KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Proponents of liberalism and pluralism aim to destroy Malaysia’s traditional Islamic legal system in the name of human rights, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today, claiming the existence of a real threat against Islam in the country.

Muhyiddin said the “creeping” ideas of liberalism and pluralism is clearly reflected in the actions of certain parties emboldened enough to question the authorities of state Islamic institutions and its fatwas (edicts).

He did not identify the parties.

“We must educate the people about the threats posed by the ideas and philosophy of postmodernism especially of the liberalism and religious pluralism stream which aims to dismantle all institutions, especially of religion,” he said in his opening speech to a forum on Islam here.

“In Malaysia this ideology is now creeping when certain quarters dare question the authority of the religious institutions, particularly the fatwa institutions and the (Islamic) courts,” Muhyiddin added.

The deputy prime minister’s allegations echoes the sentiment shared by hardline Islamic groups who claim the existence of a Western-led conspiracy to destroy Islam using the guise of human rights.

“There are quarters who are blatantly urging the abolition of the Islamic legal system which has been practiced long in Malaysia because it is said to be in violation of human rights,” Muhyiddin said.

Just last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak made similar accusations — that Malaysia and Islam were under attack by moral nihilism under a new ideology he termed as “human right-ism” and called on Malaysian Muslims to “hold on to moderation”.

Najib’s remarks drew criticism that his government was not serious in rolling out political reform that he pledged in the run-up to the general election last year.

But just days after he made the speech, Najib issued a statement pledging his administration’s commitment to human rights in what was seen as an attempt to contain the damage caused by his earlier remark.

Last Tuesday, national news agency Bernama reported Najib as saying that Islam is under threat from “human rightism, liberalism, secularism and humanism”.

Late last month, the president of Malay-Muslim group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, said labelled liberalism, liberty, equity and human rights as “godless and faithless” ideologies from the West with no place in Islam.