KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — The Home Ministry has banned a book on Islam authored by G25, a pro-moderation group comprising mostly of former senior civil servants, purportedly for being prejudicial to public order.
The prohibition of the book, titled Breaking the Silence: Voices of a Moderation Islam in a Constitutional Democracy was made under the Printing Presses and Publications (Control of Undesirable Publications) (No 12) Order 2017 and dated July 27, according to a notice on the Federal Government Gazette.
G25 spokesman Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin was baffled by the book ban.
“How can a book containing articles written by respected academics, progressive Islamic scholars and social activists, promoting a moderate approach to Islam and discussing the place of Islam in our Federal Constitution, be considered a threat to public order?” she told Malay Mail Online when contacted today.
The retired judge and a former diplomat pointed out that the book was first published and launched in December 2015.
She said the government should instead support the book because it promotes moderation.
“I have not heard of any incidents of public disorder caused by people who had read the book!” Noor Farida said.
She said the group would most likely ask for an explanation from the Home Ministry and to be shown the offending passage in the book.
“We are discussing our options but rest assured we will not allow this ban to go unchallenged,” she added.
The book, which supposedly speaks on the Islamic bureaucracy in Malaysia and the relations it had with the Federal Constitution, was published by Marshall Cavendish Singapore.
In its notice, the Federal Government Gazette stated that the printing, importation, production, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution, or possession of the publication is likely to be prejudicial to public interest, which is why it is prohibited throughout Malaysia.
