That was the spontaneous reaction from PAS's Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (above) at a recent public forum, after fellow panelist, Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria, related his experience of being denied a meeting with Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998.
“When even a mufti can be snubbed, well, think about it.
"Lu pikirlah sendiri!” remarked Tuan Ibrahim, borrowing a phrase popularised by a local comedian, which prompted a roar of laughter from the audience.
He was part of the panel at the forum in Shah Alam on August 24 called "Ulama in Politics: for Da'wah or for the Party" organised by Malay dailySinar Harian and moderated by former Perlis mufti Dr Asri Zainul Abidin. Besides Harussani and Tuan Ibrahim, a representative from UMNO's so-called Young Ulama group, Fathul Bari Mat Jahya.
“When even a mufti can be snubbed, well, think about it.
"Lu pikirlah sendiri!” remarked Tuan Ibrahim, borrowing a phrase popularised by a local comedian, which prompted a roar of laughter from the audience.
He was part of the panel at the forum in Shah Alam on August 24 called "Ulama in Politics: for Da'wah or for the Party" organised by Malay dailySinar Harian and moderated by former Perlis mufti Dr Asri Zainul Abidin. Besides Harussani and Tuan Ibrahim, a representative from UMNO's so-called Young Ulama group, Fathul Bari Mat Jahya.
Earlier, Harussani recalled his advice to Mahathir days before then deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was sacked.
Harussani said he had advised Mahathir not to sack Anwar, as it could cause a split among Malays due to Anwar's influence. However, he said he was barred from meeting Mahathir for this purpose.
Anwar was later sacked, arrested and jailed in 1998, until the court released him in 2004 after throwing out his earlier conviction on sodomy charges.
Tuan Ibrahim further explained that Muslim scholars were not given due recognition by the ruling government, saying they were merely used to justify the leaders' action, and not to advise on how a leader should act.
"Ulama are supposed to guide leaders so that the leaders act according to Islamic principles. On the other hand, our ulama are tasked to finding evidences, reasons and arguments to support whatever a leader has done," he added.
Citing an example, Tuan Ibrahim said Harussani's own fatwa prohibiting the construction of statues had gone unheeded, with the result that millions of ringgit was spent on such statues including the '1Malaysia' statue in Melaka.
'Slipper ulama'
He further said that some of the derogatory terms given to government appointed ulama, such as 'slipper ulama', were due to the fact that they were used to serve the leaders' purpose only to be sidelined later.
This he said contrasted with PAS, which he said always consulted its Shura Council comprising of ulama before arriving at any official decision.
As a result, there were times when PAS "made decisions that do not benefit us politically", he said.
"In political context, we lost. For example, in Kelantan, we shut down gambling outlets, discos and bars. One thing for sure is that disco patrons will not vote for us, gamblers will not vote for us, night clubs patrons will not vote for us," he said, drawing laughter and applause.
Tuan Ibrahim also had an advice to UMNO:
“Please heed the ulama’s views, please appreciate. Ulama have no interests, even in PAS. They do not join PAS to contest in politics. How many seats are there anyway?"
Harussani said he had advised Mahathir not to sack Anwar, as it could cause a split among Malays due to Anwar's influence. However, he said he was barred from meeting Mahathir for this purpose.
Anwar was later sacked, arrested and jailed in 1998, until the court released him in 2004 after throwing out his earlier conviction on sodomy charges.
Tuan Ibrahim further explained that Muslim scholars were not given due recognition by the ruling government, saying they were merely used to justify the leaders' action, and not to advise on how a leader should act.
"Ulama are supposed to guide leaders so that the leaders act according to Islamic principles. On the other hand, our ulama are tasked to finding evidences, reasons and arguments to support whatever a leader has done," he added.
Citing an example, Tuan Ibrahim said Harussani's own fatwa prohibiting the construction of statues had gone unheeded, with the result that millions of ringgit was spent on such statues including the '1Malaysia' statue in Melaka.
'Slipper ulama'He further said that some of the derogatory terms given to government appointed ulama, such as 'slipper ulama', were due to the fact that they were used to serve the leaders' purpose only to be sidelined later.
This he said contrasted with PAS, which he said always consulted its Shura Council comprising of ulama before arriving at any official decision.
As a result, there were times when PAS "made decisions that do not benefit us politically", he said.
"In political context, we lost. For example, in Kelantan, we shut down gambling outlets, discos and bars. One thing for sure is that disco patrons will not vote for us, gamblers will not vote for us, night clubs patrons will not vote for us," he said, drawing laughter and applause.
Tuan Ibrahim also had an advice to UMNO:
“Please heed the ulama’s views, please appreciate. Ulama have no interests, even in PAS. They do not join PAS to contest in politics. How many seats are there anyway?"
