Jakim needs more than RM1 billion a year, says deputy minister

© Provided by The Malaysian Insider Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki says the Islamic Development Department Malaysia (Jakim) needs higer allocation to meet the needs of the majority of Malaysians…The Islamic Development Department Malaysia (Jakim) needs more than RM1 billion each year to meet the demands of Malaysian Muslims and to combat those who oppose having Islam as the religion of the federation, Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said.

The deputy minister in charge of religious affairs added that religious officers and teachers needed higher pay as the task of protecting Islam had become more challenging with the spread of "radical" and "extremist" ideologies.

He cited Isis, liberalism, pluralism and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT) community as examples of radical ideologies.

"Aside from managing the allowances of more than 30,000 Kafa (Quran and fardu ain classes) teachers and nearly 15,000 imams across the country, the allocation for Jakim is relevant and is, in fact, not enough to meet the needs of the majority of Malaysians who are Muslims.

"Hence, we are grateful to those who raised this issue as it has opened the government's eyes to the fact that Jakim needs a higher allocation to meet the increasingly critical demands, particularly in overcoming those who try to deny that Islam is the religion of the federation.

"Of course, an allocation of nearly RM1 billion is not enough, on the contrary more is needed," wrote Asyraf in a Facebook post responding to a The Malaysian Insider story today. 

Attached to his post was a screenshot of The Malaysian Insider's article "How Jakim spent nearly RM1 billion this year?".

Asyraf also accused "certain quarters" of attempting to belittle and destroy the credibility of religious institutions, and said that Jakim had become a "target" of The Malaysian Insider.

He justified Jakim's existence, saying that it had started out as a small unit under the National Council for Ismalic Religious Affairs Malaysia (MKI) in 1968 with the consent of the Conference of Rulers.

He said it was later "upgraded" to become a division under the Prime Minister's Department, before finally being renamed Jakim on January 1, 1997.

"That means Jakim's existence received the consent of the Conference of Rulers and it became the coordinating secretariat for the MKI," wrote Asryaf.

He said Jakim's role was to undertake the executive government's responsibility of ensuring Islam remained the religion of the federation, and to carry out the Agong's oath to protect Islam.

He added that the constitution clearly spelled out Jakim's power with regard to Islamic laws, administration and education.