Speaking after a meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons today, he said he agreed with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that there was no issue about abolishing Jakim.
“I agree with Tun (Mahathir) that the issue isn’t about abolishing Jakim, but rather updating and empowering the department.
“Insha Allah, I hope there will be no problems,” he added.
Mahathir said yesterday that the government would ensure Jakim would not portray Islam as a cruel and inconsiderate religion.
In February this year, he said Jakim, set up in 1997 during his previous administration, was never intended to be a tool for Umno to neutralise PAS’ influence among Malay Muslims.
“We wanted to bring the country closer to Islamic teachings so that what we do is not in contradiction to Islamic teachings,” he said.
In recent years, Jakim has been criticised by those who say it promotes extremism and religious intolerance. Its annual budget of close to RM1 billion has also been questioned.
Zulkifli said he had not given any recommendations to the council on how to upgrade Jakim as it was not his role to do so.
He said among the issues he had discussed with the council were interpretations of the Quran.