Three More Books On Syi'ah Published In Indonesia Banned

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Three more books on Syi'ah teachings, namely "Pengantar Ilmu-Ilmu Islam", "Dialog Sunnah Syi'ah" and "Tafsir Sufi Al-Fatihah" published in Indonesia, have been banned as they were deemed to be against the Islamic practice in the country. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom said the books written by Murtadha Muthahhari, A Syarafuddin Al-Musawi and Jalaludin Rakhmat respectively were banned by the Home Ministry early this month. "In curbing the spread of Syi'ah teachings, the authorities arrested four Syi'ah followers last year for celebrating the birthday of Fatima al-Zahra," said Jamil Khir in his winding-up speech for the debate on the royal address at the Lower House of Parliament here Thursday. He said the Melaka Islamic Religious Department seized 35,000 books and leaflets on Syi'ah teachings when it raided a house believed to be the headquarters of the sect on Aug 25 last year. On apostasy, he said action could be taken based on Article 11 (4) of the Federal Constitution which spelled out that the federal and state constitutions allowed the promulgation of laws to control the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among Muslims. In addition, he said several states had enacted the Control and Restriction of the Propagation of Non-Islamic Religions to Muslim Enactment. The sitting continues on Monday. -- BERNAMA