The declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has helped rectify the wrongful portrayal of Islam by PAS, said the head of a religious foundation today.

According to Malaysian Islamic Dakwah Foundation chairperson Nakhaie Ahmad, the declaration also helped allay fears among the country's non-Muslims, who are worried and unclear about the nature of the Islamic state PAS is planning to implement should it come to power.

Nakhaie, who left PAS in the mid-1980s and later joined Umno, said that it is now Umno's responsibility to convince its other coalition partners in the Barisan Nasional government that the declaration was not a mere political gimmick.

"What we see in Kelantan and Terengganu do not represent the characteristics of an Islamic state. Otherwise the non-Malays will get the impression that an Islamic state is economically backward as in the case of these two states," he said.

Opinion changed

Nakhaie said that the declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state has also drawn interest from various quarters, especially the non-Muslims, to understand more about Islam.

"The keenest interest was shown by the BN component parties such as MCA and Gerakan. As the one closest to them, Umno should take this opportunity to explain to them about the concept of an Islamic state," he added.

Nakhaie said Malaysia has long been recognised as an Islamic state.

"After independence, based on the concept of power-sharing and mutual understanding and co-operation between various races through a political coalition - the Alliance and later BN - Malaysia has fulfilled the characteristics of an Islamic state," he said.

However, he conceded that he was once of the opinion that Malaysia was a secular state.

"But after observing the opinions of many ulamas , including Imam Abu Hanifah and those from the Madrasah al-Syafiiyah, my conclusion is that Malaysia possesses sufficient characteristics of an Islamic state, although not entirely similar to the time of Khulafa Rasyidin," he said.