PAS national unity bureau chief Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa strutted during the launch of the PAS Supporters Wing on Sunday, May 23, like a proud father proclaiming the birth of his firstborn. The PAS Supporters Club, which has been parked under the party's national unity bureau since 2005, has come of age when its status was alleviated to a proper wing — the PAS Supporters Wing (Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS). PAS also created history on Sunday by being the first Islamic party in the world to have a wing for its non-Muslim supporters.

In an email interview with The Edge Financial Daily last week, Mujahid shared his thoughts on his "baby", which has grown from a handful of members to over 20,000 supporters.

What was the push factor in turning the PAS Supporters Club into the PAS Supporters Wing?
When we started the PAS Supporters Club in early 2005, we received a new group of non-Malay voters who began to slowly understand PAS' struggle in a multiracial environment. I found out that these people not only support PAS but they wanted to be part of PAS and to promote it, and hence the need to recognise them became the pivotal issue for the party.

Secondly, when we aggressively promoted PAS, the influx of members into the club was tremendous especially among the Indian community. We had, by year 2009, 20,000 members. My bureau that oversees this could no longer hold the large number of followers on its own, so a new approach to embrace them was needed.

Thirdly, the pressure from inside the party, wanting to see PAS being truly multiracial, pushed the need to absorb the club into a legal entity in the party because we don't want to be seen as looking for votes only but we want them to be part of the organisation

All these factors paved the way to turn the club into a legal entity in the party and to do that, it must have a sort of legal standing and recognition by the party's constitution.

Why is it important to turn the club into a wing at this juncture? What is the message that PAS is trying to convey?
At this juncture, Malaysian politics is thriving fast to embrace the emergence of new politics. What was seen in the past 50 years as important characteristic of politics is not working anymore; for example, the racial divide in politics seems to be slowly moving out of place today.

Even the Malay issues are open to review, giving them a new understanding and meaning. The changing pace of transformation is inevitable, and any political party which wants to stay relevant must adjust to the new face of politics. PAS must stay on course and ride that change, and not become the victim of change.

What can the people say about PAS and the transformation process to the new surrounding? One of the answers would be the birth of Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS and to tell Malaysians that it is not just rhetoric in "PAS for all" but practically, we are opening the door to all Malaysians regardless of faith and race to be part of the organisation. The fact that an Islamic party has taken the step to create a legitimate wing is enough to answer many of the issues on our stand towards creating a better Malaysia for all.

Was it difficult to convince party leaders/members in this matter?
Any change to be initiated in any organisation must face resistance, but the degree of that change can be reduced if better knowledge of that change is shared. What more if that change can convince them that it would be good for the party. Although the process is easier said than done, the effort to have a recognised body for non-Muslims in the party didn't come easy.

In 2008, I was asked to present a paper entitled Non-Muslims in the Organisation of PAS to the central committee and Majlis Syura (consultative council) members. At the same time, the issue of opening PAS membership to non-Muslims was already hotly debated in the party.

I presented three choices for the party. First, maintain the status quo of the club under my bureau but at the rate the membership was growing, it was beyond my capacity.

The second was to do something "radical" — by opening the membership for all Malaysians. In order to do that, we must abolish the condition of being Muslim as one of the conditions to become a member of PAS. The second choice would invite a lot of unwarranted debate and would potentially be cast aside.

The third suggestion was to set up a platform for the non-Muslims which would be recognised by the party's constitution. By doing this, we would avoid the unnecessary conflict and provide a place for non-Muslims in the party.

The paper was accepted and I went around the states to meet party leaders to explain to them the need for a recognised new wing for the non-Muslims in the party. I had to allay their worries of PAS losing its main basic characteristic of an Islamic party. I told them because we are an Islamic party, we need to embrace all faiths in our organisation.

The convincing part was not easy. The next level was even more difficult when the party decided to form a technical committees to draft the rules and regulation of the Dewan (Himpunan Penyokong PAS). It took us almost two years to prepare and present, and finally in January 2010, the central committee accepted the draft. The rules and regulation of the Dewan is the document that will cover all issues pertaining to the rights and functions of the Dewan within the parameters of the PAS constitution.

What kind of status and rights does the Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS have?
The legal standing of the Dewan Himpunan Penyokong is derived from Article 26 (9) (g) and (h) of the party's constitution. As for the status, they are members of Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS under Article 7 which says that to become a member, they should be Malaysian citizen and non-Muslim, 18 years and above, accept PAS principle and struggle etc.

We had to mention non-Muslim as it is the main reason why the Dewan was formed in the first place. This doesn't mean we are discriminating against them because the issue of being a Muslim is mandatory in the party's constitution is not yet addressed technically. Their rights as members of the Dewan pertaining to their relationship with the party are the right to attend gatherings organised by the party, the right to channel their opinions to the party and even criticise the party. Others include the right to execute orders and decisions made by the party leaders, observe the good name of the party and be loyal to the party's constitution.

The most interesting part is when we look into the objectives of the Dewan , one of them is to propose names of nominees for the general election, this goes to say that if they are accepted as PAS candidate they would be contesting under the banner of PAS.

The members of the Dewan Himpunan are not party members because they are non-Muslims while the PAS constitution dictates that only Muslims can be members of PAS. How do you reconcile that? Already there are accusations of first-class and second-class members.
To be a full member of PAS, you have to be a Muslim. This has been accepted for the past 50 years or so in the party's constitution and it has become a well-known fact that as an Islamic party, one of the main criteria is to be a Muslim because one has to understand the struggle of Islamic politics.

But as time goes by, our struggle to become popular with non-Muslims has made the party think of ways that will allow them to be an active part of the organisation.

The party came up with a reconciliation by creating a new wing to the party, and by giving it a legal standing through rules and regulation which ultimately give them a sense of belonging to the party. They are the members of the Dewan for now and I'm happy to say that there are no complaints. I have also told them that the party would one day take another bold step forward to amend the constitution for them to become full members of the party.

I only heard the notion of second-class citizen through MCA, MIC and Gerakan. It came as no surprise to me to hear such things because these political parties fear that their share of the market is challenged by PAS. But to be fair to their "concerns", let me just tell them that what we drafted in the rules and regulation already addressed the issue.

If you say the Dewan members are the second-class citizens just because they are not accepted as full members, the issue is rather technical. The spirit within all the rules and regulation of the Dewan upholds their rights and treats them as party members and not second-class citizens. I would suggest Gerakan, MIC and MCA leaders worry about their party more than us, and if they are sincere, I'm happy to engage in a dialogue with them. They might be interested to join the Dewan.

In what areas will the Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS have a say in decision making?
Members of the Dewan will have their views on the party voiced through attending meetings at division, state and the central levels. They are also responsible in carrying out the decision made by the party. Their position and structure in the Dewan will be recognised through participation, for example the Dewan will attend the electoral committee meetings because they have a director of electoral meetings. The information head of the Dewan can also attend the meetings of the information bureau at all levels, that goes to Pemuda and Muslimat too because the Dewan have similar settings.

All these levels of party's mechanism will have the Dewan's representatives and they can give their views, and the party can have their inputs to improve the decision-making process in the party. The Dewan will also send 15 delegates to the muktamar or annual congress.

There are rumours that PAS is ready to field members of Dewan Himpunan under its banner? Why? Wouldn't preference be given to PAS members to contest?
PAS fielded a non-Muslim woman, Kamutha Raman, in 2008. With the Dewan's status today, the urge and need become more viable. What more if you look into the objectives of the Dewan, it is clearly stated that the Dewan would propose their nominees and the party would consider them after taking into account other integral parts in the choice of candidate.

Here, there are no issues of preference. It is about strategic choice. I don't believe the party chooses its candidate just for the sake of fielding him. There are issues like the ability to win, the right candidate and Pakatan's understanding. So I hope in the coming election, the Dewan would have the chance to field their choice of candidates and the party would accept them.

It would be wild to imagine a non-Muslim candidate under the banner of PAS 20 years ago — but today, my imagination is no longer wild. PAS is just an inch closer to realise what non-Muslims could never have imagined, that is to have a non-Muslim as PAS candidate.