Hypocrisy in PAS Is Incredible: Its Youth Chief May Go To A Cinema But Not An Ordinary Kelantanese.

By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright June 2022

PAS Youth Chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari went to a cinema in Kuala Lumpur and was exposed by activist Khalid Mohd Ismath, who accused him and the Islamist party of practising double standards. One for the party leadership and another for the rakyat.

But the irony is that Ahmad Fadhli, an MP for Pasir Mas was the one who, according to Malaysiakini reportedly rejected a proposal to build a cinema in the state in 2016.

He claimed that it was a source of maksiat or a sinful act against Islamic teaching, yet he himself was seen attending a showing of the latest Malay movie, Mat Kilau, recently at a cinema in Kuala Lumpur.

Mat Kilau, a movie about a Malay folk hero from Pahang would be perfect for all Kelantanese to watch. Or in the words of PAS Selangor Youth that came forward to defend Ahmad Fadhil on their Facebook page, it was “a movie which was in line with the shariah and is a historical film that talks about the fight for religion and country.”

However, and unfortunately, the state is without a cinema since PAS took over in 1990. In fact, it has been 30 years since the Lido Cinema in Jalan Pos Office Lama, Kota Bharu closed down.

Obviously, the Kelantan government is not in any hurry to build another either. According to its Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Abdullah as quoted by Malaysiakini, the Kelantan government believed that there was no demand for cinemas. Therefore they were not considering lifting the ban on cinemas in the state.

In an interview with the FengRenGuan youtube channel cited by Malaysiakini, Amar said people in Kelantan have other options to watch films.

Khalid Mohd Ismath the one who first exposed the PAS Youth leader seen attending the show at a KL cinema was very vocal in his criticism of the party when he said “When the people asked to build a cinema in Kelantan, PAS said it was haram (forbidden) but PAS clerics went to see movies in KL and it’s not haram.”

Besides Khalid Mohd Ismath many have labelled PAS as hypocritical in their policy on cinemas where a party leader could watch a film at a KL cinema yet leaving their people deprived of the same opportunity back home in Kelantan.

Following him on Twitter @khalidismath shows replies from other users who accused PAS of being hypocrites “riding on a religious horse” or “Hypocrisy is the name of their game”. Yet another bemoaned that “PAS was able to retain its hold on Kelantan because of non-resident voters who lived in the city returning only to vote or for Hari Raya but were unaware of the sufferings villagers had to endure” under the Islamist party.

The hypocrisy of the party is further highlighted when PAS Selangor Youth came to Ahmad Fadhli’s defense in a Facebook post, saying that he was merely accepting an invitation to watch Mat Kilau and show his support for it. The page also claimed that banning cinemas in Kelantan and watching movies in KL should be viewed as separate issues thereby concluding that,

“We still support his (Ahmad Fadhli) rejection of cinemas in the state as the context of Kelantan as a state and the overall tone of movies being shown in cinemas did not comply with the shariah and had loose regulations”.

But let’s look at the term “Hypocrite” in Islam. The religion rebukes hypocrisy. In fact, it is among the concepts that have been repeated in the Quran several times appealing to Muslims to reject hypocrisy in their daily lives. There is one surah specifically dedicated to hypocrites. Sura al-Munafiqun (Quran 63) mentions some of the evil characteristics of the hypocrites and rebukes them.

Why doesn’t PAS live by what it preaches? You cannot have one set of rules for the rakyat and another for party leaders. That’s hypocrisy at its worse. Fear God’s wrath. Allah has promised hell fire for hypocrites.

“Allah promiseth the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers fire of hell for their abode. It will suffice them. Allah curseth them, and theirs is lasting torment”. (English Translation of the Quran by Pickthall).

Peace be with you!

Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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