Malaysia to have syariah index

(The Star) – Malaysia will be the first country to have a syariah index as a benchmark to determine if the country is fulfilling the objective of Islamic principles, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib said he informed the Umno Supreme Council that the Government would launch the Malaysian Syariah Index on Feb 10 in conjunction with the majlis perdana ulama-mubarak 2015.

“We hope this index will be adopted and used by other Islamic countries,” he said at Menara Dato Onn.

He said Umno was committed to elevating Islam and syariah in line with the party’s constitution, adding that this had been a commitment which had always been fulfilled by the party but there was no benchmark previously.

Najib said the index was formulated by the International Islamic University (UIA) because the Government wanted the involvement of an independent third party.

Najib said the benchmarking on the objective of syariah (Maqasid Syariah) includes religion, life, mind, ancestry and property, adding that the index would be applied to education, the economy, infrastructure and environment, law, health, politics, culture and social.