The Malaysian Ministry of Education has launched the ‘Imam Al-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith’ appreciation module aimed at fostering the values of the Prophet Muhammad’s sayings or ‘hadith’ at the school level.
The module will first be implemented at National Religious Secondary Schools (SMKA) and Government Aided Religious Schools (SABK) before being distributed to schools under the Ministry of Education next year.
The country’s Education Minister, Fadhlina Sidek, said the module allowed teachers and students to gain an appreciation for the collection of 40 hadith compiled by Imam Al-Nawawi, especially the values contained within them.
“I have no problem with the values in the hadith being brought to schools and at the same time, we have a great commitment to see our Muslim children truly appreciate the 40 hadith.
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“One of the hadith is ‘Ad Deen An Nasihah’ which means that religion is advice and this is what we want to try to translate when we ask to appreciate the hadith, whereby our challenge today is to ensure that everyone speaks of good, especially in a time when there is a flood of idols and a drought of role models,” she said at the launch of the module.
The launch had attracted criticisms from non-Muslim groups in the country, who described it as unconstitutional.
In a statement, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) said the module espouses the complete Islamic system of life.
But the Education Ministry said the newly introduced Imam Al-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith module in school was intended for Muslim students within public schools only.
The country’s Deputy Education Minister, Lim Hui Ying, confirmed that Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek underscored this distinction during a recent post-cabinet meeting.
“This course only involves Muslim teachers and students. For Chinese and Tamil schools, only Muslim students need to attend, and not non-Muslim students. This is very clear,” Ying said. (Malay Mail)
