“In a well-functioning democracy, the state constitution is considered more important than God's holy book, whichever holy book that may be, and God matters only in your private life.”

- Ayaan Hirsi Ali, ‘The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam’

"Let's not place religion and politics in separate corners,” says PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang. It is probably the most honest thing this leader of this religious cult has said.

However, religion and politics should be kept as far apart as humanely possible. Indeed, anyone who believes in democracy should make it their jihad to separate religion and politics. Those Christian political operatives who babble on about how God chose them to lead or whatever nonsense they believe led them to their political careers belong in the same boat as the PAS president.

Hadi’s rejoinder that only "Islam has to be the leader and ruler, those who are not of Islam must be followers (pak turut)” is the kind of bigoted rhetoric that characterises mainstream Malay politics and is the overt ideology that maintains the system of privileges and systemic inequalities that impedes any sort of egalitarians goals in this country.

Of course, this latest Islamic bluster from Hadi was aimed at former comrades the DAP and is the fallout from the acrimonious split and the exodus of the so-called progressives of PAS. Hadi’s rhetoric, like most from the Abrahamic religions - Judaism and Christianity - revolves around the concepts of control and subservience.

Like most theocrats, Hadi is obsessed with control and subservience. He wants hudud because it conforms to some sort of Islamic ideal and would allow this Islamic cult to exercise greater authority over everyone. He is arrogant enough to warn Muslims not to resist his plan, quoting religious dogma and divine wrath as the consequences for not supporting him, a mortal doing God’s work.

His language is that of a ruler in waiting. Brazenly claiming that one day, the breakaway Amanah will kneel before PAS. As we know, PAS is Hadi Awang and Hadi Awang is PAS. While various minions in PAS claim that there will be no alliance with Umno, nobody seriously believes that PAS is an independent operative in the political landscape...