IPOH: Four imams have been suspended and had their allowances withheld after being found not to have read the Friday sermon text prepared by the Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPk).
JAIPk deputy director Zakaria Abd Razak said the incident occurred on Jan 31, and the letters to suspend the imams and their allowances were issued on Feb 6
He said the imams were serving in Parit Buntar, Teluk Intan and Kuala Kangsar districts, reported Astro Awani.
Zakaria added that the department's disciplinary committee, expected to meet at the beginning of Ramadan (early March), would decide the fate of the four imams.
“If there are more cases, we will follow the same procedure, but for now, we have not received any other complaints,” he said to reporters when met after attending the Chinese New Year celebration at the Muhammadiah Mosque, also known as the Chinese mosque, in Ipoh here on Sunday (Feb 9).
Zakaria said that most of the imams' excuses were that the text could not be downloaded for printing.
He added that the four imams were reading the 2023 sermon text prepared by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and sermons from the states of Kedah and Penang instead.
Previously, former Titi Serong Assemblyman Hasnul Zulkarnain Abd Munaim lodged a police report regarding allegations that a preacher at a mosque in Teluk Intan did not read the prepared Friday sermon text.
He claimed to have received information that such incidents also occurred in several other mosques in Perak.
