PAS denies alleged entry ban imposed on its president by Saudi Arabia
PETALING JAYA: PAS has denied a statement allegedly issued by the Saudi Arabian government imposing an entry ban on its party president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang.
The statement, which was circulated online on Monday (July 31), stated that Abdul Hadi was banned from entering the kingdom due to his involvement with the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS).
In its Facebook post on Tuesday (Aug 1), PAS clarified that official statements issued by Saudi Arabia use the Hijri calendar instead of Gregorian.
“The PAS president is no longer the vice president of IUMS.
“This is proof that their side has run out of ideas to contest democratically, maturely and with dignity during the six state elections,” PAS said.
The statement, dated July 31, listed reasons for the ban against Abdul Hadi, including his alleged possession of an “extreme ideology” that could threaten the security and interests of the kingdom, his encouragement of Muslims to overthrow the government in the name of jihad (struggle), and his support for the Shia group.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain included IUMS in their list of organizations and individuals accused of supporting terrorism.
The Qatar-based IUMS, formed in 2004 by Egyptian Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qardawi, was also named by the Saudis for links to terrorism.
IUMS is known for its efforts to work on the reconciliation between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Abdul Hadi was elected as one of IUMS vice-presidents in 2014. His tenure ended in 2018 after being condemned by the group in 2016 for attending a conference in Iran, a country that supports Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
IUMS criticized Abdul Hadi for attending the conference while Muslims globally were against Assad’s regime.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
