Words can be weaponized. Wars, as the preamble in the United Nations Science, Education and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) affirmed, “begin in the minds of men.”

Although Hadi is a veteran in electoral elections, and in 1999-2004, was the Opposition Leader of Malaysia, a role which requires him to understand that democratic contestation is all about asking the incumbent to hold free and fair elections.

This is the most basic rule of any parliamentary democracy where all sides must willingly be open to the prospect of losing one’s office, even electoral campaign once the voters have all cast their ballots, and the results are tabulated.

Just as importantly, the leader of the electoral campaigns must set the finest example of not casting any aspersion at all – not even one – to denounce the opponents.

Just a week ago, Hadi seems to be back at his old game. First he referred to members of Democratic Action Party (DAP) as “communists,” pinning this label on Lim Guan Eng in particular.

However, since Lim Guan Eng did not stoop to Hadi’s level to return the barrage of untruth to the character assassination of Hadi heaped on him, the latter felt sufficiently empowered to take the deceitful game of vicious la labeling.

Sensing that there could be a large internal revolt in PAS’s electoral pact with Bersatu, a party whose big guns have always found the avowedly pseudo religious firebrands to be fake, if not altogether fraudulent.

In attesting authority over his party candidates and followers, he announced that any one who will not campaign and vote for PAS will be cursed by Allah to experience eternal damnation in hell. This is his extremist use of the politics of “laknat.”

This is a reprehensible and abhorrent practice verging on total “khurafat” which is to fallaciously appropriate the authority of God to one self. Such leaders are themselves undeserving of being seen as one but a serial abuser of all things that remain only with God.

No one knows if all the followers and candidates of PAS will fall for the misappropriation of the power of no one but Allah SAW. But the very fact that PAS has not rejected this practice at all harks back to the days in 1980 if not earlier where Hadi resorted to the creed of “takfir,” which is to refer to all who disagree with PAS as members of non-believers who will be condemned to hell.

Yet the final decision of anyone’s fate rests with Allah, especially not Awang Hadi.

As no one in this world knows the true hearts of men and women except God himself affirmed Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

To be the judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one, Hadi himself has brought opprobrium to PAS and the reputation of Islam and Malaysia, all as demerits. Leaders like him should be banned.

Now why should this form of “politics of laknat” be banned ? First and foremost, there is nothing in Islamic law, jurisprudence and historical practices that have ever been approved of this.

When Khalifah Abu Bakar (RA) received his baiyah (pledge of allegiance) after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to succeed the role of the latter, to retain the unity of the early Ummah or believers of the prophethood of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Khalifa Abu Bakar affirmed to all those who pledged their allegiance to him to follow him when he is on the right path of Islam but to correct him too when he is not on following the practice of Islam through any acts of negligence or human absent-mindedness.

This is the benchmark of Islamic politics according to former Turkish prime minister Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu (2015-2017) who himself was a professor of political science under the deputy rectorship of Professor Kamal Hassan and the late rector Professor Abu Hamid Abu Sulayman, of which the latter is the pioneer on the discipline of “Islam and International Relations.”

All three are superbly well respected either in Malaysia or abroad, not necessarily for their positions but their integrity and most certainly “knowledge”: all three are multilingual and devout Muslims, to say the least.

There is nothing in the grain of Hadi’s deranged mind in the current state that it is that contains even a seed of mustard that is equal to anyone of the scholars above let alone all three.

The politics of “laknat” runs counter to guide human beings right. As they contain elements of usurping the divine authority of Allah to achieve Hadi’s own secular ends – which is power and more power to himself at the expense of all others.

This too is a form of corruption in the sense that Hadi has tried to mimic the traits of Allah SAW – to see himself as equal to God.

Perennial merchant trader of Islam, Hadi will not stop at anything to advance his narrow parochial political views to secure power and position.

Islam is just a convenient brand to be used to advance Hadi’s narrow identity politics of race and religion, misrepresenting Islam at all levels.

Islam abhors all forms of racism and unjust practices. Hadi has peddled Islam for far too long and divided Muslims among themselves and divided Malaysians among themselves too!

It is time to really send a strong message to such “merchant trader of Islam” like Hadi, that his antics of dividing people using Islam will be accepted no more. No more!

(Dr. Rais Hussin is the CEO of EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.)