BUKIT MERTAJAM, May 2 – The federal government provided an allocation of RM75.21 million to build 14 mosques in Penang since 2007, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. He said the government also spent RM180.85 million for Islamic religious development programmes and projects from 2008 until 2014.
The allocation was allocated to implement physical projects such as the construction or upgrading of surau and mosques as well as contribution for carrying out religious programmes, he said in his text of speech here. His text of speech was read by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom at a get-together and aid presentation ceremony for the management of religious schools, mosques and surau at Masjid Timah here Saturday.
Muhyiddin said the federal government gave due attention to the development on Islamic ‘syiar’ (greatness) in Malaysia in line with Islam’s position as the federal religion as enshrined in the constitution. “Islamic institutions such as Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim), state Islamic Religious Development Department, state Islamic Religious Council and Tabung Haji were established to safeguard Islamic religious current affairs and the spread of Islamic greatness,” he said.
Muhyiddin said the federal government also allocated RM22 million annually to pay the allowance of 180 religious teachers, 1,400 religious class and Fardu Ain (Kafa) teachers, 500 imams and five district mosque coordinating officers in the state. He said the field of formal Islamic teaching also played an important role in the current global situation that was facing threats in various forms of thoughts that deviated from the true teachings of Islam.
“The existence of extremism groups such as IS was one of the causes of misunderstanding on Islam. Islam was not built towards terrorism but through ‘dakwah’ and ‘tarbiyyah’ as shown by the Prophet,” he said. At the function, Jamil Khir presented an aid of RM2.32 million to be distributed to 32 religious public schools and 12 government-added religious schools in the state as well as 42 Kafa public religious schools, 28 mosques and 62 surau in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency.
