Partyforumseasia:
With God’s Help?
In Homer’s Iliad the Olympic gods interfere directly in the battles for Troy. The crusaders were motivated by the Pope’s affirmation that they were fighting for God, and their Muslim adversaries were also convinced that they were dying for Allah. Religion as a political tool has often been successful, not least in Europe  for the Christian Democratic Parties. So it does not come as a surprise that in the running- up to the elections in Malaysia both camps are trying to get religious support, if not directly from Allah, then at least by using the status and credibility of Muslim leaders. Since UMNO feels that they have their most faithful voter bank among rural and pious Malays, but face the competition of the Islamist PAS, their efforts to get support from prominent Ulama is logical. But opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has his own religious credentials, he started his political career as head of the Muslim Youth Movement ABIM. The following article gives some details how the parties a trying to recruit religious leaders for the election campaign:

Source and link: Straits Times 21.3.2013, p. A26