UNLIKE UMNO Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh who has been seen championing the sanctity of Islam solely by looking at fault-finding and relentless push for the ultimate punishment by pushing for a blanket boycott of KK Super Mart in the Allah inscription on socks controversy, PAS is seemingly playing it safe by watching for the sidelines.

Whether this can be called political maturity is up to be seen but what it obvious is that the unforgiving manner in the Merlimau state assemblyman’s quest of defending Islam could have left behind a scar that opposition entities such as PAS can capitalise upon to reach out to non-Muslims via its “PAS for All” concept.

And what an ‘outstanding salesman’ that PAS has to pitch its openness to all without the constraints of race and creed than its state commissioner Datuk Dr Ab Halim Tamuri.

“We are not looking at the ‘Allah’ socks per se. What happened was a national issue but as a plural country where harmony must be upheld, we must be careful of all sensitive issues,” the first-term Paya Jaras state assemblyman told a special buka puasa for the media in Kelana Jaya, Selangor on Tuesday (March 26).

“It must be remembered that if we insult others, they will insult us back. To ensure that this matter is handled with wisdom and care, we had agreed that PAS top national leaders be the only ones to talk on the matter if need be.”

Whether UMNO Youth has done all the necessary damages for the opposition, the mild-spoken Ab Halim nailed the “PAS for All” concept as encompassing the right of the people to family protection, education and life regardless of religion and race.

“It means we guarantee everything which needs to be translated into true reality. In Islam, this needs to be implemented. It is our responsibility to implement it,” he contended at a Selangor PAS Unity Iftar programme that was attended not only by PAS Malay leaders but also by leaders of different races and religions.

To ensure that the people in this country understand and respect each other’s differences, Ab Halim insisted that PAS and Perikatan Nasional (PN) will make changes in the education system which is seen as key causes of misunderstanding between races in Malaysia.

“Our education system focuses too much on grades like A, B, and C. But there is no such thing as race relations. This is what is missing in our education system,” he justified.

“If PAS and PM rule, I will make sure that this is what needs to be done in our efforts to make the people of our country understand each other.” - March 29, 2024 

https://focusmalaysia.my/sock-gate-affairs-an-opportune-time-to-propagate-pas-for-all-concept-to-non-muslims/