Islamic Information and Services Foundation and its patron former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced this plan, which is aimed to counter Islamophobia, last month.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) said it is Muslims who should be exposed to the true teachings of Islam, given the rising involvement of Malaysian Muslims in global terrorism.
"We have to emphasise that non-Muslims have not carried out any acts of terrorism in the name of Islam and thus are not confused," the council said in a hard-hitting statement.
The council also fears that the distribution of the Quran could be a way to propagate the religion to non-Muslims and induce conversions.
When contacted, MCCBCHST said it is releasing the scathing statement with careful consideration following rising complaints of "covert conversions" of non-Muslims to Islam.
In the statement it said there have been complaints of such activities in tertiary colleges and state-backed Muslim organisations are setting targets for Muslim converts.
"The non-Muslims have every right to protect their religion and to alert their children and members of their family of the advances made by the Islamic Information and Services Foundation," it said.
Creating ill-will
Among examples cited is the Hidayah Centre Foundation, which is supported by the Prime Minister’s Department, and reportedly has a target of 3,000 converts this year.
"The role of Jakim, Perkim and Jabatan Agama is well known," it said, noting Jakim's RM800 million budget.
While Article 11(4) of the federal constitution bars propagating to Muslims, it said, but it is no free ticket for Muslims to subject non-Muslims to uninvited propagation.
"Article 11(1) gives every person the right to profess and practise his religion. Therefore he has every right to reject the propagation of other faiths to him…
"MCCBCHST is of the view that the intended distribution of the translated copies of the Quran to non-Muslims is obnoxious as a similar right is not given to non-Muslims."
It also raised concern of "inducement" ,which include monetary support by the state to new Muslim converts which is an offence under Section 298A.
The Section criminalises acts causing ill-will and disharmony on grounds of religion.
Further, it said, non-Muslims may be open to prosecution if copies of the Quran distributed contained words which most states ban non-Muslims from using.
The Bible Society of Malaysia was under investigation for housing copies of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia and Iban which use the word 'Allah', which a Selangor enactment bans non-Muslims from using.
The law does not state whether non-Muslims can use these words if they are printed in an Islamic text like the Quran.
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