Is Ustaz Fadzil’s Doa Coming Back To Haunt Mahathir?

Many Malays, notwithstanding their political affiliations, revere Ustaz Fadzil Muhammad Noor. And it was Ustaz Fadzil who doa for Mahathir to live a long life so that, at the end of it, before he dies and gets sent to his grave, he can suffer defeat and humiliation and realise that he will never be remembered for the good things he did but will be cursed for all his crimes.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

At last the confusion has come to an end. The farce and pretence are now over. The curtain has finally come down on the wayang and drama. DAP, PKR and Amanah have confirmed what many of us have known since Pakatan Harapan first adopted Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as their mascot or pet monkey.

Many DAP leaders, Superman Hew in particular, told the Chinese they were just using Mahathir to bring down Najib Tun Razak and Umno. They revealed that they need to use Malays to fight Malays if they wished to end Malay political domination. They will promise Mahathir the post of prime minister, if need be — as the end justifies the means — and later, once Pakatan Harapan comes to power, they will get rid of Mahathir.

Malaysians were told Mahathir is going to be prime minister for only two years and by or before May 2020 he will retire and hand over the post of prime minister to Anwar Ibrahim. But this was DAP’s and PKR’s plan. That was not Mahathir’s plan. Mahathir planned to stay as prime minister beyond May 2020. He planned to be prime minister until GE15 in 2022 or 2023.

Today, Pakatan Harapan has agreed to disagree (something they always boasted as their doctrine or falsafah). PKR agrees that Mahathir is not their choice of prime minister. DAP, on the other hand, agrees that Mahathir will be prime minister for just six months with Anwar Ibrahim as his deputy prime minister.

DAP even said there are “safeguards” to ensure that Mahathir does not play them out, yet again, and that, if he refuses to leave in six months, he can be forced out of office. However, DAP did not mention what those “safeguards” are and how it is going to be done (it’s a secret).

Was it Mahsuri’s curse that brought down the MP for Langkawi?

What a sorry end to a man who has had a career in politics of more than 70 years. It is almost as pitiful as what happened to Hitler who had to commit suicide while hiding in his bunker. And did Mahathir not do just that — commit suicide in February 2020?

It was Mahathir who invented “Wawasan 2020” or “Vision 2020” 30 years ago. When he first thought of Wawasan 2020, what went through his mind? Did he think he would be remembered as Malaysia’s Nelson Mandela or as Malaysia’s Saddam Hussein? Did he imagine his Wawasan 2020 was going to be he would be dragged through the mud and his face rubbed in dirt?

Call it what you want — God’s retribution, Allah’s punishment, arse luck, feng shui, karma, or whatever — but finally you will receive your just deserts, as the English would say.

Many Malays, notwithstanding their political affiliations, revere Ustaz Fadzil Muhammad Noor. And it was Ustaz Fadzil who doa for Mahathir to live a long life so that, at the end of it, before he dies and gets sent to his grave, he can suffer defeat and humiliation and realise that he will never be remembered for the good things he did but will be cursed for all his crimes.

Ustaz Fadzil Noor doa for Mahathir to live a long life so that he can see defeat and humiliation before he dies

(In Islam, doa or duʿāʾ (Arabic), literally means appeal or “invocation”, and is a prayer of supplication or request. Prophet Muhammad SAW is reported to have said, “Doa is the very essence of worship.”)

Anyway, just to digress a bit (as I am fond of doing so that I can make a long story even longer), do not underestimate the power of doa. One Thursday in November 2008, when it was coming towards the end of my second month of detention without trial in Kamunting, and there was a danger I would be there for at least two years, I went out into the compound and prostrated (sujud) on the ground with my forehead touching the dirt and I doa. My doa, with sincerity in my heart and tears in my eyes, was to appeal to Allah to let me walk out of prison, or else take my life and end my misery of solitary confinement — because I could not take two years of looking at just the four walls or my cell.

Less than 24 hours later I was free and on the way home. Coincidence? Or an Act of God? Who knows?

Anyway, I believe we are finally seeing Ustaz Fadzil’s doa being granted. Never before has Mahathir come to such a low. Do you think Mahathir can bounce back from this?

Mahathir has to grovel at the feet of DAP and prostitute himself to his enemies to survive

Some say we should not be too hard on the old man because Malaysia did progress when Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years. Even if Mat Sabu was Malaysia’s prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s the country would have progressed. The country could have progressed under auto-pilot. That was because of the 1980s-1990s boom and the Iranian Revolution, Gulf War, Iraq Invasion, etc., that pushed the price of oil up.

Yes, Mahathir had his personal piggy bank and cash cow, Petronas. And Mahathir used Petronas as if it belonged to his family. Under the Petroleum Development Act 1974, Petronas reports directly to the prime minister. Petronas is not even answerable to Parliament. So, Mahathir can do what he wants with Petronas and not even Parliament can say anything. In fact, Parliament cannot even ask questions.

So, Mahathir squandered the nation’s heritage to the tune of RM200 billion. And he gave this perception or mirage of progress. He built highways and tall buildings and set up all sorts of industries, which in the end collapsed. Yes, RM200 billion wasted just to give an impression that Malaysia was progressing and developing and was very successful.

Meanwhile, racism got worse. Education deteriorated. Malaysians, who once were the best English-speaking people outside England, could no longer string a proper sentence in English. After decades of independence, many Malaysians still did not have treated water and the death rate from cholera and other water-borne diseases was still high. And the list goes on.

Mahathir squandered RM200 billion of Malaysia’s heritage just to give a perception of success

When I assess Malaysia, I would rate the “good old days” as the 1960s and 1970s (notwithstanding May 13 in 1969). By the time the 1980s came, Malaysia began to rot. And was the 1980s not when Mahathir became prime minister? So, what “success” did Mahathir bring to Malaysia?

Yes, success cannot be measured in ringgit terms. Success is how we have developed as a society, community and nation. Notwithstanding the amount of money in our pocket, unless we move forward as a nation, Malaysia has failed. Malaysia is not a nation. Malaysia is many nations. We have the Malay nation. We have the non-Malay nation. We have the Sabah nation. And we have the Sarawak nation. All who are pretending that we all live in one nation.

That, in a nutshell, is Mahathir’s “success” and legacy, something we can do without. And yet DAP wants Mahathir back as prime minister for the third round so that they can return to Putrajaya. And just because DAP lusts for power, the nation called Malaysia has to be sacrificed.

The reason Malaysia progressed in the 1980s and 1990s

RPK Malaysia-Today