Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar said Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s stand also “points the road” to an Islamic state.

“This is a direct challenge to the Malay rulers, who are part of the basic structure of our constitution,” he told FMT.

He said such statements might lead to public disorder.

Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, the Machang MP, had reportedly said on Tuesday that religion was part and parcel of the Malay-Muslim community’s political philosophy.

“In the Quran and Prophetic sayings, there are many references to that. So one cannot be secular in our approach when campaigning,” he was reported to have said in an interview with BFM.

Syed Iskandar said this was a dangerous statement to make in a multi-religious and multi-cultural society.

He said the Federal Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, states that Malaysia is secular.

He said the 1988 Supreme Court ruling in Che Omar Che Soh vs Public Prosecutor & Anor affirmed that position.

Then Lord President Salleh Abas had said Malaysia is a secular state, though Islam is the religion of the federation.

“To challenge that position is to go against the judiciary and the Rukun Negara,” he added.