GEORGETOWN: Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah has reminded all Islamic Religious Councils of functions as a school of thought and centre of Islamic administration, under the direct authority of the King.
He said the loyalties of the Islamic Religious Councils members are to the King, and that his decree must be obtained before a policy or directive is issued or implemented.
“The role of the council should be expanded and freed from the narrow mindsets of the past, a legacy of the British,” he said at a ceremony to present the instruments of appointment to members of the Penang Islamic Religious Council and judges and registrars of the Penang Syariah Court.
Also present were Penang Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas, and Deputy Chief Minister 1, Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman.
Sultan Nazrin also reminded everyone that whatever the country’s political scenario is, as long as the actions of the Islamic Religious Councils’ members should not go against the spirit of the Constitution, the country has to recognise the Islamic Religious Councils as an institution which upholds the continuity of Islam.
“In a climate where Muslims continue to share differing views, in a scenario where Muslim brotherhood grows even more fractured, the Council has to assume its responsibility as an instrument of unity for the ummah.
“(It has to be) free of any political party agenda, which is seen as being factional and one-sided, so that the Council’s role is neutral and can be accepted without prejudice,” he said.
Sultan Nazrin later performed Friday prayers at the Masjid Jamek Sungai Gelugor with around 2,000 people. He also presented a RM5,000 donation to the mosque.
