Malaysia's Jakim Committed To Ensuring Implementation Of MSI

SEREMBAN (Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia), Oct 11 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) is committed to ensuring the Malaysian Syariah Index (MSI) can be implemented in the country. Its deputy director-general (Human Capital) Paimuzi Yahya said this includes taking the initiatives to go to the ground to explain and provide more information on the matter to the people nationwide. He said for the first phase, explanation on the MSI was given to policy makers and implementers, such as elected representatives and head of departments. "This year, we focus on giving explanation to policy makers and implementers so that they will understand what the MSI is all about. "Then, we will move on to giving explanation about the matter to the general public, Muslims and non-Muslims," he told reporters here on Tuesday. Paimuzi said apart from going to the ground, JAKIM would also use other mediums, such as Friday prayer sermon, radio and television, to spread the information and explain the implementation of the MSI. "The MSI is the first in the world, in which all government policies and programmes will be evaluated accordingly to ensure compliance with Islamic standards based on Maqasid Syariah," he said. Approximately 400 people comprising heads of departments, elected representatives and civil officers attended the discourse. On Feb 10 last year, Prime Minister Najib Razak launched the MSI model to 'scientifically' measure the country's compliance to Islamic teachings in eight fields — judiciary, politics, economics, health, education, culture, infrastructure and environment, and social. There are five aspects of Maqasid Syariah (the ultimate objectives of Shariah or Islam) , namely preserving religion, life, intellect, heredity and possessions. --BERNAMA