Speaking to FMT, she said the work of government Islamic agencies should reflect Malaysia’s character as a multicultural country.
“This would promote understanding among Malaysians of all backgrounds regarding Islam,” she said.
She was commenting on a report that Putrajaya’s top advisory council had invited at least three muftis as well as independent Muslim scholars and activists to hear their views on the future of the administration of Islam under the Pakatan Harapan government.
Nik Elin said Putrajaya, in its bid to improve the work of Islamic agencies, should first of all be discerning in its choice of people to lead the institutions.
“They should not be political appointees and must be from highly respectable backgrounds,” she added.
She also said the institutions should be prohibited from moral policing.
“Religion should remain a personal relationship with God and there should never be a self-appointed conduit to God,” she said.
She criticised the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), saying it currently promoted a single system of belief with no room for dissension.
“Muslims believe that Islam is a religion for all times,” she said. “The doors of ijtihad did not close 1,430 years ago.”
Tawfik Ismail, an ex-member of the G25 group of former civil servants and a frequent critic of Jakim, also weighed in on the issue, saying the new Malaysia that had emerged with the recent general election should not leave room for heavy-handed practices by religious institutions.
“It’s unacceptable that the government of Malaysia Baru would allow this kind of behaviour from religious authorities,” he told FMT.
Referring to the anti-khalwat law, he said raids on people suspected of flouting it were reminiscent of draconian laws of the past, such as the Internal Security Act.
“It’s appalling that they arrest on hearsay,” he added.
Calls for the reform of Islamic institutions have been renewed in the wake of the recent arrest of lawyer Siti Kasim after the mother of her client claimed that her daughter’s faith was in question. It was reported that police forcibly took away the client from Siti’s house.
A magistrate dismissed a police application to remand Siti over an allegation that she obstructed police officers from discharging their duties.
Next, Putrajaya council to meet conservative and liberal Muslims