PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has told PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to submit a memorandum to the sultan of Terengganu if he disagrees with the state’s move to ban politicians from delivering lectures in mosques and suraus.
“Don’t attack us (the government). I may be the prime minister, but I respect (the ruling), so I will avoid giving religious lectures (in mosques),” he said after the monthly assembly for finance ministry staff here today.
Anwar said Terengganu’s ruling applied to all politicians, including himself.
He said Terengganu’s rationale for the ban was the excessive inclusion of political elements in religious discourse.
Last week, the Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council announced the prohibition, saying mosques and suraus should never be abused to create anxiety, restlessness or discord among the community.
It said Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin was upset that some politicians had given religious lectures or classes, and led Friday prayers without the council’s approval.
Subsequently, Hadi said it was not an offence for politicians to give religious lectures in mosques and suras, and that leaders were obliged to speak about political Islam.
Anwar said he did not give lectures in mosques even though he had been invited to do so, as Malay rulers in the past had spoken against people giving political speeches in mosques.
In January, Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced that all mosques and suraus in Johor were prohibited from being used for political speeches.
Tunku Ismail, who is the Johor Islamic Religious Council chairman, also forbade any individual or politician from using mosques and suraus to discuss political issues.
