Islamic scholars have criticised PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man for citing a purported hadith, or sayings of Prophet Muhammad, to justify Opposition lawmakers’ refusal to declare their assets.
When contacted to verify whether such a hadith exists, Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin explained that the Prophet never expressed the sentiment that one must not declare their wealth to the public if granted so by God.
“This was an abuse of the Prophet’s name. During the rule of Umar, the caliph even made it mandatory for his governors to report their assets to prevent abuse of public funds.
“PAS misunderstood the hadith. The Prophet never said ‘don’t declare your assets’. PAS misused religion for their political purposes,” he told Malay Mail.
Umar al-Khattab was one of Muhammad’s companions and succeeded the Prophet as the second leader of the Caliphate following the latter’s death.
Tuan Ibrahim claimed in Parliament yesterday that Islam forbade a declaration of wealth, but did not specify the hadith to which he was referring.
He further argued Opposition lawmakers also do not have the power to award contracts like their counterparts in the ruling coalition, which he said negated the need for them to declare their assets.
Popular preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin went as far as suggesting that Tuan Ibrahim had cited a false hadith that was not recognised by many scholars of the scriptures.
“IT IS CLEAR THAT THE ‘DECREE’ OF THE PAS DEPUTY PRESIDENT WAS BASED ON FALSE ARGUMENT.”
“What more, by leaning onto Islam it could invite negative perception from the non-Muslim society towards Islam – as if that Islam is a religion that is not keen on integrity.
“Islam is a faith that upholds integrity. In this matter, PAS’ attitude does not reflect the religion whatsoever,” the PIKR preacher said in a Facebook post.
Another Islamic scholar, Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, also slammed Tuan Ibrahim for using hadith to propagate a political agenda.
“To use a hadith to propagate a hidden agenda rather than being honest and transparent was an unethical attitude what more when it came from a religious person,” he said.
In Dr Farouk’s view, although hadiths should and must be verified in matters of worship since the Prophet Muhammad was sent to teach humankind how to worship God, this did not apply to non-religious fields, including medicine, architecture, or engineering.
The founder of progressive group Islamic Renaissance Front also reminded PAS that the Prophet himself had avoided some topics because he felt he had no expertise in them.
Dr Farouk noted declaring one’s assets serves as a tool to detect and prevent illicit enrichment and conflicts of interest among public officials, including MPs.
Meanwhile, the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) today hit out at Tuan Ibrahim and other parliamentarians who supported him, saying they should not use religion to protect themselves.
The watchdog group’s executive director Cynthia Gabriel said in a statement that the attitude displayed by the opposition MPs are embarrassing and against the values of democracy, adding that the people have the right to know.
“In a democratic country, the people have the right to know and be informed of the assets of MPs to ensure they serve with full accountability, transparency and integrity.
“Integrity is taken into account by all religions to execute their duties to the people. Opposition MPs have nothing to worry if their lifestyles are in line with religious teachings.”
The Dewan Rakyat yesterday unanimously approved the motion compelling MPs from both sides of the political divide, as well as their wives and children, to declare their assets – despite the heavy resistance from the Opposition during the debate.