The result would be more Muslims sanctioned by the state because they are indoctrinated into thinking that religious supremacy trumps everything, and the resulting backlash by the majority community, egged on by the opposition.

When you look at all these provocations when it comes to religious issues, it normally emanates from the state. In Madani's cases, it is made worse by the reality that the prime minister always attempts to burnish his religious credentials.

Nobody forced the prime minister to claim that the demolishment of a 100 year old temple was a victory or claim that that states need to clean up “illegal” temples or preside over the conversion of a convert or define the religious narratives of this country as a fight between those who are Islamophobic and those who feel “they are the only Islamic group, and everyone else is deviant, evil, and oppressive.”

Madani equals PAS?

When it comes to PAS sowing religious and racial conflict, this is to be expected. After all, they make no secret of this.

PAS’ atavistic interpretation of Islam, of course, does not extend to its politburo, which engages in the kind of excesses that most Malay uber alles outfits engage in.

However, while the opposition may benefit from the racial and religious turmoil that exists in Madani, and yes, may very well contribute to it, the real reason Madani is in a fix is because of its racial and religious agenda, which shares too many similarities with PAS.

Two years ago, when there was a possibility that Madani was going to place Islamic Development Department (Jakim) officers in government agencies, this is what PAS said about the interfaith group, which raised concerns about this issue and of course – the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).

“In both oppositions, the group clearly shows its Islamophobia, where every step taken to strengthen Islam is construed as a threat to the rights and liberties of the non-Muslims in the country.

“PAS sees the MCCBCHST’s (the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism) stance as having serious repercussions and as a challenge to Muslims’ right to practise their religion.”

Neither PAS nor Madani think that Malaysia is a secular country.

"Malaysia is not a secular country. If it was, why should DAP include ‘to fight for a secular country’ in its own manifesto?

"Islam is the official religion of the federation. Then there is the idea of Malaysian Malaysia. No Malay can accept the concept of equality," said PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

Moderate way

To be fair to the prime minister, he did define a religious state in a more “moderate way”.

“There is no issue about complete separation of state and religion because Islam is the religion of the federation, but it is not a theocratic state where you can impose Islamic laws on everybody, including non-Muslims,” he said.

Keep in mind that this moderate form of secularism does not apply to unilateral conversion or the banning of words, films and any other things that would offend the sensitivities of Muslims.

Indeed, Madani has gone out of its way to protect Muslim sensitivities at the expense of non-Muslim sensitivities, and this is by design because it is the desiderata of religious supremacy.

Hence, to claim that Islamic imperatives would not be imposed on non-Muslims is complete horse manure.

When we talk of religious provocations, we have to understand that it is institutional.

Preachers like Firdaus Wong and Zamri Vinoth are protected because they are part of the institution.

Furthermore, look at how the police behaved in raiding a “gay party“ in Kelantan and the lies and misinformation spread during that fiasco.

The action of the police in Kelantan is particularly egregious because the top brass continued with the disingenuous narrative that they were disrupting a “gay sex party”, even though the Health Ministry confirmed that this was an event it was involved in.

The PAS state government even thanked the police for acting the way they did, even though what they did contradicted what a federal agency said about this so-called “gay sex party”.

So this is not only political, but it would seem an action endorsed by Madani. Because Madani has chosen to remain silent, this sets a precedent for the police in all other states to carry out their duties based on religious dogma, as the Kelantan police justified.

The reality is that Madani has not offered an alternative religious agenda, and what the non-Muslim voters are left with is either not voting and getting a religious state at a faster pace or voting and still getting a religious state, but at a slower pace.