SIS-backers from PAS on the carpet
The Selangor chapter will report three “errant” MPs to the party’s central leadership “for further action”.
Shane Fuentes, Free Malaysia Today
Mujahid Yusof Rawa (Parit Buntar), Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad (Shah Alam), and Hanipa Maidin (Sepang), three PAS MPs, may be facing censure for allegedly going out on a limb and backing Sisters in Islam (SIS), an NGO, which has taken the religious authorities in Selangor to Court.
PAS Selangor commissioner Iskandar A. Samad said in a statement that his chapter will be reporting the “errant” trio to the party’s central leadership “for further action”. “What they have done is not the party’s position,” he added.
“Elected representatives should not act independently as they contest in general elections on the party’s ticket and not as individuals.”
He clarified that the party had taken a position not to challenge fatwas (religious edicts).
He implied that if one fatwa was challenged, it was akin to opening the floodgates, since other fatwas could be challenged as well. “This would cause confusion among Muslims,” he stressed.
The errant PAS MPs apparently support the move by SIS to apply for leave to file a Judicial Review against religious authorities in Selangor for issuing a fatwa which accuses the group of “liberalism” and “religious pluralism”.
They believe that religious edicts cannot target specific groups or organisations. The fatwa by Mais, which mentioned SIS, also covers “any individuals, organisations or institutions”.
They further concurred with SIS that the fatwa in question did not define liberalism and religious pluralism in declaring them deviant and this may be tantamount to stifling freedom of speech as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution. SIS has stressed that they would challenge the process of gazetting the fatwa, not the fatwa itself.
