TURKISH author Mustafa Akyol, who was detained overnight in Malaysia, fell afoul of a contentious law which has been used in the past by religious authorities against politicians and anti-establishment voices, said lawyers and an academic.

The law on “tauliah” or accreditation from the religious authorities is a contentious concept, which has been misused and inconsistently applied, they said.

Mustafa was the latest to run afoul of this law, which is present in some form or the other in state religious enactments.

The law requires that those teaching Islam or subjects related to the religion, must first obtain “tauliah” or a document accrediting them to do so, from the state religious department.

Academics and lawyers said its inconsistent use in the past has sparked allegations that the law is misused to gag individuals who have a different opinion on Islam than the religious authorities.

They also questioned that if the law can be used against an academic making a public speech, why has it not been used against politicians talking about Islam or lecturers who teach Islam in universities?

Mustafa was detained overnight and questioned by the Federal Territories Religious Department (Jawi) after he spoke at a roundtable forum organised by Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) titled: “Does freedom of religion open the floodgates to apostasy?”

“I have handled cases where the law was used against people whom the religious authorities disagreed with,” shariah lawyer Faiz Fadzil told The Malaysian Insight.

These individuals have included uztaz or religious teachers, said Faiz, adding that even politicians, such as Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, were not spared.

Those who get charged with not having “tauliah” are not necessarily those who spread deviant teachings either, said Faiz, as there are separate provisions to handle such offences.

Mustafa was detained at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) overnight on Monday by the Immigration Department after an arrest warrant was issued against him when he failed to turn up at the Jawi office on the same day.

Jawi wanted to record Mustafa’s statement for its investigation that he and his host, IRF, had committed an offence under Section 11 of the Syariah Offences Act (Federal Territories) 1997. The provision states that it is an offence to teach Islam without tauliah.

After getting his statement recorded, Mustafa was released yesterday.

Lawyers for Liberty described Mustafa’s arrest as “shocking and unacceptable” as it was not his first working visit to Malaysia.

“His views are well known and well documented and there is nothing to suggest they are a threat to national security and public order or so out of bounds of democratic norms that they become criminal in nature,” said LFL executive director Eric Paulsen.

Assistant professor of Islamic studies Dr Maszlee Malik, who has been a speaker at past IRF events, questioned Jawi’s summons against Mustafa.

This is since neither he nor other previous speakers at IRF forums have been probed by Jawi.

In its statement yesterday, Jawi did not say whether it was calling up the three other academics and experts at the Sunday forum, all of whom also gave speeches on Islam and participated in the question-and-answer session.

Maszlee also questioned whether the law also applied to other public events and settings where religion is discussed or spoken about.

“Does (the law) apply to academics in universities, and to government politicians, such as ministers as well? If they are, we would like to see the level of consistency of the authority in enforcing that law.

“And if it is to be applied to IRF events and their speakers, should it also not be used for the speakers of other events?” asked Maszlee of the International Islamic University.

Faiz, the lawyer, said forums and other public events do not come under the ambit of the law on “tauliah” as it is aimed at regulating uztaz who teach religious classes.

Also, religious departments should either be more accepting towards different views or be more generous in giving out tauliah, Faiz said.

“After all, Islam is a religion based on knowledge and rationality. So, Muslims should be ready to discuss and argue with others of a different view.

“There is so much confusion concerning Islam and young people find all sorts of ideas on the internet. The best way to deal with this is to have open debates so that misconceptions can be corrected.”

Mustafa left Malaysia for the United States last night. He boarded a flight for Istanbul, Turkey at 11.35pm, en route to Boston. – September 27, 2017.