Yesterday, the outspoken mufti lashed out at the Islamist party, after a PAS leader said he was confusing Muslims and accused him of pandering to the “liberals” by criticising those who support wider powers for shariah judges.
“Do you know what is confusing? Previously you label people from another party as infidels, yet today you view them differently even though those whom you declared as infidels are still in the same party,” Asri wrote on Facebook.
While the outspoken mufti did not mention PAS by name, the reference was believed to be referring to the decades-old rift between PAS and Umno over Islam.
Asri also hit out at PAS leaders for saying that the Federal Constitution was drawn up by colonial powers.
“Yet today you demand we respect and uphold the constitution,” he added.
Asri’s statement comes in the wake of the PAS’s Ulama wing information chief, Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, slamming him for questioning those who support the implementation of Islamic laws.
The Kuala Nerus MP said Asri was “confusing Muslims”, and urged him not to “stand with liberals who try to stop efforts to uphold God’s religion”.
Khairuddin further said Asri should not use his position as the state mufti to bring in “deviant views”.
Khairuddin’s stinging criticism of Asri came after Asri told a forum on Sunday that implementing hudud does not necessarily showcase the “beauty of Islam”.
Last year, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang tabled a private member’s bill to give wider powers to shariah courts in the country in dealing with Muslim offenders.
The amendments among others seek an increase in the current jail term from three to 30 years, a fine of up to RM100,000 and up to 100 strokes of the cane.