AMID FLAK FOR DR M ‘OVERKILL’, SELANGOR SULTAN DISTANCES A BIT FROM NAJIB: PM’S MEN IN STATE RELIGIOUS AGENCIES TOLD TO TOE THE LINE, REMINDED THE SULTAN HAS ‘ABSOLUTE POWER’ OVER ISLAMIC MATTERS

Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has decreed that officers under Putrajaya’s payroll but stationed in Selangor religious agencies must toe the line with regard to state policies.

The ruler noted that federal officers have been posted in agencies such as the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and religious schools under it, Lembaga Zakat Selangor, Perbadanan Wakaf Selangor and Jabatan Mufti Selangor.

“What I want to stress here is that every federal officer serving in Selangor must comply with whatever policy, law, rules and guidelines decided by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais).

“They must also, throughout their service in Selangor, pledge their undivided obedience and loyalty to me as the head of Islam in the state even though they receive their salary and allowances from the federal government,” he said at Istana Alam Shah in Klang.

The sultan’s speech was in conjunction with a ceremony to appoint council members of Mais and a luncheon with imams in the state.

The ruler reiterated that he had absolute power with regard to matters pertaining to Islam in the state.

“I would also like to remind that the role of the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim), which acts as the religious body at the federal level, is meant to coordinate matters pertaining to Islam between the states.

“Any policy pertaining to Islam from Jakim, for example, concerning halal certification, zakat, the use of any fatwa, wakaf and others, must first be referred to Mais, as the body advising me on Islam, before they are brought before me for approval and implementation,” he said.

The Selangor ruler had in recent years publicly exerted his authority on matters pertaining to Islam in the state after expressing concern that certain quarters were promoting agendas that did not bode well for unity in the state.

– M’kini