KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday that the Pas political party leadership is attempting to politicize the Islamic pilgrimage, or Hajj, by calling on Malaysians to defer this year's trip to Saudi Arabia. He said that the party's priorities are wrong in calling on party members to defer the pilgrimage in order to prepare for the upcoming general election in the country, scheduled for later this year or early next. The PM argued that it was “unbelievable that a party which claimed to be championing Islam was willing to make such a call just for the sake of maximising its chances of winning an election. “Performing the haj is fardu ain (personally obligatory) for those who are capable of doing so, whereas to cast a vote in a general election is fardu kifayah (communally obligatory),” he said. “So, which is regarded as higher by Allah and Islam? Please answer,” he said when launching the Ulama and Umara (scholars and leaders) Secretariat at Putra World Trade Center. Pas had recently asked its members to defer performing the haj as it believed the general election may be held during the haj season, which this year is between September and October. Pas information chief Ibrahim Tuan Man was quoted as saying that the deferment of the hajj under such circumstances was “reasonable as Pas needs the party machinery to be fully functioning for the election.” The Hajj pilgrimage has come under scrutiny in recent months, after the Saudi government accused Malaysians of participating in recent anti-government protests in the country. Riyadh had threatened to bar Malaysians from participating in the Islamic pilgrimage, but has since relaxed its position on the matter.
