Behave Religious Affairs Minister Tells Celebrity Preachers

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Religious affairs minister Zulkifli Mohamad has  proposed to conduct an in-depth study on religious reality TV programmes.SEPANG: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli Mohamad has reminded celebrity preachers to maintain good behaviour and morals to avoid controversy and give a bad name to Islam.
This comes after sex crime reports involving a celebrity preacher.
Zulkifli said although he supported any preaching efforts, bad behaviour could change the public’s perception of Islam.
“We hope that in 2021 we will not face any more such issues,” he said in a meeting attended by over 100 celebrity preachers, including the former participants of Islamic missionary reality television programmes, such as Pencetus Ummah, Da’i and Imam Muda.
Earlier, preacher Syed Shah Iqmal Syed Mohammad Shaiful, 24, known as Da’i Syed, had pleaded not guilty in separate courts in Petaling Jaya to charges of committing unnatural sex and using criminal force on a private college student with intent to outrage her modesty two months ago.
Zulkifli also proposed to conduct an in-depth study on reality TV programmes.
He also spoke of the need to have a background in Islamic studies as a prerequisite before participants join similar programmes in future.
Yesterday, Mahmood Zuhdi Ab Majid, chairman of the National Dakwah Council, had said there was a need to review the effectiveness of Islamic reality TV programmes, saying that such programmes could also have a bad impact on Islam.
“These (celebrity) preachers are in fact not ustaz. They do not have enough qualifications and knowledge to be labelled as ustaz,” he told FMT. - FMT

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