Surprised Dzul says UMNO and gambling are synonymous

(Harakahdaily) – Another PAS leader has expressed surprise over UMNO’s allegation that the compassionate fund for needy Penangites had been derived from gambling profits, saying the Malay-based party’s ties to unIslamic businesses were well known.

“Since when has UMNO been able to differentiate between halal and haram revenues? Gambling and UMNO had become ‘synonym’ from time immemorial,” said Kuala Selangor member of parliament Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

Drawing from history, Dzulkefly recalled how in 1951, the then Penang mufti Haji Abdullah Fahim, who was also the father of former prime minister Abdullah Badawi, had issued a fatwa declaring lottery as forbidden in Islam.

The fatwa however was ignored, sparking an exodus of Muslim scholars from UMNO.

“The ulama faction in UMNO at that time had protested that lottery was haram. But UMNO leaders ignored their protests, and this ultimately led to the formation of PAS on November 24, 1951.

“Till today, we have yet to hear any serious voices from within UMNO calling for the abolishment of gambling. Far from it, the UMNO-BN government actually awarded soccer betting licence during the 2010 World Cup to Vincent Tan’s Ascot Sports on May 6, 2010, only to be forced to suspend it,” said Dzulkefly, who is also a member of the PAS central committee.

Earlier, another PAS central committee member Mohamad Sabu slammed UMNO’s ‘hypocrisy’ in the issue, and recalled that during his three terms as a member of parliament, not a single UMNO leader had opposed the BN government’s approval of gambling licenses in the country.

Dzulkefly also took to task the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yasin, who joined in condemning the Penang state government for allegedly distributing the funds from gambling to Muslims in the state by saying Muslims were “sensitive” about their income sources.

“If indeed the DPM and UMNO are sensitive about the sources of their income, why is it that for decades UMNO/BN have been collecting the sin-tax from alcohol, gambling and cigarrette sales, the proceeds from which are consolidated into a single account by the Federal government?” he asked, echoing an earlier statement by DAP’s Tony Pua, who challenged UMNO leaders to return their salaries in view of their dubious origin.

Describing UMNO’s sermonising over the issue as “the height of hypocrisy”, Dzulkefly said Muslim civil servants in the country must be educated about the truth of their sources of income, which was a mixture of halal and haram revenues.

He added that unlike the current practice, the halal and haram should be segregated.

“Surely the halal income will be able to take care of civil servants’ salaries,” he stressed, adding that only political will among Muslim civil servants could bring about reform in the way finances were managed.

“UMNO and BN cannot be depended upon for such a change,” added Dzulkefly.