A five-page letter from the palace of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah – the ruling monarch of the state of Selangor who is also the chairman of the National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs – mentions PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang by name, accusing his article published on his party’s website on Tuesday of being “rude” and out of line.
In the article, the 76-year-old PAS leader wrote that the country’s monarchs need to “have a vision towards the afterlife” and not only on worldly matters, saying they would be judged by God on how they used their power and position while alive.
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“The cynical statement of Abdul Hadi is very inappropriate and rude,” said the sultan’s private secretary, Muhamad Munir Bani, in a letter issued to Selangor’s PAS commissioner.
PAS is currently the single largest party in the parliament after capitalising on a rise in conservative sentiment during the 2022 elections, dubbed “the green wave”.
Apart from Kelantan, which has been under PAS’ rule since 1990, the party and its PN coalition also govern Abdul Hadi’s home state of Terengganu, as well as Kedah and Perlis.
The sultan also questioned Abdul Hadi’s loyalty to the country’s constitution after the PAS leader asserted that it was written by British colonisers who gave Malaysia an “imperfect independence” through a constitution that was created “according to their mould” and contains “time bombs” that would ultimately destroy Islam, the Malay people and their language.
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“Does Abdul Hadi no longer respect the federal constitution as the highest law of the land? Doesn’t this also describe him as deliberately provoking political polemics to gain the support of the people, especially the Malay Muslims?” the palace letter quoted Sultan Sharafuddin as saying.
This came after the sultan, while chairing the National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs meeting on February 19, urged stakeholders to find ways to remove the friction between the sharia courts and the federal constitution to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again.
In the meeting, the sultan also censured PAS Secretary General Takiyuddin Hassan for making comments aimed at stirring sentiments among Malaysian Muslims by describing the Federal Court’s decision as a “Black Friday” moment for sharia law in the country.
Takiyuddin, who is legally trained, later downplayed his statement, calling it a common reaction to losing a case.
Malaysia is a federation of 13 territories, nine of which are traditional Malay states ruled by a constitutional monarch who is the head of Islam in their respective states. Selangor includes the national capital of Kuala Lumpur and is the country’s richest state.
Every five years, one of the nine sultans becomes the new king of Malaysia as part of the country’s unique rotational monarchy system.
“We talk about Islam and in politics there is Islam then it is Islamic politics. It is not wrong and obligatory for us to talk [about the two subjects together],” Abdul Hadi said in March 2023 at his mosque in Marang, Terengganu.
PAS won every single seat in Terengganu during the 2022 elections, leaving the state without any opposition.
Reacting to the rebuke, lawmaker Syahredzan Johan from the Chinese-majority DAP party challenged PAS lawmakers, particularly those having a seat in the Selangor state assembly, to declare whether they agree with Abdul Hadi.
“If they do not agree, they should publicly demand that the president of their party withdraw the statement,” Syahredzan said.
Abdul Hadi has not attended this week’s parliamentary sessions that began on Monday and is reportedly recuperating in a hospital due to declining health.