Umno is an Islamic party, says Najib
(Bernama) – Umno is truly an Islamic party, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak said, although it does not use the “Islamic label” in championing the cause of Islam and the country.
He said Umno had actually looked after and raised the living standards of the Muslims by eradicating poverty through various government programmes especially the Felda land schemes.
“In Islam, poverty is akin to sacrilege and for the past 53 years, Umno had strived to eradicate poverty among the Muslims by opening Felda land schemes. Is this not demanded by Islam?” he said when attending a breaking of the fast at Felda Teloi Timor, here today.
He said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Umno had brought development to the country by churning out Muslims who were respected and with the most modern technology and military.
“We need not carry the label ‘development with Islam’ because we have been championing the cause of Islam for a long time and had provided a prosperous life to Muslims because we don’t want the Muslims to be poor and without strength,” he said.
The Prime Minister also said that Islam wanted the ummah to transform for the better and this was what Umno had been doing.
“We always strive to bring improvements to the people. If we had started with Lurah Bilut (Felda Lurah Bilut) before, where the people who had no land previously, they now own 10 acres of land.
“By coincidence, it was my late father (Tun Abdul Razak) who had set up Felda. He used to walk with his walking stick and wore the bush jacket, walking hundreds of miles purely to give land and eradicate poverty,” he said.
Najib also said that Muslims must learn from the various achievements of Islam during the month of Ramadan including the Badar war.
At the function, Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the Minister of Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafei Apdal and state Umno leaders joined about 5,000 Felda settlers from Kedah and Perlis in the breaking of the fast.
The Prime Minister later gave away “Duit Raya” and special aid to the Felda settlers.
