PAS should be given an opportunity to have a dialogue with religious scholars from Egypt's Al-Azhar University before they assess Malaysia's administration to determine if it is an Islamic state, said leaders of the Muslim opposition party today.

Party president Fadzil Noor said the scholars' assessment will not be fair if they are only fed with "lopsided" information from the government.

"The government will definitely show them all the infrastructures, such as mosques and universities, to convince them we are an Islamic state," said Fadzil when contacted.

However, he maintained that the move by the government to invite the scholars is just another attempt to "cheat more people".

"The government has been cheating Malaysians and this time, they want to cheat the outsiders as well," he said.

Fadzil was responding to an announcement by the government yesterday that six scholars from Al-Azhar University will be in the country early next year to prove that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

Religious adviser to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Abdul Hamid Othman reportedly said the move is aimed at countering PAS' insistence that Malaysia is a secular state.

Abdul Hamid also said the six scholars will meet government officials, non-governmental organisations, religious leaders and community groups.

Mahathir's 'surprise'

Al-Azhar is the main centre of Islamic and Arabic learning in the world situated in Cairo, Egypt. Founded by the Fatimids in 970 and formally organised by 988, the basic programme of Al-Azhar's studies was, and still is, on Islamic law, theology, and the Arabic language.

Many PAS leaders graduated from Al-Azhar; for instance, party deputy president and Terengganu Mentri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang who obtained his master's degree in Islamic studies.

Claiming 800,000 members, PAS is known to be dedicated to promoting a governance based on Islamic laws and teachings.

PAS has been labelled by its long-time rival Umno as "fanatical and extreme".

However, Mahathir who is also Umno president took many by surprise last month when he declared that Malaysia was already an Islamic state.

Following that, MCA and other non-Muslim parties in the Barisan Nasional which had been criticising PAS for insisting on pursuing its agenda, did an about-turn and are taking pains to explain Mahathir's version of the Islamic state to the Chinese community.

Fadzil challenged the premier to debate the issue in Parliament and said recently PAS will submit a memorandum spelling out its concept soon.

'Arguments will be scrutinised'

PAS Youth chief Mahfuz Omar told malaysiakini even if Al-Azhar is widely regarded as the foremost authority on Islam, the party will not simply accept the findings of the scholars without scrutinising their arguments.

"They may be given inaccurate information and, therefore, make an inaccurate conclusion, so we shall see about that," he said.

This is why PAS should be given a chance to present its case to the scholars, he added.

When asked, Mahfuz said PAS did not foresee an erosion of support among its members should the Al-Azhar scholars declare that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

"Our members and religious leaders are well-educated in religious matters. They will not be influenced easily because they can decide things for themselves," he said.