KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Conservative PAS leader Datuk Harun Taib died early this morning in Kuala Terengganu, reportedly from heart complications.
The Star daily reported the head of the Islamist opposition party’s ulama council or scholars’ wing had died shortly after midnight while unconscious at the Sultanah Nur Hazirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu.
“He has not woken up since he was admitted to the hospital yesterday,” PAS information administrative officer Mohd Shahir Abu Hassan was quoted by the daily as saying.
According to The Star, Harun was 70 years old.
The former Manir assemblyman was seen as one of the most vocal conservative religious leaders in the party, fearless in voicing a differing opinion to his colleagues and allies in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact.
Days earlier, he had voiced support for the exclusive use of the word “Allah” by Muslims, continuing the split positions within PR on the religious dispute that has led to interfaith tensions in Malaysia for the past five years.
“The word Allah belongs to us Muslims. I have long been against its use by non-Muslims,” Harun was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times daily on January 21.
Harun’s funeral will be held at the Markaz Tarbiyah Kubang Lembik in Kuala Terengganu at 10am today, PAS-owned news portal Harakah Daily reported, citing its central ulama council chief, Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali at-Takiri.
