Malaysian Minister of Religious Affairs becomes member of Muslim Council of Elders

CAIRO- Dr. Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and the Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, has issued a decree welcoming Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, the Minister of Religious Affairs of Malaysia, to the Muslim Council of Elders as a new member.

Dr. Al-Bakri is considered to be one of the most influential religious and social figures in Malaysia as well as in South East Asia. Having been appointed as Mufti in 2014, he went on to become the first Mufti to serve as a government minister.

Senator Al-Bakri earned a Bachelor's degree in Islamic Sharia from the Islamic University of Madinah in 1989 as well as a Master's degree from the World Islamic Sciences and Education University in Syria in 1995 before attaining his PhD in Fatwa Management from the University Science Malaysia, USM.

He has served on various Fatwa committees in many Malaysian states in the past as well as being a member of the Shariah advisory board at the Central Bank of Malaysia and several other Malaysian banks. He is also a member of the International Shari'ah Research Academy, ISRA, and is on the advisory board of the Hajj Investment Fund.