MAIS now has free hand over zakat’s millions

The July amendments to a state law has allegedly removed Selangor's Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) accountability to the state government.

PETALING JAYA: It’s a bitter pill to swallow for many Selangor assemblymen now that the government may have lost control over the state’s Islamic administrative matters and the estimated tens of millions of ringgit in annual zakat collections.

The amendments made in July seemingly allowed the state’s Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) to be accountable only to the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafudin Idris Shah, bypassing the state government in the process.

The amendments affected the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003.

Previously, Section 16 of the Enactment – which was passed at the July State Legislative Assembly sitting – enabled the director of Selangor’s Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) to be appointed as MAIS’s secretary.

The secretary would also act as the council’s chief executive officer and administrator, and was responsible for carrying out MAIS’s policies and resolutions.

However, the July amendments took that detail out, and allowed the Ruler “on advice of the Majlis” (MAIS) to appoint the council’s secretary.

Speaking under condition of anonymity, a state assemblyman said that the change allowed MAIS to snub summonses from the State Legislative Assembly’s committee.

“In one occasion, MAIS was summoned by a House committee overseeing statutory bodies and subsidiaries. They refused to appear on the grounds that they were not subject to the committee,” he told FMT.

Zakat money

The assemblyman added that MAIS was a statutory body created by the Enactment, and had financial autonomy in its affairs.

“They still have to table their audited accounts before the House… They can appoint their own auditors… But they are not duty-bound to come before the committee.”

“The effect of this, politically, is a government within a government, and Islamic affairs are taken out of the control of the state government,” he said.

This was of special concern, the assemblyman added, given that the amendments also gave MAIS the power to collect and distribute zakat as well as fitrah.

Selangor zakat money, he said, came up to about a third of the state government’s annual revenue which was roughly RM1.4 billion.

With this in tow, MAIS, according to an anonymous Pakatan Rakyat leader, could do whatever it wished with its companies without worrying about the state assembly looking over its shoulder.

“At the policy and state level, MAIS has six or seven government-linked companies under it… They said that the (state) government has no shared interest in MAIS’ corporations.

“So they tried to twist this (to their advantage), by saying that the administration (of MAIS) is under the Sultan… If we raised our voice (against it), they will raise the issue of derhaka (betrayal),” the leader said.

Royal appointments

FMT previously reported that Selangor state assemblymen allegedly received a letter from the Sultan at the July 11 state assembly sitting, commanding them to agree to these amendments.

Caught by surprise and fearing a constitutional crisis in the event of a refusal, Pakatan state assemblymen allowed the amendments to be passed without a hitch.

Currently, the Sultan has the power to appoint the MAIS chairman, deputy chairman and “not fewer than eight other members” to the council.

MAIS also consists of five ex-officio (automatic) members – the state secretary, state legal adviser, state financial officer, the mufti and the chief police officer.

According to the anonymous state assemblyman, the building and administration of mosques and suraus were also affected by the amendments.

JAIS, as well as the state government, he claimed, would have to spend money to build them, while the administration of these buildings would fall under MAIS’ purview.

“Now, to build a mosque or a surau, you have to get approval from MAIS… Construction of the mosque is under JAIS, but the management is under MAIS,” he said.

Another interesting development was the deletion of Section 85 of the Enactment.

Provisions of the Statutory Bodies Act (Accounts and Annual Reports) Act 1980 now no longer apply to MAIS.

No need for audit

According to Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights lawyer K Shanmuga, this meant that MAIS did not have to submit its accounts to the Auditor-General.

“The effect of the amendment is that the accounts of MAIS (and any other statutory corporation established by MAIS under the Enactment) will no longer have to be audited in accordance with the Audit Act 1957 and submitted to the Auditor-General each year.”

“In fact, there appears to be no provisions in the Administration of the Religion of Islam Enactment requiring any audit,” he said.

A script read by the proposer of the amendments passed at the July 11 state assembly sitting was also provided to FMT.

In regards to Section 85, it read: “This section was abolished because the council is not included in the definition of ‘Statutory Body’ in regard to the Statutory Bodies (Accounts and Annual Reports) Act 1980 [Act 240].”