Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | January 27, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
Malay rights group Perkasa can say all it wants about Islam coming ‘under siege’ in Selangor, but the fact is it’s Umno’s ruinous actions which threaten Islam.
COMMENT
Is Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim a closet Christian evangelist? Is that why Perkasa is upset over him taking charge of Islam in the state, warning that “the faith of Islam, of Muslims is under siege in Selangor”?
Is Khalid not Islamic enough for Perkasa?
I believe placing Khalid in charge of Islamic affairs in Selangor is the best decision the Pakatan Rakyat government has made.
Despite Perkasa’s postulation that Khalid “lacks the religious credentials”, I believe he will lend the prestige and stature of the MB’s office to Islamic affairs.
Since he has managed the state financially well, he can keep a look-out on the zakat money, too.
So how is he a threat to Islam, as claimed by Perkasa? Khalid is no threat to Islam, Umno is.
Islam is threatened simply because the majority of Umno members shy away from mosques and suraus.
They want positions as chairmen of suraus and masjid for the prestige. But they are sorely deficient and wanting when it comes to evangelical programmes.
But then that is the basic leadership philosophy of the majority of Umno people – they want positions without accountability and responsibility.
‘Islamic bodies can expect more’
They want to become boss of suraus or mosques, they want to become chairman of PTAs (Parent- Teacher Associations) even though they themselves are elementary educated.
So when things go afoul, the answers are not difficult to identify and can immediately be found. They almost always somehow originate from Umno.
Perkasa is pedalling an array of claims but the biggest gobbledygook thus far is that DAP is wanting to proselytise Muslims.
Noteworthy is the fact that a majority of DAP people are not Christians.
Also noteworthy is the fact that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng allocated a budget of RM30 million for Islamic institutions in the state.
Compare that with a measly RM12 million allocated yearly in Negri Sembilan headed by – horror of horrors – a Malay Muslim Menteri Besar (Mohamad Hasan).
Under Khalid, Islamic bodies in Selangor can expect more.
Yes, Islam is under threat but simply because Umno has carried out ruinous business policies and economic predation that have so impoverished the Malays.
It has made Malays vulnerable and left them to seek help from the inefficient Islamic bodies.
If Malays convert then, the fault lies firstly with the institutions charged with keeping the faith.
The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman and now a DAP member. He is a FMT columnist.