PAS vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Amar Abdullah has claimed that local Muslims have become both complacent and easily satisfied till the extent that they are unable to defend the sanctity of Islam even when their faith comes under attack.
“We have mati rasa (become numb). We remain silent even when people insult Islam,” he penned in a recent Facebook post from Madinah.
“Our thinking is such that as long as I can pray, I can go to Mecca, that’s enough. Such is our disease today.”
In his rant about Muslims disrespecting and undermining the ulama fraternity, Mohd Amar also touched on the increasingly widespread insults against Islam in Malaysia and the increasingly weak attitude of Muslims in defending their religion.
Interestingly, the 66-year-old politician uses Shia-ruled Iran as an example even when Islam in Malaysia is represented by the Shafi’i school of Sunni jurisprudence (hence, the practice of any other form of Islam is heavily restricted).
“Today, Muslims themselves insult the Quran and the Prophet,” lamented the Kelantan State Assembly speaker.
“Ayatollah Khomeini, the then supreme leader of Iran, once issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill (author) Salman Rushdie and those involved in the publication of the novel The Satanic Verses because they were considered insulting Islam.”
Showering praises on the Shia values, he revealed that the Khomeini fatwa “came with financial rewards for anyone who carries out the punishment”.
“But today, who dares to defend religion?” asked the former Kelantan deputy Menteri besar.
“Iran which we call Shia is today braver than us Sunnis. Sunnis are spectators. Who is today defending Muslims who are being killed in Palestine if not Iran which is actively helping out.”
Added the four-term Panchor state assemblyman: “What do we Sunni do? We can perform umrah three times, we can recite Yasin on Friday night, we can celebrate Maulid. That’s all our Islam.
“But when we are been ticked off, we quickly admit that the deemed culprit is a fanatic. If it’s more than that, we get labelled as having crossed the 3R (race, religion and royalty) line.” – March 13, 2025
Main image credit: Dato’ Nik Amar/Facebook; Modern Diplomacy
