Mujahid defends appointment of DAP man to govt’s Islamic body

KUALA LUMPUR: The minister in charge of Islamic affairs has today defended the appointment of a DAP assemblyman to the board of a government-run Islamic propagation body.

Mujahid Yusof Rawa said Sheikh Omar Ali’s appointment to Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim) was due to the Paloh assemblyman’s religious credentials.

“He is qualified and has good ideas.

“We cannot deny him a spot just because he is a DAP member. That is not right,” he told reporters today.

Sheikh Omar Ali.

The appointment was criticised by Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, who said Omar belonged to a party that had never recognised Islam as the official religion of the country.

Asyraf said Islamic institutions in the country were now under threat from the “DAP-dominated” Pakatan Harapan administration.

Mujahid today said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad too had agreed to Omar’s appointment to Yadim.

Yadim, formed in 1974 to streamline Islamic propagation efforts by the government and Muslim NGOs, is now headed by Nik Omar Nik Aziz, the son of the late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat. - FMT