Pulai Umno leader Nur Jazlan Mohamed said Johor Muslims were educated about the religion through a state government system that had produced Malays “who are well-versed in Islam”.

Johor is also a diverse society, unlike the other states where PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had used the same argument, said Nur Jazlan.

“The situation in Johor is different because of its diverse society,” he said.

He told FMT he is confident that Johoreans will not buy into Hadi’s argument, which he had used in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah at the recent state elections.

“He is using the slogan of ‘saving Islam’ as if he doesn’t trust the Malays,” said Nur Jazlan, an Umno Supreme Council member.

Puad Zarkashi, another Umno Supreme Council member from Johor, said Hadi was trying to cloud the minds of Umno members with the pretext of “saving Islam”.

“It is evident that PAS is exploiting religious sentiments to gain power,” he said, urging Johor voters to prevent this.

Last Sunday, Hadi urged Umno members to choose the PN candidate in the Simpang Jeram state constituency election as he claimed it is their responsibility to “save Islam”.

Constituents in the Simpang Jeram state seat and Pulai parliamentary seat will go to the polls on Sept 9, after both seats were vacated following the death of the incumbent, Salahuddin Ayub, on July 23.

In Pulai, Amanah’s Suhaizan Kaiat is up against businessman Zulkifli Jaafar of Bersatu and an independent. In Simpang Jeram, engineer Nazri Abdul Rahman of Amanah faces vascular surgeon Dr Mazri Yahya of PAS.