Hadi: If Taiwan, China accept Adam Smith, why can’t Malaysians support Islamic rule?
KUANTAN, June 23 — PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang questioned today why some Malaysians opposed Islamic rule when some Eastern countries accepted Western ideas.
“Look at Taiwan and China now. Adam Smith was not Chinese, yet his ideals are easily accepted there.
“Whereas when we as Muslims practise prosperous and mature politics, some disagree with it,” Hadi said in his closing speech at PAS’ 65th Muktamar (annual congress), referring to the 18th century Scottish economist whose free-market ideas formed the basis of modern capitalism.
He also exhorted PAS members to continue their struggle in Islam so that knowledge from the faith remains preserved.
He reminded delegates that PAS, formed by ulama and Islamic teachers, had many members who lived and died for the sake of Islam.
“We must understand God’s demands of us, so that we become the best ‘ummah’, which follows the rules laid down in the Quran,” Hadi said at the Pahang Sports Complex’s Indoor Stadium, using the Arabic term for community.
Hadi recalled that when the party was formed in 1954, its members had to face a society whose Muslims were then still ignorant of their duties.
“We must introduce (the concept of) peace in politics, the concept of uniting the ummah as laid down by the Prophet.
“Therefore I call upon you to hold firmly onto the principles of loyalty to the ‘ja’maah’ (congregation),” he said.
Hadi also touched upon the rights of the Malays and Bumiputera, pointing out that the system is in place since they form the country’s biggest majority.
“When the British conquerors came in, they changed much. They put the Chinese in the towns while they kept us in the villages and coastal areas.
“Economics as we all know is concentrated in the cities. So we lost out to the Chinese with regards to that, hence the need for the rights,” he said.
Yet Hadi sternly warned PAS members that the need for Malay-Bumiputera rights was an unacceptable reason to oppress the non-Muslims.
“It is forbidden to treat them unjustly, for it will not show them the beauty and justice of Islam and the honour of our struggle,” he said.
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