For PAS, non-Muslims are to blame for everything wrong with this country. It has this in common with Umno.

For decades, Umno, whenever it is in a tight political spot, blamed the non-Muslim/Malay communities, specifically the Chinese.

“As a result, it is among them that control the country’s economy and then use it to damage politics, administrative affairs, and the judiciary. In fact, they are also the group that most severely undermines the nation’s politics and economy, the majority of whom are non-Muslims and non-bumiputera,” Hadi wrote in the post.

Nobody enjoys giving bribes

This is why we get all this “Race M” and “Race C” nonsense from PAS and the Malay political establishment. Of course, PAS does not pose the question of which race asks for the bribe because in PAS’ Weltanschauung (worldview), Race C goes around willy-nilly offering bribes to anyone interested.

READ MORE: 'Race C bribes, Race M receives', says Terengganu exco on corruption

Look at the text exchanges between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s former aide, Shamsul Iskandar Akin, and businessperson Albert Tei. I do not know about anyone else, but I never had the luxury of going on a trip to London and asking someone for some pound sterling.

Anecdotally speaking, nobody I have spoken to of Race C, Race I, and even Race M, enjoys giving bribes or any other inducements for contracts or favours.

Not because of morals or ethics, but because it cuts into the bottom line. The costs are borne not by the givers or takers of the bribes but by the average rakyat. This is what systemic corruption does.

Let us not forget street-level corruption, which happens when you have many mouths to feed, your pay is low, your superiors are corrupt, and you believe or are indoctrinated to believe that other citizens are well off, while your community is constantly under siege, and one day soon, you may be beggars in your own land.

Unfortunately, the narratives of mainstream Islam in this country are all about how the non-Muslims, specifically the Chinese community, control the economy and thus corrupt good Muslim leaders.

Keep in mind that while Hadi has his unique views on corruption, Islam, and working with Umno, former PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat also had his take.

While I may have disagreed often publicly with the late Tok Guru’s religious stance, his views on corruption are well known.

“In 20 years under my administration, the anti-corruption agencies have never been able to convict any of my officers. We denounced Umno because of their corruption, and it would not be right if we came into power and ended up being corrupt too.

“I tell my officers, you are answerable to God - not to me or to anyone else - you answer in the hereafter for your doings. The character is of priority, and the mindset must be changed to include the world and the hereafter,” he was quoted as saying by The Edge in 2013.

Faith over all else?

This, of course, is in stark contrast with religious preachers like Zakir Naik, who claimed that it was better for Muslims to vote for corrupt Muslim leaders rather than honest non-Muslim leaders.

Keep in mind that the political and religious elites fawn over Zakir, who not only says things like that but also demonises other religions in this country.

And if you think that what Zakir said was an aberration and does not align with mainstream Islamic discourse in this country, you would be very wrong.

Hadi said that “integrity without Islam is not accepted by Allah, and a person with faith who has no integrity is still better than someone with integrity but no faith”.

The Straits Times reported this in 2019 when Hadi’s son was babbling about “dedak cartels” within PAS who were allegedly accepting money from Umno.

This is the hilarious part. If you go by Hadi’s logic, it would be better to vote for those leaders with no integrity but have faith.

Hence, it is better to vote for Umno, Bersatu, Pejuang, and of course, PAS leaders, even if they’re corrupt and have no integrity, as long as they have faith, rather than leaders from DAP, for instance, who are without faith.

Is it any wonder that people are championing the release of convicted felon Najib Abdul Razak? But you see, this is the brilliance of this whole con game when it comes to corruption.

PAS is a big party with growing influence, hence it understands that it really does not matter which Malay power bloc is in power because PAS decides on the religious, racial, and policy narratives of this country.

Nobody in PAS asks why the litmus test can’t be voting for leaders with faith and integrity, but I suppose it is far easier to lay the blame on Race C.