Prime Najib Abdul Razak says Islam should not be politicised by any quarter in this country.

He said Islam should instead be placed at the highest level so that a lot of problems faced by the Muslim community could be overcome.

NONE "We must not politicise the religion as Islam is not politics.

"If politics is made to be above Islam, the Muslim community will be confronted with a lot of problems, causing disunity which today is the source of the community's weaknesses and the enemies of Islam belittling the religion."

Najib said this in his speech at a Quran reciting completion and breaking-of-fast at the Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque at Taman Universiti in Skudai, Johor Baru, today.

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Johor Menteri Besar Abd Ghani Othman and MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek.

Najib said the BN government itself always prioritised Islam in administering the country and adhered to the requirements of the religion.

Administration based on syariah

"We developed our administration based on syariah and that is the Islamic requirement for us and among the five things we have done is looking after Islam, and that is why Malaysia is known as an Islamic country.

"We protect the Islamic faith and character, promote the religion, provide Islamic infrastructure and Islamic law and so on," he said.

The prime minister said the government's success in managing the country well despite facing various challenges was recognised by other Islamic countries to the extent of Malaysia becoming a model successful Islamic nation.

At the same time, he said, the government had never neglected the welfare of the people of this country as it had provided various forms of aid not enjoyed by people in many other countries.

"Last night, I was in Bachok, Kelantan, where I found out that there is even aid for disturbance from wildlife, for instance, you can get aid if you're bitten by a snake. Where else in the world, a government does this?

"This is a government which takes care of the overall welfare of the people, where we want an Islamic concept and the same time, we want progress and development.

"We don't want Islam to be linked to poverty and weakness but to be linked to strength and empowerment because Allah loves people who are successful," he said.

- Bernama