JOHOR BARU: A total of 80 business premises, including convenience stores associated with the sale of socks bearing the word 'Allah', were raided by the Johor State Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) today.
Johor Islamic Religious Council chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid said the large-scale integrated operation involved all 10 districts in the state and was carried out simultaneously.
He said the integrated operation also involved the Home Ministry, district Kadi Offices and local authorities focusing on retail networks selling clothing and stationery.
"This integrated operation is an aggressive and immediate step taken by the department in line with the decree of the Regent of Johor, Tunku Mahkota Ismail, regarding the word 'Allah', which must always be revered.
"Therefore, inspection operations were carried out simultaneously in 10 districts in Johor, targeting premises related to incidents involving socks bearing the word 'Allah' and other convenience store premises selling clothing and stationery," he said.
He said this during a media briefing after the integrated inspection operation at KK Mart here today.
Also present during the inspection were officers from the Home Ministry, Johor Baru City Council, and Johor Baru district Kadi Office.
Commenting further, Mohd Fared said monitoring operations would continue until the issue subsides and is fully resolved by the authorities.
He said the operation demonstrated the department's seriousness in combating any effort to ridicule Islam.
"This serves as a stern warning to all parties, including manufacturers, individuals, or publishing companies, against challenging the sanctity of Islam.
"Non-Muslim traders need not worry; if you have not committed any offence, continue trading as usual and adhere to all stipulated conditions," he said.
Mohd Fared said the department would also implement more awareness programmes and briefings on the sensitivity of religion in the future.
"We will not only enforce the law but also organise more awareness programmes, including workshops involving all industry players.
"Likewise, manufacturers and entrepreneurs will be summoned to be briefed on how to maintain the sensitivity of Islam," he said.
Last Saturday, the top management of KK Super Mart expressed regret over the incident of the socks bearing the word 'Allah' at one of its outlets in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya.
In response, police opened two investigation papers.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director, Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, was reported to have said that so far, a total of 42 police reports have been received nationwide regarding the incident.