Ex-DG of govt’s Islamic think tank says ‘unreformed’ Jakim has strayed from halal objective
“First of all, it’s a bakery. What it does is it makes food items, it serves food. Whether or not you put ‘Merry Christmas’ or whatever it is, the ingredients of that food will tell you whether it’s halal or not.”
(Malaysia Now) – Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas says the rule contradicts a fatwa issued by the current religious minister that Muslims should extend Christmas greetings.
The former head of the government’s top Islamic think tank has described a directive prohibiting the display of Christmas and other religious greetings at halal-certified outlets as “illogical”, saying the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) has gone overboard after the previous government failed to make good on its promise to reform the agency.
“They have gone further and further into their error without admitting mistakes,” said Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas, the former director-general of the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim).
“Where are the reforms that Malaysia was so looking forward to when the new government came in?” he asked, referring to Pakatan Harapan’s administration which lasted 22 months.
“We have not even started the reforms, we have not even chiselled away at anything. What happened to the reformation of Jakim? There was supposed to be a reform of Jakim.”
Last week, MalaysiaNow reported about a bakery’s refusal to write “Merry Christmas” on a cake as this could violate conditions imposed by Jakim’s halal certification division.
The cake shop instead apologised to the customer and replaced the greeting with “Happy Holidays”.
But Syed Ali said there was no logic to the move.
“First of all, it’s a bakery. What it does is it makes food items, it serves food. Whether or not you put ‘Merry Christmas’ or whatever it is, the ingredients of that food will tell you whether it’s halal or not.”
He said he would not have accepted the excuse given by the cake house.
