused to comply with or if they left the party, they must first divorce their wives with three ‘talaq’. Under what aspects of syariah does Islam counsel a husband to divorce his wife?

In fact, "divorce," according to Muhammad, is a permissible act that is "most hated in the sight of Allah." Yet, PAS laid down such a rule anyway.

And, now, it is trying to explain away Kelantan’s economic underdevelopment by comparing it to Langkawi? According to Mohd Amar, who is also the vice-president of PAS, the people in Langkawi “drink alcohol as if they were drinking water." This is fitnah.

In fact, the statistics show that under PAS, the number of youths in Kelantan with drug problems has increased. This is all part of the vicious cycle of poverty and underdevelopment.

Lack of speed

When Muhammad was alive, one of his most intimate prayers was to be spared of "poverty and debt." Yet Mohd Amar seems to delight in slowing the development of Kelantan, which will almost certainly lead Kelantan to be the most impoverished state one day.

In fact, after Muhammad’s death, the Islamic empire defeated the Romans, which was considered an impossibility. But backed by faith and the liberating ethos of Islam, the early ummah did it.

Saad Ibn Abu Waqass, a ‘sahaba’ (companion) of Muhammad, also made his way to Xian, China in order to propagate Islam within the first few decades after his leader’s death.

Whatever the Muslims could do, the Muslims did it quickly, including the standardisation of the Quran under the caliph Uthman ibn Affan after Umar Ibn Al-Khattab had gathered them.

Nowhere did Islam slow down for anyone, as the 'syiar' or the message of Islam was to get the word out to as many people as possible, for Islam was truly the blessing from Allah.

Post-Nik Aziz, PAS has become the true merchant traders of Islam, using the religion for their narrow political aims. Mohd Amar is no different. Using Islam to justify his administration’s lack of speed in bringing development to Kelantan is shameful and misrepresentation of the great faith.

Islam stands for progress and development, a just balance between the spiritual and material. That is the true Islam.

The very fact that PAS has chosen to work with the kleptocratic Umno-BN itself speaks volumes of its Islamic credentials – because “talking Islam” and “doing Islam” are two different things.

RAIS HUSSIN is a supreme council member of Bersatu and heads the Policy and Strategy Bureau of Bersatu.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.