Jakim: We merely advised Puspal on concert timing

The Islamic Development Department (Jakim) is not responsible for approving entertainment events and merely advises on whether there is an issue from an Islamic perspective, said the body.

This was in response to the shifting of the timing of a concert featuring Indian singer SP Balasubrahmanyam due to its clash with the eve of Awal Muharram.

The Aug 31 concert, which was scheduled initially to begin at 7pm, had its time changed to 3pm.

"Jakim is not the approving authority for applications to organise such events, Jakim only gave its views to the Central Agencies Committee for Applications for Filming and Performances by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) from a religious perspective regarding the suitability of the event," said the department in a statement today.

Jakim emphasised that it is Puspal, which was appointed by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, that makes decisions concerning the organisation of events involving foreign performers, and that it was simply giving its advice.

“Jakim’s views are in line with the position of Islam as the religion of the federation and we provided advice to Puspal which has absolute power to approve or otherwise based on existing laws and guidelines,” it said.

Jakim added that the decision was made through a consensus.

Promoters Raaghav Production had on Sunday announced that its concert slated for Aug 31 had its time changed to observe the Maal Hijrah (Awal Muharram) prayers later in the evening.

In its Facebook post at the time, Raaghav Production said: "Puspal and Jakim have raised (concerns) that conducting the show after 7.30pm might cause uneasiness among the Muslims which could lead to racial controversies."

Yesterday, Raaghav Production managing director J Dinesh Kumar explained that it was normal to begin ticket sales before the timing for the event is approved by the authorities.

Dinesh said they had done the same thing last year without any issues.