Selangor eases restrictions on non-Islamic places of worship following criticism

MALAYSIA: The Selangor state government has amended its controversial planning guidelines by abolishing height restrictions on non-Islamic houses of worship and allowing such premises to be built on commercial, industrial, and institutional land.

The revision came after intense backlash from interfaith councils like the MCCBCHST, civil movements, and political leaders.

The amendments, the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) says, were informed of the changes in a meeting between the state government and religious groups.

The meeting was chaired by exco Ng Sze Han, who is the co-chairman of the Special Committee for Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, and Taoist Religious Affairs (Limas).

CCM also said that the amended Selangor State Community Facilities Planning Guidelines and Standards 2025 will also provide greater flexibility for access roads and setback requirements for non-Islamic houses of worship, subject to the approval of local authorities and Limas.

For new Selangor developments with at least 5,000 residents, developers must allocate 1.5 acres of land for non-Islamic houses of worship, complete with proper access roads, water, and electricity. Limas will mediate any related disputes. These guidelines apply exclusively to Selangor and take effect immediately as of June 2026.

Controversy erupted over Selangor’s draft planning guidelines (the Selangor State Planning Guidelines and Standards for Community Facilities) due to highly restrictive, unworkable rules proposed for non-Muslim places of worship.

The guidelines strictly prohibited new non-Muslim worship spaces in commercial zones and banned the conversion of existing shoplots into houses of worship.

The rules required one non-Muslim house of worship for every 5,000 residents. Critics pointed out that this demanded a land area the size of 100 acres, making it virtually impossible to fulfil.

The guidelines capped non-Muslim buildings at roughly 72 feet (21.9 metres) and dictated that they could not exceed the height of any mosque in the same or nearby development area.