Eastern Region News March 01, 2008 22:23 PM Government Committed To Islamic Law, Won't Affect Other Faiths - PM KUALA TERENGGANU, March 1 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government is committed to implementing the Islamic law in a comprehensive manner without affecting the interests of other faiths in the country. The Prime Minister said Islam was in fact capable of becoming an instrument in the development of its followers in the various fields including science and technology. "If the religion can be used as a method of raising the spirit of the Malays to achieve progress, then what's wrong if we adopt it. Muslims with knowledge can achieve tremendous success. We can prove this by strengthening our faith through the teachings of the Quran to become excellent, glorious and distinguished. "The position of Muslims who are perceived as trouble-makers and a liability, we don't want this perception to be held by the Muslims themselves," he said when addressing the Conference of Terengganu Religious Leaders 2008, here today. The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, is on a one-day working visit to Terengganu. Also present at the function attended by about 500 religious figures in Terengganu was Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh. Meanwhile, Abdullah said Terengganu, where Muslims form the majority of the population, had implemented various approaches and Islamic syariah which had helped the state to achieve rapid progress within a short span of time. He said the efforts taken by the Terengganu government in churning out Islamic thinkers or `Ulul-Albab' and erecting the Islamic Civilisation Park, for example, showed that the Malays could progress on par with the other races. "We can see this example. Furthermore, it happens in an area where the majority of its population are Malays and generally perceived to be incapable of progressing and developing. "(But), Terengganu, which is considered to be less successful in fields such as education, science and technology in the past...the people of Terengganu have now succeeded, thanks to new ideas. "With the potentials that the people of Terengganu have, they can overcome various problems and will start a new change to turn the state into one of the most developed in Malaysia, Insya-Allah," he said. Meanwhile, speaking at a gathering with the Chinese community and the launch of the Sekolah Menengah and Rendah (C) Chung Hwa Wei Sin development project here, Abdullah said the BN government upheld the principles of solidarity and consensus which had been key to the party's success in developing the country. He said although there were differences in opinion on certain issues, especially those concerning the interests of the various races, these could be resolved because of the solidarity spirit. Citing the example of the issues on the Chinese and Tamil national type schools previously, he said these issues were resolved amicably by Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting and MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. "The issues on Chinese education are not as bad as before, we resolved them because we are good friends, we said together that it's alright, we can raise our voice, but at the end we solve the matter," he said at the function organised by the Terengganu Special Affairs Department. After the function, Abdullah and his wife returned to the federal capital. -- BERNAMA