What’s halal or haram should be left to Fatwa council, says Perak MB

IPOH: What is halal or haram should be left to the Fatwa council’s jurisdiction, says Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad

The Perak Barisan Nasional chairman said politicians should stop meddling in these matters and should not make statements which could confuse voters.

“We have the Fatwa Council to determine halal and haram matters. When people who don’t have any knowledge give opinions that are related to these matters, it could confuse people,” he said.

Saarani said this when speaking to reporters after attending the launch of the Geospatial Aspiration programme at the state secretariat building here on Monday (Sept 4).

On Saturday (Sept 2) night, Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that it is “haram” or sinful to vote for Suhaizan in the Pulai by-election.

Muhyiddin had said;”do not give even one vote to Suhaizan Kayat, the ex-(Johor) speaker. I deem it as haram.

Saarani, who is also the Perak Mentri Besar, advised politicians to be mindful when talking.

The by-election for the Pulai parliamentary seat and Simpang Jeram state seat are being held following the death of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub who was respectively the MP and assemblyman for the seats.

Pakatan’s Suhaizan is in a three-cornered fight against Perikatan’s Zulkifli Jaafar and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi.

Pulai is a mixed seat with Malays making up 44.18% of the total 166,653 registered voters, followed by the Chinese (40.46%), Indians (12.31%) and other ethnicities (3.06%).

In the 15th General Election held in November last year, Salahuddin had defended the seat and won with 64,900 votes, which gave him a 33,174 majority against Barisan Nasional-Umno’s Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (31,726 votes) and Loh Kah Yong from Perikatan-Gerakan (20,677 votes).