JITRA: The recognition given by the Muslim World League (MWL) to Malaysia as a model country for national harmony in the world despite its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society, proves that the Barisan Nasionl (BN) government is on the right path in upholding Islamic teachings in the country.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the acknowledgement coming from a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based organisation is indeed very significant.
"The latest MWL endorsement is to recognise Malaysia as an exemplary country due to our introduction of moderation (wassatiyah) approach which is the basic principle in Islam.
"It is not easy...the league is not someone that we pay a fee to but a body which is based in Riyadh and they look at all the countries in the world before recognising Malaysia as a role model," he said in his speech during breakfast session with tahfiz students and teachers at Madrasah Al-Ulum Ad-Diniah Al-Usmaniah Pondok Tanjung Kapor, near here today.
Some 1,000 people from tahfiz schools statewide attended the session.
Also present was Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah.
Najib also presented RM4 million for repair works for mosques and suraus in the state, RM2 million for hostels at 25 public religious schools and RM162,000 for 11 tahfiz schools.
MWL secretary-general Mohamad Abdul Karim Al-Issa reportedly said that Malaysia is a great example of national harmony in the world despite its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society.
Mohamad Abdul Karim said Najib made a wise move in introducing wassatiyah, which would ensure no elements that could threaten the nation’s harmony.
On the same note, Najib said the recognition and the initiatives that the government has made proves how committed the government is to dignify Malaysia as an Islamic country.
This include, the country’s initiative in becoming the first country in the world which introduced the Malaysian Syariah Index in 2015, of which Malaysia scored 76.06 per cent last year.
“We are the only country in the world that introduced the index and our score last year was 76.06 per cent, which is good and we still have room to improve.
“If anyone want to accuse us of not being an Islamic country or our commitment to uphold the Islamic teaching is not strong, we could show them that it is not true based on our 76.06 per cent score,” he said.
Najib added that the government also uphold the tahfiz education as part of its important agenda and policy and this was proven from the National Tahfiz Education Policy (DTPN) based on the five ‘maqasid Syariah’ principal.
“When we mentioned DTPN, we have a long term goal to produce 125,000 professional huffaz and we are also opening a channel for tahfiz students to further their studies at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM),” he said.
Najib also reminded all tahfiz schools nationwide to abide the quality standard set by the Fire and Rescue Services Department to avoid a repetition of the fire tragedy at Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah which killed 23 people.