PAS’ Efforts to Attract Non-Muslims: An Exercise in Futility?

At the 69^th annual general meeting (Muktamar) of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) in October 2023, party president Abdul Hadi Awang said that PAS’ stellar performance in Malaysia’s 15^th General Election (GE) in 2022 and the six state elections in 2023 was still unsatisfying. While the party performed well, he said that they needed to do more to win over non-Muslim voters. It was thus unsurprising that three weeks ago, Halimah Ali, PAS Member of Parliament (MP) for Kapar and chairperson of the party’s National Unity Council said that the council’s 2030 vision should be to win the non-Muslim vote. The council organised a two-day retreat from 19–20 January 2024 to discuss strategies on how to win over non-Muslims’ hearts and minds. However, such efforts may prove futile unless the PAS leadership changes its exclusionary views on non-Muslims.

PAS’ efforts to attract non-Muslims is not new. In a failed attempt in 1985, PAS tried to establish the Chinese Consultative Council (CCC) as a platform for their non-Muslim supporters. Later in 2005, they founded the PAS Supporters Club for non-Muslims. This club was eventually elevated to a wing in 2014 by then PAS Central Committee member Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, who made PAS the first Islamic party in the world to have a wing for non-Muslim supporters (later known as Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS, DHPP). While PAS has always been proud of this wing, this wing was never able to prove itself effective in winning non-Muslim support for PAS. DHPP members are not recognised as official members of the party, and are seen as mere supporters in the eyes of the party constitution since they are non-Muslims. The fact that Dr Mujahid and all the moderates eventually left PAS in 2016 to form Parti Amanah Negara was probably an indication of the difficulty for PAS’ core leadership to embrace a truly inclusive stance.

The PAS leadership had celebrated some symbolic steps forward when N Balasubramaniam, the head of DHPP, was chosen to be senator in the Upper House from 2020 to 2023. DHPP’s information chief Dr Balachandran G Krishnan portrayed this as evidence that PAS was indeed for everyone. Riding on this achievement, Balasubramaniam requested that members of the DHPP be given a chance to compete in three parliamentary seats and twelve state seats during GE15 and at the 2023 state elections respectively. However, these requests were not acceded to. PAS fielded six non-Muslim candidates in Penang and Negeri Sembilan during the state elections 2023 but none of them were successfully elected.

Abdul Hadi has consistently alienated non-Muslims, especially the Chinese.

It is evident that PAS remains far from recognising non-Muslims as full members of PAS and accorded equal status. Abdul Hadi had once stated that these non-Muslim representatives are selected to fulfil specific needs at the level of execution of policies in individual states, and did not function at the level of policymaking. After 17 years with PAS, Balachandran and other non-Muslim members of DHPP are given positions such as special officer to PAS ministers at the state level or smaller roles as city councillors in PAS-governed states.

What PAS does not realise is that the views and attitudes of the party president himself and those of PAS’ far-right conservative leadership remain the main reasons why PAS attracts little support from non-Muslims. Abdul Hadi has consistently alienated non-Muslims, especially the Chinese. He has referred to them as the root of corruption in Malaysia, has imposed his definition of an Islamic way of life on them, and has repeatedly labelled them as ungrateful citizens who constantly challenge the position of Islam in Malaysia. He has also attacked those not willing to support PAS, accusing them of being Islamophobic. It is worth noting that he also has many publications arguing against secularism which have created more unease among non-Muslims.

Other influential clerics within the party, such as the late Terengganu-born Abu Bakar Abdullah, also held intolerant views towards non-Muslims. Abu Bakar Abdullah was among Abdul Hadi’s closest companions and played a key role in various initiatives related to education within PAS. He was also Terengganu State Executive Councillor in the late 1990s, in charge of the welfare portfolio, and was widely credited for helping PAS wrest control of Terengganu from Barisan Nasional in 1999. His Master’s thesis and book (1986), Ke Arah Perlaksanaan Undang-Undang Islam di Malaysia: Masalah dan Penyelesaiannya (Towards Implementing Sharia Law in Malaysia: Challenges and Remedies) offers a crucial glimpse into PAS’ views on non-Muslims.  

Abu Bakar Abdullah’s book is arguably PAS’ manual for governing Malaysia. Describing his utopian Islamic state of Malaysia, he argued that non-Muslims should not be allowed to hold significant roles such as the Inspector General of Police, Chief Justice, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief Secretary to the government. Non-Muslims should also not be allowed to hold policy-making positions. Further, Abu Bakar suggested that only Muslims can run for office, and that non-Muslim MPs would have to be elected by the Agong; they cannot be voted in by Muslims. He said that the Constitution should be amended to accommodate his vision for such a state. Abdul Hadi still holds to such views today, as evident from his most recent statement in December 2023 that only Muslims are allowed to be leaders.

It is thus evident that PAS is only willing to share a certain level of power with non-Muslims. If they want to win the non-Muslim vote, the leadership should come up with more genuine ways of attracting them to the party. In order to do so, PAS needs to revise its epistemology and look to new frameworks for encouraging a democratic space in which Muslim and non-Muslim leaders coexist.

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