SHAH ALAM, 18 Dec: The State Government will not prevent any celebrities who want to present talks or short religious talks as long as they meet requirements specified by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS).
Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that the State Government feels that artists should be given the chance as they have the charisma to attract the attention of society.
He said that the artists’ recognition is to attract young people to be closer to Islam and at the same time enliven the atmosphere in mosques and suraus.
“If before this they were not allowed to, now we are accepting it because we know that they have noble purposes. They can do it in their own manner.
“As a Muslim, the responsibility to remind each other is a huge responsibility, therefore it is not wrong for them to be given a chance as long as they comply with the terms set by JAIS,” he told reporters after officiating the Artists Love Islam Assembly (HAIS) programme.
Around 50 artists including actors, singers, writers, directors and musicians participated in the programme.
Among them were Diana Amir, Yatt Hamzah, Noryn Aziz, Heliza Helmi, Ashraf Muslim, Irma Hasmie, Aziz M.Osman, Bob Lokman, Azmil Mustafa and Siti Nurdiana.
The inaugural program organised by the JAIS Missionary and the Standing Committee of Education, Higher Education and Human Capital Development under the Selangor Ideal Generation Secretariat (GEMS).
Also present were the Deputy Director of the State Islamic Religious Department, Ahmad Zaki Arshad and Standing Committee of Education, Higher Education and Human Capital Development Exco, Dr Halimah Ali.
The one-day programme which started at 8am till 5pm was to provide space for practitioners of the arts to learn rules of proper preaching so that they are able to persuade young people to practise the teachings of Islam in order to create a society based on Islamic law.
Among the activities was a dialogue session entitled the Rise of Islam Era, Where Are Celebrities?, Celebrity VS Dai’e and discussions of work papers, introduction to celebrity missionary ambassadors, Celebrity Ta’aruf and declarations from celebrity representatives.