SUBANG, 15 June: Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim advised the people of Selangor to strengthen and increase knowledge on Islam to avoid misguided faith.
According to him, the advice was thrown because so far, there are 27 deviant teachings that have been pronounced to have deviated from true Islamic teachings.
“I was told by the Research and Development Division of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department that such teachings which are carried and practiced by individuals or certain groups and thus some Muslims believe it and soon become followers,” he said at the opening speech of the state level Islamic Affairs Premier Forum at the Nurur Rahmah Surau in Kampung Melayu Subang.
Abdul Khalid explained that the reason some Muslims who deviate from Islamic teachings stems from them not having the knowledge or understanding of the teachings in the real sense.
“This may be due to when they were children, they did not receive education and instruction in the field of Islam due to negligence or ignorance of their own parents.
“This phenomenon is actually more prevalent among the Muslim society in our country. According to a randomised study, there are more than 60 percent of adults who do not perform the obligatory prayers, and do not even know how to read and write in Jawi,” he said.
He added that a variety of ways can be done in efforts to find mentors, among them is to listen to talks from religious teachers or speakers who are given teaching credentials from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS).
“The State Government, through the Standing Committee for Education and Human Capital Development, since 2009, has already and are continuing to create individuals of the state who are balanced physically and spiritually through the Spies programme.
“At the same time, we will also strive to ensure that the people of all levels and backgrounds can live a good life according to what is dictated by the religion and culture,” he said.
In this regard, he said, the State Government always pays serious attention to the aspect of the development of Islam.
“Among the things emphasised is the call to nurture and strengthen Muslim unity regardless of origin,” he said.
About 1,000 attendees were present at the forum entitled ‘One Heart, Two Souls, Where are We?.
Among the invited panellists was Ustaz Haslin Baharim or better known as Ustaz Bollywood and Dr Roslan Mohamad.
Also present was the Exco for Islamic Affairs, Agricultural Modernisation and Rural Development, Salehan Mukhyi and the Deputy Director of JAIS, Zaki Arshad.
