The 2018 national budget that was tabled by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last month stated that the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) will be allocated RM811 million, which is an increase from 2017’s RM745 million.

Overall, the government has allocated RM1.03 billion for the development and preservation of Islam in Malaysia for 2018. It’s interesting to see how important the religion is to the country just by looking at the amount of money allocated.

But all of the actions taken by Jakim don’t seem to be preserving or developing Islam at all. First of all, they have preachers who don’t seem to understand that Islam is a religion of inclusivity, tolerance and non-compulsion.

Zamihan Mat Zin, the department’s officer and preacher, was recently investigated on charges of sedition after he apparently made a statement saying that the Chinese are dirty and not pure because they did not wash after going to the toilet.

This was in reference to the issue of a laundromat in Johor that had a sign saying that they did not serve non-Muslim customers because of cleanliness issues. The Sultan of Johor eventually put an end to the controversy by saying he would not have any of that in his state.

Currently, there is also a court case going on which involves the usage of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims. Apparently, the authorities think that the word is only reserved for Malay Muslims and Christian publications in Bahasa Malaysia are not allowed to use it.

It’s funny how they think that an Arabic word that means “God” can only be used exclusively by Malay Muslims. It’s funny because in the Arab world, everyone who speaks Arabic, no matter their religion, uses the word “Allah” to refer to “God”.

And the latest news is that Jakim has offered their expertise to Japan in order to assist them during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. What expertise does Jakim have when it comes to sports and the Olympics, you may ask...