PAS' DEVIANT PRACTICE

What do we make of the following report on a deviant practice by the obsessed followers of PAS leaders?

Idris Calls For Action Against Deviant Practice

BESUT, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh on Saturday called for action against the people in several villages in this district who allegedly subscribed to the deviant practice of sleeping with the photographs of the country's opposition political leaders in the belief that they would be divinely rewarded.

Idris, who is the state assemblyman for Jertih, said these villagers had also been indoctrinated by certain irresponsible people into believing that dreaming of meeting the leaders would also bring them such a reward.

"This is a serious matter which should be rectified by Islamic religious elders and intellectuals because it is clearly a deviant practice aimed at retaining political popularity," he told reporters after opening a mega sale carnival in the Besut district, here.

Meanwhile, religious advisor to the prime minister, Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin, said glorifying leaders and taking their photographs to bed was the result of ignorance and the deviant practice should be rectified.

He said he hoped that the religious elders of the relevant opposition political parties would rectify the situation by being forthright with their supporters. -  BERNAMA.

This practice is nothing new in the history of mankind. It is known as passionate attachment to other human beings It is a cult that encourages a person to abandon Allah and worship people instead. It is also known as "The Religion of Worshipping People" in which such people reject Allah (Who created them), and deifies a person or persons in His place. Examples include the worshiping of Egyptian Pharoahs in ancient times and of Hitler and Mao Tze Tung in the 20th century.

Sadly, the obsession of some people toward religious leaders appears to have become a trend - a dangerous one - in this country, and even more tragic, it involves Muslims themselves. This is not to imply that obsession towards Nik Aziz has reached the level of the Pharoahs', but it may soon be if left unchecked. And let's not forget the obsession towards Anwar Ibrahim by his fanatical followers.

We can only hope and pray that fellow Muslims who are entrapped in this practice return to the true path according to the Qur'an and Sunnah. In many places in the Qur'an, Allah invites humans to save themselves from this errant belief and serve only Him. In one of these verses, He says:

[Ibrahim said,] "Instead of Allah you worship only idols. You are inventing a lie. Those you worship besides Allah have no power to provide for you. So seek your provision from Allah and worship Him and give thanks to Him. It is to Him you will be returned." (Surat al-Ankabut, 17)

We hope the statements of Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh and Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin are not just rhetorical and are translated into concrete actions. They, and the religious authorities in general, must show courage in handling the issue and not be constrained by political considerations. And they should also not ignore the latest revelation about PAS' ikrar lafaz taklik, as reported by several blogs (see my previous post).