PM announces set up of M'sian syariah index panel 
MalaysiaKini.com
Feb 10, 2015 

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today announced the setting up of the Malaysian Syariah Index Governance Panel.
        
Announcing this at the launching of the Malaysian Syariah Index during the Majlis Perdana Ulama-Umara in Putrajaya, he said the special committee would comprise distinguished figures and experts in areas such as policy, syariah, index and Islamic economy, and representative of an Islamic NGO.
        
"This body is given the power to evaluate the level of commitment of all those involved in making the maqasid syariah (objectives of Islamic law) implementation agenda a success," Najib (left) noted.
        
The nine-member panel is chaired by Professor Emeritus Dr Abdul Shukor Husin.

The other members of the panel are Prof Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin as its deputy chairperson I, Aidit Ghazali (deputy chairperson II), Othman Mustapha (vice-chairperson I), Jailani Ngah (vice-chairperson II), Shukry Md Salleh (policy panel expert), Prof Dr Abdul Samat Musa (syariah panel expert), Prof Dr Mohammad Said Zainol (index panel expert) and Senator Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki (Islamic economy panel expert).       

Najib said several important measures would be undertaken for systematic and more efficient implementation and monitoring of the syariah index, including briefing and information programmes on the index so that the public would know about it and be aware of the government's seriousness in this effort.
        
Studies to be conducted 

Studies would also be conducted to gauge the community's perception and their satisfaction on the level of syariah compliance with regard to government policies and programmes, he added.
        
Najib noted that idea generation programmes with the various stakeholders would also be held to improve on the government's efforts so that syariah compliance would become a culture of collective practice.
        
He said well-arranged efforts would be undertaken together with the relevant ministries and agencies so that their performance could be assessed, whether having met the maqasid syariah requirements, just like the government checking on the key performance indicators of each of its ministries and agencies.
        
Najib stressed that the government would table to the people, a full report of the Malaysian Syariah Index, when fully completed.

He pointed out this was because, a preliminary study done by the Syariah Index Technical Committee showed that there were still many government policies and follow-up programmes that were syariah-compliant, but not measured yet.
        
"Therefore, in efforts to heighten the syariah-compliance of government policies, those policies that were not labelled as Islamic but still in tune with Islamic values need to be taken into consideration for a more accurate and comprehensive assessment," said Najib.
        
He also emphasised the importance of the Malaysian Syariah Index to encompass every sector, field and component that help shape a developed and progressive nation.
        
"If we don't start now, we fear that we will lag far behind other countries even after achieving developed-nation status," he said.

- Bernama 

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