Dr Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya, chairman of the Jawatankuasa Himpunan Ulama Muda (Ilmu), a group of young ulama, said the issue involving the faith of Muslims, especially deliberately sowing hatred among them should not be allowed to go on as it could tear Muslims apart.
He said Nik Aziz should not be behaving as though he was a "malaikat" (angel), and be so busy and quick to judge the religious faith or devotion of Umno members as only Allah could determine all that.
He was asked to comment on the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today, asking the National Fatwa Councl to study all the statements made by Nik Aziz, who is also Kelantan Mentri Besar.
Muhyiddin had said that Nik Aziz's controversial statements like Umno members' prayers would not get "pahala" (divine merit) while the Barisan Nasional government was only thinking of project contracts when building mosques, must stop.
While describing Nik Aziz's action as a public punishment syndrome, Fathul Bari said the PAS leader should not be using religion for politics.
Meanwhile, Pertubuhan Ilmuan Malaysia chairman, Dr Fadlan Mohd Othman who agreed with Muhyiddin's suggestion, said the PAS Ulama Syura Council should discuss the issue and state their stand on Nik Aziz's every controversial statement that touched on religion.
"They should treat this issue like how they did with the issue on the use of the word 'Allah' in the Malay language version of the Bible," he said.
Jalur Tiga (Jati) deputy president Datuk Aidit Ghazali said Nik Aziz's image as an influential Islamic leader in this country had been tarnished with his statements that did not reflect true Islamic values.
"PAS has lost its credibility as an Islamist party, while Nik Aziz appears to be going senile by making crazy statements.
"The National Fatwa Council must do something, regardless of who had made such statements, as this had not happened twice but many times," he said.
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