KLANG, July 25 — Umno’s Datuk Lokman Noor Adam should stop using religion while campaigning for the Sungai Kandis by-election just to boost his image, Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari said last night.

He reminded Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Sungai Kandis candidate that Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate is an "ustaz”, who is well-versed in religious matters.

"One day after he was nominated, Lokman was making a lot of fuss about how he will champion Islam and fight for the Muslims but in a way, that can easily incite fear and panic.

"Fine, he wants to lead the Muslims in Selangor, when it is a fact Pakatan that has fielded an ustaz who is also a ‘nadzir’, an imam and a community leader, then he turned around to say we are the ones who are bringing Islam down,” he said at a ceramah in Taman Sri Andalas today.

Lokman, who is also leader of Pemantau Malaysia Baru, had last week alleged that DAP is controlling Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in its attempt to make Christianity the country’s official religion.

Earlier today, Lokman also promised that he would "protect” Maahad Tahfiz Al Fateh — whose principal is his main rival in the Sungai Kandis by-election, PKR’s Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni — from being "harassed” by PH supporters if he wins.

Amirudin also said Lokman should stop using religion as a platform for self-promotion and follow PH’s example by continuously championing Islamic development through its various programmes.

"Not only have we built religious schools over the years, we have also recently erected a tahfiz school in Kota Kemuning, which is in the vicinity of Sungai Kandis.

"Since 2009, we have given away Qurban meat to all surau and mosques in the state during Hari Raya Aidiladha, on top of other financial contributions.

"To make it clear, we have also never pawned a single piece of Malay reserve land in Selangor. That’s how much we uphold and protect the rights of Malays and Muslims here,” he said.

On August 4, PKR’s Zawawi will go head-to-head with Lokman for the Sungai Kandis state seat, which was left vacant following the death of PH’s incumbent Mat Shuhaimi Shafie on July 2 from lymphoma.