KUALA LUMPUR: The government must open itself to other schools of Islamic jurisprudence that follow the methodology of Prophet Muhammad in solving national issues involving Islam.
In saying this, Penang mufti Datuk Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor said the solution to today's problems can be found in three other mazhab apart from mazhab Shafie.
"We can change, eventhough in the Malay world, in Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern Thailand, we follow Shafie's school of thought, this does not prevent us from reaping the benefits from the other schools of thought.
"Truth can be found anywhere and as Muslims, we must be confident because Islam provides solutions to all of humanities problems and that is why we need to have an open mind.
"Sometimes, a solution may be present in another mazhab. Therefore, we need to be brave and venture into other mazhab and not restrict ourselves to just one," he told reporters after a meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons, at the Ilham Tower, here, today.
Commenting on the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), Wan Salim said the agency should remain and improved in order to coordinate issues pertaining to Islam at the national level.
"In my meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons, they did not touch a lot on Jakim, but more on fatwa and mazhab. For me, Jakim must be maintained to coordinate matters pertaining to Islam.
"What is important is Jakim is not politicised," he said.
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