Muslims Should Remain Steadfast In Faith, Says Muhyiddin

  Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin Monday reminded the Muslims in the country to remain steadfast in their faith to prevent from falling for the lies spread by the opposition parties.

He said this was important as certain people had the tendency to issue baseless allegations and statements just to attract the public attention, including on the matters of halal and haram or dosa and pahala (sin and reward).

"Their party bears the name of Islam, but they issue a deviant fatwa to show that they are better than other Muslims.

"Nik Aziz (PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat) himself has issued a fatwa that prayers performed by UMNO members will not be rewarded, only those by PAS members will. So, is that mean that our prayers will not be rewarded?"

He said this at the 'Ramah Mesra' programme with community leaders and non-governmental organisations in Kuala Lumpur, Monday.

Muhyiddin said by doing so, PAS had not only deviated the understanding and faith of the Malays and Muslims, but also caused confusion among the non-Muslims.

Realising that, he said he had, on April 9, asked the National Fatwa Council to issue a fatwa pertaining to the statement made by Nik Aziz, who is also Kelantan Menteri Besar.

"Not that I cannot debate on the issue, I have religious background too. Don't underestimate me in religious issue," he stressed.

The deputy prime minister said PAS, which had promoted the formation of an Islamic state, had now changed the idea to the formation of a welfare state after being opposed by DAP.

"PAS' objective to fight for the formation of an Islamic state has changed. Why? Because Karpal Singh (DAP national chairman) says 'over my dead body'," Muhyiddin said.

At the event, Muhyiddin, who is also Federal Territories Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, expressed hoped that the people would give their mandates to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the May 5 polls, so that he could continue governing the country as the prime minister.

"This is the first time he (Najib) asks for the mandate, let's give it to him because he has done so much over the past four years...the one before this was not really a mandate because he was just taking over from the previous prime minister, Tun Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi)," he said.

Muhyiddin also stressed that the 13th general election should not be viewed lightly as it would determine whether or not the country would achieve the status of a fully developed nation in another seven years.

"That is why we cannot afford to have a change of government. Just like in the Formula One (F1) racing, how can we change our driver in the middle of the race when he has clearly taken the lead?" he said.

Meanwhile, he said that someone with a bad character should not be made a leader as his actions could be questioned and could tarnish the image of the country.

"In a multi-cultural Islamic country, we don't want a leader who will be questioned on his morality.

"The person who wishes to become a prime minister shouldn't be deluged with various allegations as they could affect his credibility as a leader," he said.