SUCH is the ultimatum issued by Selangor PAS Youth head Mohamed Sukri Omar who is ever ready to mobile public protest in accordance with the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 should there be no stringent action against the Pahang public university student who made headlines by trampling on the holy Quran.
The PAS Malaysia committee member has further demanded swift action from the ruling Madani government comprising:
- Immediate investigation and prosecution under existing legal provisions relating to insulting religion and public order with the heaviest possible punishment;
- Immediate termination of studies at the Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) with the suspect barred from enter any public university in the future; and.
- Severe and prolonged community service under official supervision, including compulsory service in a welfare institution and to undergo a strict personality rehabilitation programme.
The above ‘plan of action’ is believed to be prompted by the so-called “too soft approach” mooted by Religious Affairs Minister Senator Dr Zulkifli Hasan who is of the view that “the issue of trampling on the Quran needs to be addressed with wisdom and discernment”.
“Taking an educational approach rather than directly punishing is in line with the concept of taaruf in Islam which is to get to know each other, understand and approach each other with knowledge and good morals,” he justified.
While every Muslim has the right to be angered by the student’s indecency, one wonders if this is merely a windfall political capital for PAS to undermine the ruling Madani government or if the Islamist party has become bolder or more daring ‘to take laws into its own hand’.
From a non-Muslim perspective, Sukri’s own justification would not only cast fear in the former towards PAS which claims to be ‘befriending’ non-Muslims on one hand yet has forgotten that Malaysia is by and large a secular country despite the status of Islam as its official religion.
In fact, non-Muslims can be forgiven to wonder if the PAS Shah Alam president is over-zealously pushing for the ‘Islamisaton of Malaysia’ in the quest to quell “extreme religious insult” considering that religious freedom is guaranteed under Article 11 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution.
However, I would like to stress that the existing laws may no longer be sufficient to deal with the increasingly bold and provocative open insults to Islam.
The Federal government must consider drafting a more stringent and specific bill against insults to Islam in line with the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation.
The law should detail the types of offences, streamline the definition of insults and provide for more severe and clear penalties as a deterrent.
Shouldn’t the existing law be allowed to take its course? As it is, the culprit has not only apologised for having unloaded his action on social media but he has also been detained by the police and remanded for four days.
The case is being investigated under Section 295 of the Penal Code for defiling an object considered sacred with the intent to insult religion which provides for up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine or both.
Additionally, the case is also being investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for the improper use of network facilities which provides for up to a year’s imprisonment, a fine of up to RM50,000 or both.
Well, while Sukri may be hailed for his heroics for his grand ideas, the danger lies in the fact that he might end up instigating rebellious PAS backers to perhaps take laws into their own hands as can be gauged from the reaction of some netizens to this MalaysiaGazette Facebook post.
Indirectly, Sukri – whether knowingly and unknowingly – has cast the impression that the law of the country is inadequate to protect the sanctity of Islam. – Feb 27, 2026
