Non-Muslims can hold decision-making posts in Amanah, says Mat Sabu
(The Malaysian Insider) – Non-Muslims will be full members and can hold decision-making posts in Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), as the newly-formed Islamist party seeks to reform political Islam in Malaysia.
Its president Mohamad Sabu said this was part of Amanah’s focus on the politics of inclusivity, good governance and trustworthiness, which are Islamic principles.
This is in contrast to other Islamic movements which focus on issues of creed (aqidah) and the implementation of Shariah law, according to Mohamad, who is more popularly known as Mat Sabu.
“The image of Islam has been tarnished by its followers. It is seen as a religion of violence, chaos, mistreatment of women and discriminatory towards other faiths,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
“We want Amanah to be supported by all. This is so that non-Muslims no longer feel scared when the word Islam is mentioned,” Mohamad said.
In order to realise these pledges, Amanah was opening the party up to non-Muslims, he said.
This was unlike PAS where non-Muslims were only associate members and were sequestered in the PAS Supporters wing.
However, since Amanah is still Islamist at its core, those contesting the party’s top two posts, the president and deputy president must be committed to Islam.
Mohamad is a former long-time leader and activist of the country’s most well-known Islamist movement, PAS.
He was ousted as deputy president in the party elections last June, being one of a group of progressive leaders who lost heavily to the conservative faction in the polls.
The group then left PAS after disagreeing with its new conservative leadership over the direction of the party.
Mohamad cited the behaviour of the Japanese when their country was hit by a tsunami in 2011, when illustrating the value system that Amanah wanted to nurture.
When it was time to leave the relief centres, there were thousands of valuables that had been left behind and unclaimed by their owners, who it was feared, had perished.
“The survivors did not want to take any of these valuables because it did not belong to them. But this would not happen in Malaysia.”
