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by Kazi Mahmood KUALA LUMPUR (IslamOnline) - A major offensive by the Malaysian ruling Malay party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) is underway to tackle the erosion of the party's electorate. Mahathir Mohamad's party has appointed 20 religious thinkers to counter the Islamic opposition Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) on its own ground. Islam, the UMNO says, is not the exclusivity of the PAS. UMNO believes that religious intellectuals would be efficient in fighting the PAS's "propaganda and biased views of Islam." UMNO information chief Mustapa Mohamed, said the campaign has begun and religious experts who considered reliable thinkers and pro-UMNO in their political beliefs, have visited 4 major states. The aim is to hold meetings with members of the UMNO party in these states and brief them on how to counter the PAS machinery of ulamas. Mustapa said, during the day they would hold meetings with 300 to 400 UMNO information staff members, and at night there would be public talks. He urged all UMNO divisions and branches to take part in various community programs as this would help to strengthen the party. "Except for a setback in the last general election, we notice a renewed spirit to work harder for the party," the UMNO chief said. Malaysia is currently witnessing a major transformation in the approach and language of the ruling Malay party. "It has said it will adopt Islam. Does that mean it was un-Islamic during the past 50 years?" a member of the ulama in Kuala Lumpur asked. "It is a good sign though. Malaysia needs more Islamization. The Malays in this country are fed up with the pro-Western bashing in the medias as well as in the life style of the UMNO political leaders," Razali Ahmad said. When asked if the UMNO will eventually succeed in turning the Islamic tide in its favor, Razali said he believed all the efforts the party is putting in strengthening its Islamic image would prove the PAS was right in its formula. Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the well respected spiritual leader of the PAS, said that the UMNO is not an anti-Islamic party full of Muslims who believed in their succession of the British heritage. "UMNO's politics and fundamentals are the continuation of the British Islamic disengagement policies. PAS is fundamentally different. We fully integrate Islam in the political and economic life of the Malays," the stalwart PAS leader said. The UMNO is feeling uneasy over reasons why the PAS has debunked them from being the once leading Malay party in the country. The PAS raked in a majority of Malay votes, allowing the party to claim it the largest Malay and opposition force in the 55% Muslim-dominated nation. An Islamic approach is one area where the UMNO failed to impress the Malays, who have grown increasingly pro-Islamic due to bulldozing development that could have potentially sidelined Islamic morality. "The PAS is here to stay and to dominate. [The] UMNO will have to do more than talk Islam. They have to act, they have to clean the country of the too many anti-Islam elements that has came about thanks to the rapid development in the country," Razali argued. "The big mistake by the UMNO party was that they thought money, progress and freedom to abandon Islamic principles for Western principles in life, would buy the Malays and make Islam a symbolic faith," Razali charged, adding that in a span of four years, the government will never be able to reverse the tide against the UMNO. "They need to work their fundamentals. Muslim girls with navels bare naked, in shorts, and non-respecting Islamic basic principles does not make Malays happy. This is where the UMNO fundamentals defeats its purpose of adopting Islam as a means to counter the seriousness of both the opposition and the Malay Muslims," Razali concluded. The Kelantan UMNO recently passed a resolution stating that the PAS has continued a "manipulation of Islam" for its political ends that has brought about the failure of the state's administration, resulting in religious regression and crippled development. "Would such resolutions, and the appointment of the 20 religious thinkers be enough to help UMNO regain its shine?" a member of the public, Deeno Din said. "They keep condemning the PAS, yet they never change their anti-Malay attitude. Even the Prime Minister now gives in by criticizing the Malays for being pro-PAS. They should change their views. They should come to us and then we will tell them what is wrong with them, not with us," Din added. |
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