Don’t make Islam political fodder, says Najib

JOHOR BARU, Aug 6 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Islam should not be politicised by any quarters in this country.

He said Islam should instead be placed at the highest level so that a lot of problems faced by the Muslim community could be overcome.

“We must not politicise the religion as Islam is not politics,” he said.

“If politics is made to be above Islam, the Muslim community will be confronted with a lot of problems, causing disunity which today is the source of the community’s weaknesses and the enemies of Islam belittling the religion.”

Najib said this in his speech at the Quran reciting completion and breaking-of-fast at the Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque, Taman Universiti in Skudai, here, today.

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abd Ghani Othman and MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

Najib said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government itself always prioritised Islam in administering the country and adhered to the requirements of the religion.

“We developed our administration based on syariah and that is the Islamic requirement for us and among the five things we have done is looking after Islam, and that is why Malaysia is known as an Islamic country.

“We protect the Islamic faith and character, promote the religion, provide Islamic infrastructure and Islamic law and so on,” he said.

The prime minister said the government’s success in managing the country well despite facing various challenges was recognised by other Islamic countries to the extent of Malaysia becoming a model successful Islamic nation.

At the same time, he said, the government had never neglected the welfare of the people of this country as it had provided various forms of aid not enjoyed by people in many other countries.

“Last night, I was in Bachok, Kelantan where I found out that there is even aid for disturbance from wildlife, for instance, you can get aid if you’re bitten by a snake. Where else in the world, a government does this?

“This is a government which takes care of the overall welfare of the people, where we want an Islamic concept and the same time, we want progress and development.

“We don’t want Islam to be linked to poverty and weakness but to be linked to strength and empowerment because Allah loves people who are successful,” he said.

At the function, the prime minister also performed Maghrib prayer before enjoying the meal with his deputy and other BN component party leaders, and then performed Isyak and Tarawih prayers before departing for Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama