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PETALING JAYA: A former diplomat fears Malaysia may lurch into an Islamic state at a faster pace with PAS controlling the Islamic development department (Jakim) under the current Cabinet

Dennis Ignatius said the country is moving towards Wahhabism and this process may soon be irreversible.

“With Jakim now under PAS, I anticipate, we will lurch into becoming an Islamic state at an even faster rate,” he said during the launch of his book “Paradise Lost: Mahathir & The End of Hope” tonight.

PAS vice-president Senator Idris Ahmad is the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (religious affairs) while his party colleague Ahmad Marzuk Shaary is the deputy minister.

Ignatius said he also found it disturbing how Islam was being defined politically.

“It is intolerant of others and that view is being aggressively promoted.”

According to Ignatius, PAS had been pushing for non-Muslims not to be appointed to senior positions in the government.

“There are calls to impose Shariah laws on non-Muslims. There is so much intolerance towards other religions. When will it end?,” he questioned.

He said he has no problems accepting Islam as the religion of the federation and the religion of the majority of Malaysians but was only concerned over the growth of Islamic extremism.

Ignatius added that he wrote the book after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government because he was stunned and disappointed that the great experiment in democratic change had come to an abrupt halt.

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KUALA LUMPUR – Despite widespread concern about the rise of Islamisation in Malaysia, non-Muslims in the country can rest assured that the nation will not become a full-blown Islamic state.

Former Umno MP Tawfik Ismail, the eldest son of the late former deputy prime minister Tun Ismail Abdul Rahman, said this is largely due to the disunity among the Malay-Muslim majority.

“In terms of religion, please remember that we have nine sultans and 13 muftis who have different ideas on how religion should be administered.

“So, I don’t see the big threat of a unified Islamic uprising of the right wing to make us all live in fear. I think it will cancel each other out.”

Tawfik was speaking during the Umno Redux: What Next for Malaysia? webinar, held in conjunction with the release of Paradise Lost: Mahathir & The End of Hope, a book authored by prominent former Malaysian ambassador Datuk Dennis Ignatius, yesterday evening.

Among those present were former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas and political analyst Prof James Chin.

Tawfik, who previously held the Sg Benut federal seat, was responding to a question on where he believes Malaysia is headed in the next 20 years.

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