KUALA LUMPUR: After serving as the sole minister in charge of religious affairs for the past year, Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar is relieved that he now has a deputy to assist him in championing Islamic values.
Mohd Na’im thanked the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for appointing academician Dr Zulkifli Hasan as the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs).
"Since a year has passed, I have a duty as a religious minister and let’s do our best in our efforts to uphold Islamic values,” said Mohd Na’im to reporters at the new Menara Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP or Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council) on Tuesday (Dec 12).
The launching ceremony was graced by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.
Zulkifli, was born in Tanjung Malim, Perak, in June 1977 and had been a senior lecturer at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia's (Usim) Syariah and Law Faculty since 2004.
The 46-year-old holds various academic positions such as the legislation editor for the Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law; and on the syariah panel for Usim's Institute of Fatwa Management and Research.
He is also a journal reviewer for the International Journal of Business and Finance Research and International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management.
Zulkifli obtained his law and syariah degree from International Islamic University Malaysia before completing his Master of Comparative Laws at the same university.
He later pursued a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Durham in the United Kingdom.
Anwar announced a new Cabinet consisting of 31 ministers as well as a line-up of 29 deputies.
