SANCTITY OF ISLAM CAN`T BE RAISED THROUGH SLOGANS, SAYS M`SIAN PM NAJIB

MELAKA (Malaysia), Dec 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
said the sanctity of Islam cannot be raised and the ummah cannot be developed
merely based on slogans.

The Prime Minister said transformation of the Muslims could only become a
reality through struggles and the government fulfilling the actual spiritual
needs of the Muslims through various continuous efforts.

"There are groups who like to express the slogans 'develop with Islam' and
they also like to hang up banners along the roads and so on.

"These are (merely) slogans put up on fences and trees. But can these
slogans, no matter how good they may sound, really achieve the objective of
developing the ummah today?" he said when opening the Sayyidina Ali Mosque in
Bukit Katil, near here Wednesday.

Also present was Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam.

Najib said that only people who could think rationally without being
emotional would know that such slogans would not bring any change to the
Muslims.

The Prime Minister said the government had carried out various efforts to
develop the ummah such as building mosques and surau besides increasing the
allowances for imam and teachers of Quran and Fardu Ain (KAFA) classes by
spending millions of ringgit each year.

On the role of mosques in the country, he said they enabled Muslims to
perform their religious obligations in a comfortable and safe environment.

"No other country in the world provides such opportunities," he said.

Najib said the mosques not only provided a place where Muslims could
discharge their religious obligations but could also become a centre for
exchanging ideas, a welfare centre and most importantly, as a centre to unite
the ummah, especially the local community.

The Sayyidina Ali Mosque was built at a cost of RM6 million (US$1.93
million) and could accommodate 2,500 people at any one time, and also provided
living quarters for its workers.
-- BERNAMA