Mat Sabu: No to ‘ulama syaitan’

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Mat Sabu: No to ‘ulama syaitan’
By Zakiah Koya
7/14/2015 2:00:00 PM

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Islamist parties worldwide have failed to keep to their ideals when they come to power, says Mat Sabu

Former PAS deputy president Mohamed Sabu has had enough of clerics who only preach but do not walk the talk.

He says the time has come for an Islamist party with leaders of integrity and who practise good governance. In fact, the new party is unlikely to have a Dewan Ulama or a Syura Council.

Ironically, Mat Sabu was one of the few leaders who pushed for “leadership by ulama” in PAS in the early 1980s. At that time, one Islamist party expert warned him that there were many types of ulama or clerics.

“He told me there were ulama wusul (ulama who follow the rules to reach the people) and ulama syaitan (stray ulama),” says Mat Sabu.

He was among 18 progressive leaders in PAS who lost their positions in polls at the last party muktamar to the ulama faction led by PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Mat Sabu defines “ulama syaitan” as clerics who are more interested in accumulating material gains, while “branding” others when they do not get their way.

Mat Sabu says the advice he received then fell on his deaf ears at that time, and after 30 long years in PAS, he has learned the hard way not to trust all ulama as models of Islamic teaching.

“I realise now that it is better to have an exemplary leader with his behaviour and faith intact, rather than those who only preach about Islam, but do not practise what they preach.

“This is the IS (Islamic State) mentality, which has crept into PAS now. They have started to label enemies within or outside the party with names like liberals, munafiq harakih and so many “brands”.

“This is the beginning of the IS mindset. Of course in party elections, they tried to kick out those they had branded,” says Mat Sabu.

He was commenting on why he is moving away from a party which is led by ulama when he was one of those who fervently mooted the idea to PAS.  

Mat Sabu says it has been proven that Islamist parties worldwide, including Malaysia’s, have failed to keep to their ideals once they have gained power or popularity.

He points to how Muslim Brotherhood (MB) of Egypt, which has been banned for most of its 85-year history, came to power after the Arab Spring revolution in 2011 only to lose it all within less than a year.

“At the beginning, MB worked the civil society (NGOs) and even with the Christians. But after winning the elections, they started rooting for Islamic laws, resulting in the NGOs deserting them.

“MB was left with the conservative ulama (Salafis) party. This made the non-Muslims and civil society unhappy. In the end, the party lost its support,” says Mat Sabu.

He says it was the same case for PAS when it was in Pakatan Rakyat.

“PAS won so many parliament seats under Pakatan Rakyat . That means support from all three – DAP, PKR and PAS – as well as NGOs, like Bersih and all which support the coalition. Then they wanted to implement the hudud laws (which made them lose support),” says Mat Sabu.

He says they became too complacent with the popularity, and this led them to disregard the non-Muslim votes which helped to put them in parliament in the first place.

PAS even tried to implement hudud by submitting a Private Member’s Bill in parliament… by working with arch enemy Umno, despite opposition from its then Pakatan colleagues and civil society.

Mat Sabu says he is now wary of even using the word ‘Islam’ for the name of the new party, but he insists that it will be Islamist.

The movement pushing for the formation of the new, yet to be named Islamist party, is Gerakan Harapan Baru (New Hope Movement). It was launched on July 13.

This movement is made up of reformists from PAS, including progressive ulama who do not adhere to the “holier than thou” mentality.

Although Mat Sabu says he has nothing against hudud, if it means true Islamic jurisprudence, his main concern is having the combination of integrity and good governance first.

“PAS’ conservative ulama do not uphold this priority. They are only interested in bulldozing their hudud agenda through, while making their own gains.

“They have no ethics at all. For them, akhlak (morals) mean praying five times a day, wearing a turban. Other morals (corruption, slander etc) are not given due attention,” says Mat Sabu.

He was referring to how the concept of electing a ready-made list of conservative ulama was allowed during the last party elections, which led to all the progressives in the party being booted out of the various committees.

On whether the new Islamist party would end up being another version of PAS, Mat Sabu says he is not going to compromise.

“We (the progressives) have strongly different opinions, and this is good. We have meetings to find a common stand, but I will not compromise on good governance and integrity.

“If my colleagues in the new party start behaving like Umno when we come into power, then I will not want to lead the new party or take part in its activities,” says a determined Mat Sabu.

Whether the new Islamist party would truly walk the talk when it does come into being, only time will tell. --theheatonline.asia

dino

sembang la mat sabun di bilik mandi ni

jofizo

pilihlah ulama mcm mat sabun sbb boleh menyontot bini org

harkktuih

geng2 dorg ni pesal tak kuar parti je terus? motip lps tubuh parti baru, then baru keluar pas?kalau parti baru tak jd, nk jilat balik semua apa yg dorg kata tu?

md.jie

parti syaithonnn

abas8888

ko branding orang "Ulama Syaitan"  takpe pulak ye mat sabu...

"Mat Sabu defines “ulama syaitan” as clerics who are more interested in accumulating material gains, while “branding” others when they do not get their way"

abas8888

sore loser je depa ni..biarkan luncai terjun dengan labu-labunya..

kasibiman

dino replied at 15-7-2015 08:13 AM
sembang la mat sabun di bilik mandi ni

salameleykommmm mahhhh

kasibiman

seriously farking natam burek apa mat sabu neh?

no farking shame innit?

“I realise now that it is better to have an exemplary leader with his behaviour and faith intact, rather than those who only preach about Islam, but do not practise what they preach.

that coming from kaki jilat burit bini orang? jesus farking christ.

yusryimran

dah kenapa dengan mat sabun ni masalah mental ekkk mohon hospital mental ambil tindakan segera

lkick2113

mat "salameyleykom mah" sabu ni tak takut ka jatuh talak kat normah2 nya ??? ye la dulu khalid gereja cakap kalau keluar parti jatuh talak kat bini khennnzz??? apa nama b'aah ka baiah ka apa ka nama arobnya tu sis???

ultra78

Sejarah berulang kembali? Dulu ada HAMIM & BERJASA.

sgbuloh

PAS ni penuh ulamak setan ler yer?

PEPPERMAN

matsabu = amatmaslan = badut

lipans

Aku dari dulu tak paham, cemana mat sabu ni boleh duk jawatan penting dalam PAS. Asyik mengutuk je keje dia.

Skuau

Mcm ckp orng kalah jer ni....klakau giler,baik msk parti dangdut Rhoma Irama jer kt Indon sana....lagi baik2 sajer

Knowlee

Muka takde kaliber pun ada orang sokong. Puihhhhh!!!!

ketekodok

org politik dr parti mana pun kebanyakkannya memualkan

Modngengade

dulu si sabu ni pun sama jer..bila kuciwa tak terpilih  mcm2 la komplen kau....nmpk sgt PAS menggunakan Islam sebagai agenda politaik....

freebird

dulu ada ulama' wang....sekarang ni ada ulama' setan pulok dah...
jangan main2 dengan ulama' ni, dalam jubah ada siku dan lutut....