Govt to engage with interfaith group over Jakim issue
PUTRAJAYA: The government will soon engage with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) to address their concerns about the placement of Islamic Development Department (Jakim) officers in government departments.
This follows MCCBCHST’s worries about reports suggesting that Jakim officers might be placed in every government department “to ensure decisions align with Islamic principles”.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has instructed the National Unity Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Department to meet with MCCBCHST to hear their views and clarify the government’s position.
“It’s inaccurate to say that Jakim officers are involved in policymaking. Such an allegation is uncalled for and baseless,” he told the press after a Cabinet meeting at his ministry yesterday.
Despite a clarification from Jakim on Aug 7, Fahmi said some misunderstandings persist.
Fahmi reiterated that Jakim officers in government departments are not involved in policymaking but are present to uplift the spirituality of departmental staff.
He also noted that this policy of placing Jakim officers in departments was continued from the previous administration.
Fahmi pointed out that Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin had mentioned this policy during his tenure in the previous government between 2006 and 2007.
He also clarified that no new placements of Jakim officers in government departments have been made under the current administration.
On Monday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar explained that Jakim officers are assigned to government agencies and departments primarily to organise Islamic religious programmes.
He referred to the Aug 7 Jakim statement, which indicated that the current federal administration under Anwar had not decided to place Jakim officers in every government department.
According to the statement, this policy was established in previous administrations dating back to the 1980s.
The MCCBCHST said in a statement recently that Jakim’s alleged encroachment into the public sphere might be unconstitutional as it could affect the fundamental rights guaranteed to all Malaysians.
MCCBCHST also argued that Jakim’s role in ensuring government policies align with Islamic principles would fall outside the constitutional scope of the term “Islam” as interpreted by the courts.
“Jakim’s involvement in government policymaking may be unconstitutional as in the public sphere, only such Islamic acts as relating to ‘rituals and ceremonies’ are included,” the interfaith council said in the statement.
The group had issued the statement in response to an Aug 13 news report, in which Sabah’s Liberal Democratic Party vice-president David Ong raised concerns about the placement of Jakim officers.
