The matter will be discussed at length, said religious affairs minister Idris Ahmad.

He said should there be the need to set up a special committee, this would be handled by law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and the views of related parties would be sought on the matter.

“The concept of ‘diyat’ is already in the book on jurisprudence, especially involving ‘qisas’ (retaliation in kind).

“For example, if A murders B, he is given three options — the first is the death penalty, the second is to pay “diyat” and the third is to be forgiven.

“However, this matter is still in the process and will be managed by the legal division,” he told a press conference after the state-level Multaqa Murabbi Ummah (MMU) programme here today.

Also present were deputy religious affairs minister Ahmad Marzuk Shaary and Pahang Islamic religious department director Zulkifle Ali.

Yesterday, Wan Junaidi, at a special press conference, said the concept of “diyat” was among the punishments being considered as a substitute for the mandatory death penalty but said the matter needed to be discussed with the relevant parties, such as shariah scholars.

On another matter, Idris said the federal government as a whole had channelled financial allocation of RM60.44 million to imams, bilal, siak, takmir teachers and Quran and Fardu Ain (Kafa) teachers in Pahang this year.

He said the plan to absorb Kafa teachers into permanent positions was still ongoing, adding that the committee involved had met with the relevant parties such as the finance ministry and the public service department (JPA) as certain procedures must be followed before it could be implemented.