KOTA BAHARU, March 4 (Bernama) -- PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat Friday conceded that his political statements in by-election campaigns could create factions among the Muslims in the country.
He said in his struggle to defend the party, he might have issued statements that created a group of people who supported the statement and another group who were against it.
"In fact, factions had emerged among the Muslims since the era of Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Adam," he said while delivering the Friday sermon at Medan Ilmu, here Friday.
Nik Aziz caused a controversy when he issued his own fatwa (edict) during the campaign for Tenang state by-election in Johor, that Barisan Nasional's (BN) supporters were the people of Jahiliyyah (Ignorance) because they rejected PAS, the party he claimed to be upholding Islam.
Responding to the statement, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Nik Aziz's struggle was only to win the election and not to uphold Islam.
Tun Dr Mahathir said Nik Aziz, who is also Kelantan Menteri Besar, had said that his wish was to win the general election and rule the country with DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
The Mufti of Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria had also slammed Nik Aziz when the latter said that Umno or BN supporters would go to hell and only those who voted for PAS were bound for heaven.
Nik Abdul Aziz said he would continue to use the same approach in explaining the concept of halal and haram in choosing a leader in an election even if his actions were to be slammed by religious scholars in the country.
"In religious term, the approach is called dakwah and in politics and elections, it is called campaigning. So, if I use the approach in any of the election campaign, it should not be a problem," he said.
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