KANGAR: The 14th General Election (GE14), which reflected a peaceful government transition process, is a leading example in the Muslim world.
Perlis Mufti, Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, said GE14 results which were revealed one night, was also a demonstration of the civilised behaviour of Malaysians.
“The election results had rebuked assumptions by certain quarters that Islam detests the change of government if it could result in bloodshed.
Asri said Fiqh scholars had prohibited the change of goverment based on their experiences of witnessing the chaos and terror, which they had also written about.
“Malaysians proved that the good and democratic behaviour had allowed the process to be carried out peacefully and benefited the people.
“Articles on fiqh, especially siyasah (administration) which were written centuries, must be read with a context that could be different from the current times.
“Thus, not all scholars’ views are appropriate to be practised in today’s world,” he said.
GE14 saw Barisan Nasional suffering its first defeat in general elections’ history as Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the Federal administration.
PH won 113 parliamentary seats, followed by BN with 79 seats, Pas (18), Parti Warisan Sabah (8), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (1) and independent candidates (3).