KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — The freedom of religion in Malaysia does not mean that one is free to propagate any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said this matter had continued to be the hot topic of discussions among many quarters despite the fact that it was enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

"Maybe what needs to be discussed is the dispute on Article 11 which states that every person has the right to profess and practice his religion, but the caveat to Article 11(4) clarifies that there is a restriction for the propagation (of non-Islamic religions to Muslims). That is probably the issue for debate,” he said in reply to Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said (BN-Kuala Krau) during question time.

Ismail had wanted to know the government’s response to Human Rights Commission’s (Suhakam) criticism on the recent arrest of 50 individuals including children from the Shiah minority group in Kelantan which they claimed had denied the group of their basic constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Mujahid said the ministry was open to suggestions and opinions, including from Suhakam, in religious issues.

"But more importantly, as long as the action (to arrest the 50 individuals) was done according to the law in force, then we will stick to it,” he said.

To a supplementary question from Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) who wanted to know the government’s stand on Tommy Thomas’s call for the ban on four books authored by Faisal Tehrani found to have contained Syiah elements, the minister said he was not sure whether its was an official call or just a personal opinion of the Attorney-General.

"Like I said before, all quarters have the right to give their opinions, but at the end of the day, the determining factor will be the country’s laws and principles,” he added. — Bernama