KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Islam is a "perfect" religion and does not require anyone to come to its defence, PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar said as Muslim hardliners rally to champion their creed in a rising storm seen to threaten the peace long enjoyed in multi-religious Malaysia.

Religious tension between the Malay-Muslim majority and other religious minorities have been on a simmer for the past few years but bubbled briefly last week after the Vatican's envoy, Archbishop Joseph Marino, commented on a Christian claim to "Allah", which Islam's followers here see to be their exclusive right.

A recent proposal to introduce Islamic and Asian Civilisations Studies (TITAS) as a mandatory subject in private institutes of higher learning has also raised alarm among mainly-Chinese political parties, DAP and MCA, and prompted a political analyst to question Putrajaya's bid to foist "ketuanan Islam" (Islamic supremacy) on a multicultural population.

"I believe Islam is perfect; you don't need to protect it," Nurul Izzah (picture) told The Malay Mail Online in an exclusive interview here yesterday.

"How do you protect it best? By being the best example of a human being," the PKR vice-presiden said.

Several right-wing Muslims have demanded Putrajaya eject the Holy See's first ambassador to Malaysia for expressing views they deemed provocative and an insult to Islam.

In his first media interview here last Thursday, Marino observed that the “Allah” storm that has been raging here for the past five years was unique to this Southeast Asian nation due to the widespread use of the Malay language, the lingua franca of Malaysia’s Bumiputera Christians.

He indicated that the local churches have presented a “logical and acceptable” argument to counter the allegations by some hardline Muslims here that “Allah”, a word of Middle Eastern origin, was exclusive to Islam.

Marino has since apologised for his statement, after he was hauled up by Wisma Putra.

Nurul Izzah is no stranger to religious controversy, having come under fire from conservative Muslims incensed by her "no compulsion in religion" remark at a public forum last November.

The Lembah Pantai MP revealed that she had been called up for questioning by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) two weeks ago over the flap.

She was "pleasantly surprised" by the experience, saying the matter went "all right" but did not elaborate except to urge the Selangor state authority to engage further with Malaysians.

Nurul Izzah said that religious issues are a "concern".

"I love Malaysia, I love the fact that it's so diverse, but with the lack of leadership, we are not going to go anywhere," said the 32-year-old lawmaker.

"It's not so much religious rift or differences, it'll always be there, I think," she added, and stressed the need for greater dialogue to promote understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims instead of for each group to resort to attacks to defend their respective faiths.

The eldest daughter of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also said she did not see anything wrong with Islamic studies being made compulsory in private tertiary institutions if it was to promote mutual understanding, although she did not go as far as her party colleague Rafizi Ramli in supporting the move.

"But when this is happening in the middle of controversy involving the Vatican envoy, it looks like you're trying to pin down and subvert other people in this country," she said.

"Why isn't the prime minister saying anything?" Nurul Izzah questioned, referring to Datuk Seri Najib Razak.