KUCHING: All Muslim cemeteries in Sarawak have been urged to set up a management committee so that all the land at the cemetery can be considered as an endowment (wakaf), said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs and DBKU) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi.
He said gazetting the land, especially the undocumented ones, would ensure that the graves comply with the specifications according to the guidelines issued by the Sarawak Mufti Department.
“We have instructed all cemetery management committees to register with the Sarawak Islamic Council (MIS) since 2016. This is to prevent the land at the cemetery from being claimed by any parties,” he said before officiating at the symbolic earth- breaking ceremony of the Semariang Islamic Cemetery Complex (SICC) here at Ma’had Tahfiz Tun Abdul Rahman Ya’kub (MATTARY) on Thursday (Dec 24S).
The council, he added, had faced difficulties when some landowners refused to endow the land for cemetery purposes.
“Out of the 343 Muslim cemeteries in Sarawak, only 36 percent have been endowed,” he revealed.
Abdul Rahman added that the council would conduct its first meeting with all cemetery management committees in January next year.
The establishment of the SICC, he said, was a significant recognition of Muslim cemetery management as a professional career.
