COMMENT | Hadi remains an existential threat to Malaysia

"PAS ingin bertanya, mengapa kalangan bukan Islam tidak boleh menerima Islam sebagai penyelesaian masalah dunia, padahal mereka berjuang untuk menegakkan ideologi kanan dan kiri, sehinggakan ideologi paling ekstrem yang diciptakan oleh kalangan bukan daripada kaum atau bangsa malah tidak seagama dengan mereka?"

– PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang

COMMENT | Abdul Hadi Awang’s recent rejoinder of PAS’ commitment to a Malay uber alles government is not merely a political commitment towards Malaysia’s ethnocratic state of play but rather a clarion call for believers who understand demographic is destiny.

Hadi’s version of Islam is frankly atavistic, the kind of demagoguery that some “Islamic” states are trying to withdraw from.

What makes Hadi so dangerous is not the electoral prospects of PAS. What makes Hadi so dangerous is not the incompetency of PAS political operatives on a state or federal level. What makes Hadi so dangerous is not the biased response of the state when it comes to his provocations.

What makes Hadi so dangerous is that his narrative of Islam remains unchallenged by the political mainstream. Our slowly eroding public and private spheres is all part of the plan when it comes to turning Malaysia into an Islamic state.

Think of it this way. Hadi who used to hold high office in an international Islamic organisation deemed a terrorist organisation by certain Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, is confident enough to claim:

“The Arab civilisation was respected because of Islam but is now...