Zahid the man of religion
By ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN
The Star, Wednesday, 02 April 2008
IT MAY have come as a surprise to some but not Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, when he was appointed as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department with the responsibility of managing religious affairs.
Zahid believed his religious background was a factor in Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi selecting him for the task.
Zahid's parents Raden Ahmad Tarmidzi Raden Abdul Fattah and Tuminah Abdul Jalil were adamant in ensuring he had a good religious upbringing. Born in Bagan Datoh, Perak, on Jan 4, 1953, he pursued his secondary school education in a religious school in Ipoh, SMA Izuddin Shah.
As a matter of fact Zahid's grandfather Raden Ahmad, who was born in Jogjyakarta in Indonesia, was a mudir or director of a tahfiz (Quran-reading) school in Bagan Datoh and also taught at religious schools and mosques there.
"My father also studied religion and was well-liked by Syeikh Abdullah Fahim, who was the mudir of Madrasah Idrisiah in Kuala Kangsar."
"Syeikh Abdullah, who is the Prime Minister's grandfather, was later appointed as the Penang mufti and brought my father along to study at a madrasah in Kepala Batas near his home," he added.
Zahid said it was not a problem for him whether people categorised him as a "modernist Muslim" or a "conservative." ...
Ini tambahan maklumat yang diberi dari keluarga terdekatnya.
Ayah Dato Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Raden Ahmad Tarmidzi Raden Abdul Fattah adalah seorang guru Kemas. Bapa saudaranya, Ustaz Zabidi juga seorang pengajar ugama di sebuah sekolah rendah agama rakyat. Kedua-dua mereka belajar di Madrasah Idrisiyah, Kuala Kangsar.
Dikisahkan Sheikh Abdullah Fahim, Dato Pak Lah mengajar seketika di Madrasah terebut sebelum dipanggil balik ke Pulau Pinang untuk menjadi Mufti Pulau Pinang. Dari laporan berita itu, Zahid memberitahu ayahnya ikut ke Kepala Batas untuk terus berguru.
Itu sedikit sebanyak kisah ayah dan bapa saudaranya.
Pembelajaran formal Zahid adalah di Sekolah Menengah Agama Izuddin, Ipoh hingga ke Tingkatan 5. Kemudian dia berpindah sekolah biasa untuk Tingkatan 6 di Sekolah Menengah Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang, Selangor. Antara gurunya di sekolah tersebut adalah Tan Sri Cikgu Onn Ismail (sekarang Tan Sri) yang kini menyandang jawatan Pengerusi Tetap UMNO.
Selepas itu, Zahid melanjutkan pelajaran ke Universiti Malaya dan memperolehi ijazah Sastera.
Pekerjaan pertamanya adalah di Overseas Chinese Bangking Corporation (OCBC). Selepas itu, beliau berpindah ke Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). Pekerjaannya antara pekerjaannya di PNB dan menjadi Setiausaha Politik Najib, tidak diketahui.
Beliau dikatakan menyambung pelajaran ke peringkat Sarjana selepas meletak jawatan dari jawatan Ketua Pemuda yang dipegang dari tahun 1996-98. Baru-baru ini, dilaporkan beliau dianugerahkan Phd. Sedikit butiran mengenai kajian Phd Zahid dari tulisan di sini.
Deputy Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been conferred a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Communication by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).Ini semua dibentang untuk memahami latarbelakang Zahid yang politiknya sentiasa membawa imej agama.
He will receive the Phd at UPM's convocation in October, said the university's School of Graduate Studies Deputy Dean Prof Dr Hasanah Mohd Ghazali in a statement here today.
The university senate approved the degree at its meeting on Feb 21. For the Phd, Dr Zahid completed a thesis entitled "Barisan Nasional Manifesto As Agenda for Malay Language Newspaper During the General Election Campaign."
The study was undertaken to identify the usage of BN manifesto as an agenda for the Malay language newspapers namely Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian during the general elections in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995 dan 1999.
