I write in response to Speaking the Heart's questions in his letter entitled ' Why PAS can't win votes from non-Muslims '. I am a Muslim but I am not a Muslim scholar.

How can a Muslim man's right to marry four wives justifiable in this day and age?

From what little I know, one of the principles behind the ruling is this: If a Muslim man intends to take more than one wife, then he may only do so if he is able to fulfill the strict prerequisites as established by the Shariah, for example to be fair to both, or all, of his wives, etc, etc.

Islam places obligations on the Muslim husband that he must care and devote himself to his wives equally not only in terms of proprietary rights but also in terms of love and affection. Scoff at that if you must, but the fact remains that a Muslim man is not allowed to go gallivanting around town with any lady, wasting his time and resources, which should be rightfully allocated to his wife and children.

But wait, I can see your next question coming - what's the difference between a mistress and a second/third/fourth wife? The answer to that is under the Shariah, the rights of both or all the wives and the offspring born from these unions are legally recognised, for example, in areas of inheritance.

None will have a superior right over the others but all of them will have equal rights. If a man has both a wife and a mistress, what is the right of the wife if the man wills everything or a major part of his property to the mistress?

Under Islam, the rights of the second/third/fourth wives are guaranteed under the Shariah. Islam prohibits lecherous and irresponsible behaviour. It seeks to ensure that all the wives are treated in all fairness and be accorded with an honourable status. A Muslim man is not allowed mistresses, but if he is considered able under the Shariah, he may take on a second, third or fourth wife. If he cannot fulfill the prerequisites as required by the Shariah, then only one wife will suffice, and in Islam, having one wife is best.

The root of the matter is this: women are not cattle to whom you can do whatever as you please. They are individuals and have been given rights which cannot be dispensed with by any man. A Muslim man wanting to marry more than one wife is obliged to ensure that the rights of all his wives are safeguarded at all times. Which is better, having two wives or having a wife and a mistress? Or even worse, solicit the services of prostitutes?

Islam allows the first scenario (subject to the husband satisfying the established prerequisites) but totally prohibits the second and the third. Is there a culture/race where no man has ever had an affair or committed adultery or kept mistress(es). Islam seeks to avoid this.

And onto your second question - that "most Islamic nations not able to catch up with the rest of the world in education, economics, sports, inventions, governance, civil society or for that matter in any other field or measure of worldly success" and that "citizens of non-Islamic countries appear to be faring far, far better in almost all fields of human endeavour".

Don't you know that our Muslim ancestors were the experts in many disciplines such as mathematics, science, astronomy so on and so forth long before the renaissance in Europe? That the Muslim civilisation built universities and were centres of knowledge? Did you know that for nearly 300 years of the early part of the last millennium, it was the Muslims who achieved victory over the combined European Christian armies in the Crusades? But of course, your predictable response would be, 'but that's all in the past now'.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in his final sermon to the Muslim faithful proclaimed that the Muslims must at all times follow the Quran and the Prophet's Sunnah to ensure stability and to prevent us from going astray. Unfortunately, being mere human beings ourselves, this discipline eroded from one generation to the next and slowly the Muslim civilisation (like all cultures) became seduced by corruption, self-interest, power-mongering and Allah knows what else.

Where the Quran and the Sunnah were once the guiding lights for the Muslim civilisation, they have been relegated to mere religious relics thereby causing the Muslim world to lose its source of principles, its rules, its inspiration. Look at the state of Muslims in our country. Which brings me to the conclusion as to why, for me, PAS is the more sincere party than Umno simply because they intend to re-introduce the Quran and the Sunnah to the lives of the Muslims (note: just Muslims). They want to actually practise what they preach.

As for your final question: can a Muslim (even a liberal moderate) or more importantly an Islamic party like PAS stomach-in such questioning by non-Muslims, you seemed to have presumed the answer for yourself when you stated that "PAS will never be able to accept such probing questions from non-Muslims for any length of time". How sure are you of that?

Have you spoken to any PAS leaders? Have you engaged them in any discussions? Have you "probed" them sufficiently to entitle you to such a conclusion that they are an "unfathomable religious-centred entity"? Or do they appear to be unfathomable because you have judged them based on your own prejudice. Looking at your first two questions, I can see that you have already adjudged Islam as some backward religion with no place in today's world. I beg to differ, of course.