IPOH: Mosques and surau must steer clear of partisan politics and narrow teachings of certain groups so that these venues can serve to strengthen the Muslim brotherhood, Raja Muda Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said yesterday.

Hence, he urged the Perak Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council to adopt a sterner approach in ensuring that mosques and surau in the state were free from negative elements.

Raja Nazrin Shah, who is chairman of the council, said mosques and surau in the state should follow the examples of the Masjidil Haram in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina where Muslims of various races, cultures, languages, nationalities and schools of thoughts were united in the worship of their creator.

"It is the wish of His Royal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah, the Ruler of Perak, that mosques and surau in the state follow the examples of these two grand mosques where any Muslim can pray in peace," he said at the opening of the 161st conference of the council at the Kompleks Islam Darul Ridzuan here yesterday.

He said mosques and surau, besides educational institutions and schools, were important centres for the propagation of human values for the good of mankind.
Raja Nazrin Shah said the role of the mosques and surau in this respect was important because these institutions could help develop future leaders who would care for nature and their fellow human beings.

He said the sufferings faced by humans today were due largely to leaders who had misused their god-given intelligence and worldly wealth to create chaos, conflicts, enmities and wars.

"Look at how many civilisations have disappeared, how nature is being destroyed, how blood is being shed and how lives are being killed."

Raja Nazrin Shah urged religious institutions and those entrusted with the task of propagating religion to take on the responsibility of moulding those who were aware of their duty towards their creator, mankind and nature.

He said efforts needed to be taken to make sure that these places of worship were free of narrow-minded teachings.

Raja Nazrin Shah announced the appointment to the council of Datuk Seri Annuar Zaini, head of the Northern Corridor Economic Region's (NCER) working committee and special adviser to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on NCER.

Two other appointees to the council are Professor Datuk Dr Ansary Ahmed, the president and chief executive officer of Asia e-University and Asad Awang, the assistant head of Ipoh Teacher Training Institute's Islamic Education and Moral Department.

He said the new appointments were made based on the experience and resourcefulness of each of the three appointees in their respective fields which would add value in providing services to the people and state.

He thanked former Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali for his services when he was a council member.

At an earlier function at the same venue, Raja Nazrin Shah received zakat payments totalling RM5,748,389.51 from five organisations for last year.

The organisations were Lembaga Tabung Haji, Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad, Pertubuhan Peladang Negeri Perak, Etiqa Takaful Berhad and Felcra Seberang Perak Berhad.