Cabinet committee on Syariah Index to be set up, says Najib

PUTRAJAYA: A Cabinet Committee on the Implementation of Malaysian Syariah Index will be set up to ensure that the implementation will be of high-impact and effective, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced yesterday.

He said he would personally chair the committee, while Chief Secretary to the Government would lead the secretariat.

“The syariah index project is very important and close to my heart as the government leader, and with the commitment of our friends in the government, we will make sure that the implementation will be done effectively.

“We are also prepared to have this syariah index be improved from time to time,” he said when tabling the Malaysian Syariah Index Report 2015 at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here yesterday.

Najib said the relations, cooperation and discussions with ulama and umara (religious scholars and leaders) would be enhanced in a bid to further improve the implementation of the index.

At the same time, he said other relevant quarters were also welcomed to give their input and opinions.

At the event, Najib announced that Malaysia obtained an overall score of 75.42 per cent in the inaugural Malaysian Syariah

The index, the first of its kind in the world, is based on the findings of a six-month research conducted nationwide, involving 133 researchers in various disciplines.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister

Index 2015.

The score was based on the government's performance and commitment towards Islamic agenda in eight major areas which were evaluated and assessed through a comprehensive and scientific research.

The eight areas are education, legal, politics, health, economy, culture, social and infrastructure and environment.

“The index, the first of its kind in the world, is based on the findings of a six-month research conducted nationwide, involving 133 researchers in various disciplines,” he said.

The index evaluated and assessed the government's seriousness in achieving the five aspects of the ‘Maqasid Syariah' or syariah requirements, namely the protection of the religion, protection of life, protection of the mind, protection of the race and protection of property, in those eight areas.

Najib said based on the findings in the policymaker, implementer and public categories, the score of syariah index for education was 82.5 per cent, which proved that all efforts done for educational development were accepted positively by the people.

The legal aspect scored 87.19 per cent, thanks to the efforts taken by ulama and umara (religious scholars and leaders) who had strived to uphold the principles of syariah ever since the preIndependence era, he said.

On the score of 65.27 per cent in economy, the prime minister said despite the fact that the foundation of Malaysia's economy was quite conventional, the government had always tried to adapt the syariah principles in its system; so much so that most of the country's economic policies had been in accordance with the Maqasid Syariah.

In politics, the research concluded that the score is 79.19 per cent, he said.

“This index is sufficient for us to undertake self-reflection on our performance to do more political transformation in the country,” he said.

For the score of 73.92 per cent in health, Najib said the government had put as priority the value of Maqasid Syariah in providing basic necessities for the people, including by opening the 1Malaysia Clinic that charges only RM1 to each patient seeking medical attention. — Bernama