KUALA LUMPUR: The government has allocated RM1.2 billion for next year to ensure that the growth of Islam would not be impeded by the challenging economic conditions.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said as the religion of the federation, Islam enjoys a unique constitutional position and that RM150 million has been made available to carry out programmes such as building mosques and suraus across the country.
He said other programmes were the “Khaira Ummah” initiative to train more professionals among the huffaz, and religious learning modules using Braille.
He said the government had also approved unrecorded leave for Muslim officers to perform Umrah for up to seven days for the entire duration of service.
“To appreciate the fact that we have 201,600 non-Muslims in the civil service, the government has agreed to similarly allow for up to seven days of unrecorded leave throughout the duration of service for the purposes of performing their religious pilgrimage and functions.”
Lim said this when tabling Budget 2019 themed “A Resurgent Malaysia, A Dynamic Economy, A Prosperous Society” at the Dewan Rakyat here today.