PUTRAJAYA, Jan 13 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof today questioned the motives of the former civil servants group (G25) which continued to raise issues regarding the establishment of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) although they had been given a detailed explanation.

He said among those which had been explained in two meetings with G25 in November last year and 2018 were the establishment and enforcement of Jakim and the allocations that it received.

"I do not understand why this issue is still circulating. This is not because they (G25) do not respect Islam, but the perception built up can raise the anxiety of certain quarters concerning the group,” he told reporters after a gathering of agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department here today.

The media on Saturday reported G25’s allegations that Jakim and the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI) were not constitutional because there were no provision for the agencies to be established nationally.

Mujahid explained that Jakim’s existence was linked to religious administration at the Federal level, starting as the Religious Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department and changing to the Islamic Affairs Division (BAHEIS) before being upgraded to a department known as Jakim in 1997.

Of the RM1.2 billion and RM1.3 billion allocations Jakim received in 2019 and this year, Mujahid explained that 60 per cent of the allocation (each year) was used to pay the salaries of imam and religious teachers nationwide, while the remaining 40 per cent was for Jakim’s administration including staff salaries. — Bernama