Non-Muslims should also be allowed to give out their holy books, says civil society group

The move to distribute one million translated copies of the Quran for free should be accepted as a gesture to promote cross-cultural understanding and enhance unity, said a civil society group, pointing out that other religious bodies should also be allowed to do the same.

The Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) co-president Gan Ping Sieu said in the spirit the "principle of mutuality" and for educational purposes, other religious bodies should be encouraged to distribute copies of their holy books or religious literature.

"Despite living alongside each other for close to 60 years since independence, we are shamefully ignorant of each others' beliefs and practices. Such ignorance breeds contempt and suspicion. As a result, we collectively become susceptible to fear-mongers and those who fan religious hatred.

"But if we are grounded on basic knowledge of others' beliefs and traditions, we are less likely to develop prejudice against those who are different from us.

“On the contrary, we may learn to appreciate the beauty in other faiths, which is useful in helping peel off layers of suspicion or prejudice some of us have built up over the years," he said in a statement today.

Gan said government agencies at both federal and state levels should adopt a holistic approach in educating people of all major faiths and their respective histories.

He said such efforts should be in accordance to Article 11 (4) of the Federal Constitution, which allows the state to restrict or control the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.

As such, he said the Attorney-General Chambers can draw up guidelines, after consultation with various religious bodies, on the dos and don'ts of such educational efforts.

This include the correct and respectable way in handling holy books which he said would prevent people to claim ignorance on where to draw the line between "educational" and "proselytising".

He said the relevant religious authorities should also have dialogues with interfaith council – Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) – as well as other religious bodies to find out their grievances and address their concerns.

A message circulated through social media and on messaging app WhatsApp had said non-Muslims should not accept a copy of the Quran because "the minute you do, you will have to fill in a form claiming it just for record purposes, but actually they will track you down and convert you or change your records stating that you are a Muslim”.

“Be reminded that the Quran is their holy book and it’s not to be touched by others and once it’s in our possession we can't dispose (of) it or put it anywhere because it’s considered as a holy book. Please be safe and exercise your rights and politely reject it," the message read.

The message also said the project to distribute a million free copies of the translated Quran had already started in Klang.

But two groups, the Malaysia Reverted Muslims (MRM) and the Islamic Information and Services Foundation which produced translation of the Quran, have both denied handing out the texts to non-Muslims in Klang.

On February 9, the MCCBCHST urged non-Muslims not to accept the free Qurans.

The council said it rejected the project aimed at reducing misconceptions and Islamophobia.

It added that the actual intention appeared to be propagation of Islam and while Malaysia's laws did not allow non-Muslims to proselytise to Muslims, there were no laws banning Muslims from doing otherwise.

However, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) had said non-Muslims can return copies of the Quran after accepting them and it is also untrue that they will be converted to Islam just by filling up a form.

Race and religious relations have frayed further after the general election GE13 last year when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) blamed its heavy losses on the Chinese minority, fuelled by Malay-Muslim groups that seek more puritanical Islamic laws across Malaysia.

Malay rights groups like Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia had claimed that Malay rights were being threatened but their often inflammatory statements and actions had been denounced by moderate Malaysians, including Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup who had said their actions went against the very values that the nation was founded upon.

Critics have also accused prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak of pandering to conservative views in his party, Umno, so as to remain in power.

Amid worsening race and religious relations in Malaysia, a group of 25 prominent Malays comprising retired high ranking civil officials had published an open letter asking for a rational dialogue on the position of Islam in a constitutional democracy.

Besides garnering support from 22 Muslim activists and 93 civil society groups, the open letter has inspired Malaysians, fed up with fraying race and racial relations, to start similar petitions online. – March 3, 2015.