Respect sanctity of houses of worship – Jamil

GUAR CHEMPEDAK: All parties should respect the sanctity of the houses of worship to avoid offending people of other races or religions, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.

He said, although Islam welcomed the practice of different cultures and religions with certain boundaries, it was not right to have the presence of nonMuslims at a mosque when they have no purpose to be there.

“I call on all races and religions to respect the sanctity of places of worship of others, especially the mosques, as I am afraid it may trigger issues of conf lict, cause discomfort, unhappiness and displeasure leading to disunity and anger,” he told reporters after presenting special allowances to 480 fishermen in the Jerai constituency here yesterday.

He was commenting on newspaper reports on a Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) student group, including non-Muslims, who made use of the Batu 15 Sintok surau to hold a students’ gathering which was seen as a violation of the sanctity of the house of worship.

“It was disappointing when non-Muslim students were seen not covering their modesty while in the surau, and were not advised by fellow Muslim students to do so,” he said.

Jamil said organisers should be more sensitive, especially when using a surau or mosque for a specific purpose when the event involved non-Muslims.

In another development, he said, Tabung Haji would improve its management system, particularly in offering places to prospective pilgrims selected at the last minute.

“We cannot avoid this because at times, those who had been selected had declined at the last minute, owing to death, illness or hospitalisation.

“We will try to improve on this so that the pilgrims will have sufficient time to make preparations and inform the authorities earlier, by mail or phone,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jamil said, the overall management of pilgrims in the last season went smoothly, adding that 27 deaths were recorded.

He said although there were 3,000 pilgrims above age 75, they managed to perform their pilgrimage as they had medical treatment and validation before the journey. – Bernama