KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — The criticism of a controversial oath, or “bai’ah” in Arabic, that automatically divorces a PAS lawmaker’s wife should he exit the party, is proof that the party has succeeded in popularising Islamic political jargon, a PAS leader said today.
According to PAS Youth deputy chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi, PAS has also popularised the term “tahaluf siyasi”, which is used to refer to the political consensus between PAS and its allies, when the concept was previously alien to the public.
“For me, what has happened is the success of PAS to project the Islamic political terms until they are discussed by the public, although at one time they were really alien,” said Khalil, who is also the son of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
“The jargons are now the talking points of the public, including non-Muslims. The mass media has also played a role,” he added.
He compared the situation to the usage of Islamic economic terms such as “mudharabah” and “murabahah” after the Islamic banking boom.
Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob confirmed last week the existence of the oath called “third talaq bai’ah”, allegedly dating back to at least 2004, in the wake of the set-up of a new political outfit by splinter group Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB).
The oath is allegedly a must for Kelantan PAS lawmakers before accepting their posts and requires them to swear to divorce their wives with the “third talaq” the moment they join a new party.
Talaq ― or talak as it is spelled locally ― is a type of divorce in Islam which provides the man an avenue to initiate a divorce by simply pronouncing the word; if the man pronounces a “third talaq”, he is then prohibited from getting back with his wife again, unless he takes another woman as his wife and then divorces her afterwards before remarrying the first woman.
