Are Malaysian Muslims less corrupt? PAS leader skewered over divisive politics

Malaysia’s Islamist opposition leader Abdul Hadi Awang has sparked outrage and ridicule with unproven claims linking religion to dishonesty, suggesting that Muslims are less corrupt than non-Muslims.

Hadi’s remarks, which drew demands for evidence, came amid a series of attacks by his Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) on the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a predominantly ethnic Chinese party in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition.

“Not all Muslims are free from corruption but in comparison, Muslims are more protected because all worldly affairs are connected to religion, which includes the reckoning of sins and rewards,” the PAS president said in a social media post on Thursday.

According to Hadi, Muslims involved in corruption generally had weak faith or lacked proper religious education. He argued that Malays were particularly exposed to bribery because they formed a large share of Malaysia’s civil service.

Without offering substantiation, he also said that an “honest” examination of the statistics would find greater corruption involvement among non-Muslims, accusing them of being cartel members, illicit traders and smugglers who offer bribes.

Official figures, however, paint a mixed picture in the multiracial country of about 34 million people.