Najib:Federal government's struggles based on Islam

KLANG: The present practices of the Federal Government are based on the requirements of Islam under the concept of 'Maqasid Al-Shariah', Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He said that among the policies of the Maqasid Al-Shariah are to preserve and empower Islam but at the same time protect and respect the human rights of both the Muslims and non-Muslims. In respecting the human rights of the Malaysian people, he said the government had abolished the Internal Security Act (ISA).

"We certainly are not isolating or ignoring Islam but our cause is the struggle that is required by Islam," he said in his speech at the gathering to appreciate the deeds of the late Ustaz Nik Mohamed Mohyideen Wan Musa at the Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah, here.

Nik Mohamed Mohyideen was the first head of the Kolej Islam Malaya/Klang which is now known as Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah besides being the founder of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama.

Najib explained that the national transformation policy, through the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme, was centred on the Maqasid Al-Shariah.

"Maintaining accounts, protecting respect and origins and preserving the assets through a strong economy, these are principles of the Maqasid Al-Shariah.

"We developed the Kolej Islam concept and placed religious teachers in terms of their positions on par with other teachers...all these are based on Maqasid Al-Shariah," he said.

In addition, he said the 1Malaysia People's Textile Shop, which was also launched today, represented another element of the Maqasid Al-Shariah. Najib said the educational approach adopted by the Kolej Islam, which merged worldly knowledge and Islam, was the outcome of the collaboration of his late father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein as the Education Minister and the late Nik Mohamed Mohyideen, as the Head of Kolej Islam in 1967, that represented the implementers of the new policy.

THE STAR ONLINE