PETALING JAYA: While his deputy has offered an explanation to the name of a Malaysian whisky brand that is under the spotlight, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has taken a tougher stand.

       He called on the religious authorities not to allow the “misuse of names by any parties that could confuse the Muslim community”.

       In a Facebook post, the Marang MP said that whatever reasons given for the use of branding in the whisky controversy, the name “Timah” in Malay referred to Fatimah Az-Zahra, which was the name of Prophet Muhammad’s daughter.

       “And this subtly can be seen as touching the sensitivity among Muslims,” he said yesterday.

       Hadi’s remarks followed the call by many in his party for action to be taken against the manufacturer.

       PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had earlier weighed in on the controversy involving the local whisky’s name and the picture on its label.

       He pointed out that “Timah” was neither a Muslim name nor a person’s name.

       “It’s a type of metal. Furthermore, the logo is a picture of a man. There is no man named Timah,” he was quoted as saying by PAS mouthpiece Harakah Daily several days ago.

       Timah’s manufacturer has explained that the name is derived from the Malay word “tin” and the man pictured on its bottle is Captain Tristam Speedy, an English officer in Malaya during the British colonial era.

       Hadi also said that as a multi-religious society, the authorities could not prevent the use or sale of alcohol by non-Muslims due to the concept of religious freedom, adding that the PAS-led Kelantan and Terengganu state governments had set under their jurisdiction a ban on alcohol only for Muslims.

       “They do not prohibit the sale of alcohol among non-Muslims.”