Prime Minister Najib Razak today launched the Malaysian Syariah Index, a set of performance standards that will raise the quality of Islamic governance in the country.
The index, hailed as the first of its kind in the world, will hold Malaysia’s government to a comprehensive suite of syariah requirement yardsticks. The end game for the Syariah Index is for Malaysian society to reflect five aspects of ‘Syariah Maqasid’, a concept that prioritises protection of faith, protection of life, protection of the mind, protection of the race, and the protection of property.
In addition, the index would apply the level of adherence to these five principles on eight different policies of federal governance, namely in the legal, political, economic, education, health, cultural, infrastructure and environment, and social fields.
“We measure and review whether the policies and programs set by the government through the ministries and related agencies met the requirements of the ‘Maqasid Syariah’ (syariah requirement) itself,” Najib told Bernama at the launch of the index in Putrajaya today.
He added that the Syariah Index was based on scientific measurement methods formulated to gauge the Federal Government’s effectiveness in enacting Islamic policies and programs, and to identify possible improvements to governmental policy to better facilitate universal Islamic values.
This way, the Syariah Index would not only give out scores on the quality of Islamic legislation, but also the quality and pervasiveness of its implementation.
“The particular policy may comply with the syariah, but what is important is how the policy is implemented fairly, efficiently and accurately so that the beauty and blessing behind the Maqasid Syariah is more apparent,” Najib said.
