MUCH ado about nothing.
That seems to be the accusation being hurled at PAS supporters who took to performing their solat zohor (afternoon prayers) in an open, public space in front of Sogo shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur.
This show of piousness was led by PAS state assemblymen for Gual Periok Kamaruzaman Mohamad. There has yet to be any official explanation from the Islamist party as to the reason for this public display of supposed piety.
Janganlah buat perkara yang mengundang fitnah kepada agama. Jika majikan bukan Islam lihat, nanti mereka suruh staff Islam solat di tempat parking kereta saja.
Di kawasan tersebut
ada banyak surau disediakan. Gunakan sebaik mungkin.
pic.twitter.com/RyGannfrK7— Roman Akramovich (@SyedAkramin) May 25, 2025
The actions of these PAS supporters which purportedly took place in conjunction with the Himpunan Melayu Berdaulat, a pro-Malay rally on Saturday (May 24), has been widely ridiculed on social media, especially among Madani backers.
This included pro-Pakatan Harapan (PH) influencer Roman Akromovich (@SyedAkramin) who pointedly reasoned that there were plenty of prayer facilities in the area, not least in the Sogo shopping complex itself.
The poster further raised concern that such action could invite slander that leads to misunderstandings about the Islamic faith.
“What if non-Muslim employers who watch this video think it’s fine to have their Muslims staff to perform their prayers in the car park,” he queried on X.
Many netizens were similarly unimpressed by this public stunt which many felt was merely for “content creation”. Why couldn’t they just use the comfortable praying facilities in the Sogo shopping complex?
Other prayer facilities within a short stone’s throw were also highlighted – notably, the Dang Wangi police station surau – which pointed precisely to why the need for to pray “in such an unkempt and unpure condition”.
It was then succinctly pointed out that this was done for dramatic effect to allow passers-by to record and hopefully viral their “struggle for justice”.
One netizen highlighted just when prayers could be performed in open spaces as in the video – when circumstances dictate there is no choice or when praying for rain.
He further revealed that any Muslim-run businesses in the vicinity would have prayer facilities, insinuating there was no need for this public display.
One netizen wondered if the message that this congregation was trying to impart was that there were insufficient prayer facilities for Muslims in Malaysia.
He also chided them for giving the wrong impression to foreign visitors – namely Muslims are being ostracised. He labelled these Perikatan Nasional (PN) supporters as “stupid”.
Whatever the point they may be trying to ram home, a few commenters expressed disgust that the surrounding was NOT fit for purpose, notably it was NOT clean.
Such action was said to mimic “extremist” Arab immigrants in European countries (UK, France and Germany) who claimed to be an “oppressed lot”. It was obvious this netizen was contemptuous of the comparison.
Quite a few ridiculed these walaun (slang for diehard PAS supporters) for denigrating their own religion.
Whatever the motive, it does appear that these holier-than-thou PAS supporters have misjudged the impression they are creating with this stunt.
One netizen summed up the sentiments of many when he reckoned that this was just displaying a backward mentality. – May 26, 2025
