WITH a PAS member heading the Islamic Development Department, Malaysia may be heading towards becoming an Islamic state, former diplomat Dennis Ignatius said.

Speaking yesterday at the launch of his book, Paradise Lost: Mahathir & the End of Hope, Ignatius said with the Islamist party in charge, the country may be heading towards Wahhabism and the transition may be irreversible.

“With Jakim now under PAS, I anticipate we will lurch into becoming an Islamic state at an even faster rate,” he said last night.

PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad is the minister charge of religious affairs in the Prime Minister’s Department and Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, also of PAS, is his deputy.

Ignatius said PAS has been pressing for non-Muslims to be excluded from senior government positions.

“There are calls to impose shariah laws on non-Muslims. There is so much intolerance towards other religions. When will it end?” he asked, adding it is also disturbing the way Islam is being politically defined.

Professor James Chin of the University of Tasmania, who also spoke at the book launch, said while Malaysia could become an Islamic state, it would not be not based on the Middle-East model.

“What you have now is a minority group highly committed to make Malaysia an Islamic state. Not the sort in the Middle East, but a Malay Islamic state,” he said.

Chin said there has never been an attempt to realise the concept of a Malay Islamic state and as such, he expected to see many hiccups along the way.

Political Islam, which is on the rise, Chin said, is incompatible with democratic norms.

Dr Tajuddin Rosdi, a professor at USCI University, added that while Islamic extremism is growing, it is not only the political parties which are to blame for it.

“I agree that the problem, Islamic extremism is coming to the fore but the blame is not only on the politicians. They are pandering to what is already existent among the people.

“We need to have change in us and the community,” Tajuddin said.

He predicted a sweeping win for the Umno-PAS link-up in the next general rlection.

This, he said, was because of the pervasiveness of the “Ketuanan Melayu” and “Ketuanan Islam” ideologies of Malay and Muslim supremacy.

Former Sungai Benut MP Tawfik Ismail, also speaking at the launch, said the creation of an Islamic state is easier said than done.

“In terms of religions, remember that we have nine sultans and 13 muftis with 13 different ideas on how Islam should be interpreted.

“So I don’t see the big threat of a unified Islamic uprising of the right wing to make us all live in fear. I think they will cancel each other out. 

“As long as people understand the constitution, people like PAS can’t bully us into doing things that are unconstitutional,” he said.

Tawfik, a son of the late Ismail Abdul Rahman, the second deputy prime minister of Malaysia, added the forefathers were not thinking about setting up a Islamic state when they sought independence, but the preservation of the federation with checks and balances provided in the constitution.

“The Malays have never been united, the other races need not worry.”

Meanwhile, the use of the term “Bumiputera” is divisive and needs to be done away with, Tawfik said.

“It is not in the constitution. It’s a political construct that should be abolished.” – September 10, 2021.