Pengiran Mohammad bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman (born 1948), pen name Zairis M.S., is a Bruneian politician and writer in the

Government of Brunei The Government of Brunei is the union government created by the constitution of Brunei where by the Sultan of Brunei is both head of state and head of government ( Prime Minister of Brunei). Executive power is exercised by the government. Brune ...

whole formerly took office as the second Minister of Religious Affairs from 2010 to 2015, and Deputy Minister of Education from 2005 to 2010.

Education

Awangku Mohammad is born in 1948, at Kampong Menengah of

Temburong District Temburong District (; Jawi script, Jawi: دائيره تمبوروڠ) or simply known as Temburong ('; ), is the second largest and least populated districts of Brunei, district in Brunei. It has an area of and the population of 9,444 as of 20 ...

. He was educated at Sultan Hassan Malay School from 1956 to 1959;

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien College The Sultan Omar 'Ali Saifuddien College (SOASC), natively known as (MSOAS), is a government boys' secondary school in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. It is the first English secondary school in the country. The school is also one ...

in 1959; Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Arabiah Arabic

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 1959;

Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah is a full-time, private Islamic institution of learning in Singapore, one of the six such madrasahs in Singapore. Madrasah Aljunied is one of the oldest surviving madrasahs in Singapore. Through its years, it has ga ...

Singapore from 1960 to 1965; Islamic College of Malaysia from 1965 to 1968; Malayan Islamic College from 1969 to 1970. He obtained his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

, Usuluddin Faculty majoring in

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

from 1975 to 1979;

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Islamic Studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

at the

National University of Malaysia The National University of Malaysia (, abbreviated as UKM) is a public research university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), ...

from 1983 to 1986;

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

at the

University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

from 1987 to 1992.

Career

Pengiran Mohammad's career began as a religious teacher at the Raja Istri Pengiran Anak Damit Arabic Girls' Middle School in 1971. He would go on to serve several other positions such as a religious officer in 1979; Acting Superintendent of

Preaching A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. E ...

and

Tabligh The process of Islamic Tabligh () or conveying or propagation is a major Islamic mission on which Islam has built its existence and identity in human life.

from 1981 to 1983; Senior Religious Officer in 1985; deputy director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs's (MORA) Institute of Islamic Studies in 1991; Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies in 1996; First Dean of the Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Institute of Islamic Studies from 1999 to 2002; and Special Duties Officer (National Education Council)

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

in 2003. In the

2010 Bruneian cabinet reshuffle Hassanal Bolkiah carried out the fourth reshuffle of his Council of Cabinet Ministers, government on 29 May 2010, appointing the first female deputy minister and replacing three ministers. The announcement was delivered during a televised speech ...

, Pengiran Mohammad was appointed Deputy Minister of Education from 24 May 2005 to 29 May 2010; Interim Rector of

Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University The Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA or Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University) is a public research university located in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, established in 2007. As the country’s first Islamic university and second national ...

in 2007. On 29 May 2010,

Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah Muiz'zaddin Wad'daulah (born 15 July 1946) is the List of sultans of Brunei, Sultan of Brunei since 1967, and Prime Minister of Brunei, prime minister of Brunei since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is one ...

, the

Sultan of Brunei The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...

, announced the new cabinet shift and fresh appointments for a second five-year term. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, it was declared in a ''titah'' that Pengiran Mohammad would be in charge of managing the duties of the new Minister of Religious Affairs. He spoke in the UNISSA Auditorium as part of the Center for the Advancement of Knowledge and Language's Special Malay Islamic Monarch (MIB), which was titled "History of the Arrival of Islam to Brunei Darussalam." On 31 July 2015, Muhammad said that one must do the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

according to Islamic requirements in order to have a blessed Hajj. The ministry went on to say that when doing the Hajj, one should be extremely mindful of all rules, pillars, mandates, and prohibited behaviors. To provide instructions on how to carry out various Haj rites, including

Tawaf The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...

, Sa'ie,

Stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...

of the Jamrah, and the proper manner to put on the ihram garment, six Haj practical facilitators have been selected. Following the 2015 Bruneian cabinet reshuffle on 22 October, his tenure as minister came to an end.

Personal life

Pengiran Mohammad is married to Datin Hajah Alimah binti Mohd Taib. Together they have 3 children; 2 sons and 1 daughter (Dayangku Saadatul Hannan). Additionally, his hobbies included

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

and

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

. Despite no official announcement being made, the

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (, Jawi: ), abbreviated DBP, is the government body responsible for coordinating the use of the Malay language and Malay-language literature in Malaysia. History DBP Malaysia was established as Balai Pustaka in Joh ...

website has labeled him as deceased, followed by another 2022 article.

Books

He has co-authored several scholarly works and poetry anthologies alongside other authors and poets. at addition, he represented Brunei at the 10th World Poetry Festival in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, in 2004. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Awards and honours

Pengiran Mohammad has earned the following awards and honours:

Awards

* S.E.A Write Award (30 September 2008) * Islamic Literature Award Finalist (5 November 2008)

Honours

Order of Setia Negara Brunei The Most Blessed Order of Setia Negara Brunei (), also translated as The Most Blessed Order of Loyalty to the State of Brunei, is an Order (decoration), order of Brunei, Brunei Darussalam. It was established on 29 November 1959 by Sultan Omar Al ...

First Class (PSNB) – ''Dato Seri Setia'' (15 July 2011) * BRU_Islamic_Religious_Order_of_the_State_of_Brunei

Order of Islam Brunei The Most Eminent Order of Islam Brunei (), also translated as The Most Illustrious Islamic Religious Order of the State of Brunei, is an Order (decoration), order of Brunei. It was established on 1 August 1968 by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for servi ...

Second Class (DSSUB) – ''Dato Seri Setia'' (15 July 2003) * Excellent Service Medal (PIKB) * Long Service Medal (PKL) * Silver Jubilee Medal (5 October 1992) * Sultan_Hassanal_Bolkiah_Golden_Jubilee_Medal

Sultan_Hassanal_Bolkiah_Golden_Jubilee_Medal

Sultan of Brunei Golden Jubilee Medal (5 October 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammad Abdul Rahman, Pengiran 1948 births Government ministers of Brunei Al-Azhar University alumni University of Malaya alumni National University of Malaysia alumni Bruneian writers Bruneian Muslims Bruneian educators Bruneian royalty S.E.A. Write Award winners Date of death unknown