Rep voices out wish for Demak Laut to have tahfiz school

Dr Hazland (front, centre) hands over the fund to a representative of a mosque in Demak Laut state constituency. — Photo by Matthew Umpang

KUCHING (March 28): Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni hopes that his state constituency would one day have a ‘tahfiz’ school that would produce prominent ‘hafiz’ in the future.

He highlighted this in his speech prior to joining the guests in ‘buka puasa’ (break-of-fast), followed by Maghrib, Isya and tarawih prayers at Penview Convention Centre (PCC) Demak here on Sunday.

The Demak Laut assemblyman said many places in Sarawak had produced outstanding ‘hafiz’ and ‘hafizah’, known not only at state- and national-level, but also internationally.

“I went to Bintulu recently, where I met many accomplished ‘hafiz’, some of whom have represented Malaysia in many international ‘tilawah and hafazan’ (Quran reciting and memorisation event), and some are going to represent the country soon,” he said.

In Islamic terminology, a tahfiz is a religious institution where the core syllabus is the teaching of the Quran and the Sunnah (ways of the Prophet Muhammad).

The name derives from ‘tahfiz’, which means ‘to memorise’ in Arabic – specifically the over 6,000 ‘ayat’ (verses) in 114 ‘surah’ (chapters) throughout the 30 ‘juzuk’ (parts) of the Holy Quran.

Any student or man who is verified to have completed the whole memorisation process would be known as ‘Al Hafiz’ (The One Who Memorises) – ‘Al Hafizah’ if it is a girl or a woman.

Adding on, Dr Hazland believed that the reason why Bintulu could produce so many outstanding hafiz was that the district had its own tahfiz, dedicated to the study of the Quran.

“I hope to build one in my constituency, as there’s no full-fledged dedicated tahfiz in Demak Laut.

“We do have houses that hold ‘tahfiz’ classes or sessions in Demak Laut, but we need at least one dedicated place and have it given an institute status.

“I am open to input and suggestions from the constituents as ways to go about this,” he said.

Commenting on development in Demak Laut, Dr Hazland said he would always be attentive to the needs of the local communities, including matters relating to faith.

“In this respect, the attention in terms of development would be on cemeteries, mosques and suraus, as well as housing estates.

“One of them is the new Muslim cemetery at Sungai Bako, adjacent to the SK Chung Hua, covering 60 acres.

“We also plan to apply for another land for a new cemetery in the Tanjung Bako area, also around 60 acres,” he said.

Dr Hazland also spoke about four housing projects, of which two had received greenlight, one in the process of obtaining one, and another set to get approval this year.

At a simple ceremony held after the prayers, Dr Hazland presented allocations amounting to RM245,000 to 11 mosques and eight suraus in Demak Laut.

Each mosque received RM15,000, while each surau was given RM10,000.

The ‘buka puasa’ and prayers event at PCC was organised by Demak Laut state constituency service centre.

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