Harakah article warns against liberals in PAS

By admin-s Last updated Jan 20, 2015

(FMT) – It also appears to argue for PAS’ separation from Pakatan Rakyat.

PAS mouthpiece Harakah Daily has published an opinion piece that sounds like a warning against liberal influences in the party. It also appears to be an oblique argument for PAS’ separation from Pakatan Rakyat.

Written by Kuala Nerus MP Khairuddin Aman Razali, it traces the history of Morocco’s Istiqlal Party, which began as an Islamist party in 1937 but eventually embraced secularism because it allowed liberal minded members to dominate it.

Istiqlal was part of Morocco’s ruling coalition in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Khairuddin said he learned of the party’s evolution from Islamist to secular from PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang and that this was confirmed in his conversation with a Moroccan MP at a recent convention in Turkey.

Istiqlal was founded by Sheikh Allal bin Abdul Waahid al-Fasi, an Islamic activist and scholar with scores of publications to his name, especially in the field of jurisprudence.

Khairuddin says the gradual infusion of liberal ideas into the party caused it to change from being strictly Islamic to being liberal minded. Over time, he adds, Istiqlal lost its Islamic character to become a secular party.