KUALA LUMPUR, August 13 ― Hardline Islamist group Isma questioned today if Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid was trying to placate non-Muslims by saying that Putrajaya would not allow government schools to be “too Islamic”.
Its president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman described the education minister's assertion as indicative of “someone with little understanding” about the national education philosophy, and asked if the latter had facts to support his claim.
“The minister's statement is indicative of someone with little understanding about the national education philosophy,” the Isma chief told Malay Mail Online via text message.
“[Does] the ministry actually have a specific way of measuring how a school can be too Islamic? Or it merely concede(s) to demands made by the non-Muslims?”
Abdullah Zaik argued further that Islam is integral in ensuring national schools produced morally righteous graduates.
His deputy Datuk Aminuddin Yahya, on the other hand, called for stronger Islamisation of national schools.
He claimed that the lack of Islamic education in schools has caused much of today's social problems, citing liberalism and pluralism as examples.
“Much of the problems we have today like the deviant teachings of liberalism and pluralism is caused by the lack of religious education, not excess of it.
“We should strengthen Islamic teachings instead,” he told Malay Mail Online.
Aminuddin also said Mahdzir's statement gave a negative portrayal of Islam and could open the religion to attack.
“It is regrettable. We want him to retract his statement,” the Isma leader added.
On August 9, news portal Free Malaysia Today reported Mahdzir as saying that Malaysia is a modern Muslim nation and would not see national schools becoming “too Islamic”, without elaborating on its definition.
The minister had been asked if national schools were becoming too Islamic, supposedly mentioned by a former member of the National Education Advisory Council, Prof Teo Kok Seong.
The academic reportedly cited research by the National Education Advisory Council showing that non-Muslim parents were uncomfortable with the level of religiosity in national schools, such as Islamic recitations during school assemblies.
In response, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) applauded the education minister’s recent remarks, saying that national schools should not be dominated by a single religion but reflect instead the country’s “secular constitutional character”.
