THE recent ban on Islamic books is because bureaucrats want to maintain a “monopoly” on religion to protect their vested interests, said former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim.

The DAP leader, who was recently slapped with a ban on one of his books, said Putrajaya wanted a “monopoly” on religion and will rebuff any challenge to it. 

Islamic institutions like Jais (Selangor Islamic Religious Department) and Jakim (Malaysian Islamic Development Department) have big budgets, he said.

“Islamic institutions in this country have a lot of money and when you have a lot of money, you have a lot of officers, a lot of directors. 

“You have a lot of perks. You have to defend all these things. You have an interest to keep it going and to make sure others don’t talk about it,” Zaid told The Malaysian Insight.

He then described the ban of certain Islamic books as a symptom of a government that wished to maintain its monopoly on Islamic issues. 

“They would say Islam is threatened. It’s not that Islam is threatened. It is their budget that is threatened.”

Last October, Home Ministry secretary-general Alwi Ibrahim announced that 22 publications were banned in Malaysia because their content could be detrimental to public order, alarm the public, breach existing laws, damage public morals and harm public interest.

Among the banned publications were 10 translations of the Quran in Bahasa Melayu, English, Chinese, Arabic and Korean which did not include the original texts.

Alwi said in a statement the publications could “harm or confuse their readers, especially the younger generation, and are not suitable reading materials for the public”.

Zaid said: “Islam is a very simple, but the bureaucrats want to make it difficult. 

“The political parties also want in on this big business. So, they monopolise religion. So, the politicians and the bureaucrats want a monopoly on this product called Islam. They don’t want anyone else to talk about it. So, they ban books to protect their interests. 

“Because if you look at Malaysia, the signs are here. You expel lecturers or teachers attending forums. Not only that, you have institutes of research with people who are supposed to be interested in knowledge and they are the ones who say we should arrest the teachers and liberals.”

On October 3, the ministry also announced the banning of five books with Islamic content by Turkish author Mustafa Akyol, and two Malaysians – Ahmad Farouk Musa and Faisal Tehrani.

Zaid, who resigned from the Barisan Nasional government in 2008, said the bans show a continuing “trend”. 

“It is a very unfortunate development. It is worrying. We have people who are afraid of ideas. These people are dangerous. 

“We’re not talking about spirituality here. Because spirituality is something you cannot measure. But these people behave like they’re God’s spokesmen. 

“It is a sign that something bad is about to happen when you start banning books.”

Zaid defended his own book, which was banned last month.

“The book is not about anything difficult. It’s about public policy. It’s how they bring religion into politics and the ramification of that. It shouldn’t be sensitive or prejudicial to public order.”

On December 19, the Home Ministry banned Zaid’s book, Assalamualaikum: Observations on the Islamisation of Malaysia.

The ban order, issued in accordance with the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, was signed by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on December 4.

Zaid will be filing a judicial review, adding that previously he believed the ban was recommended by Jakim, and that ministry officials may not have read the book before issuing the order.

“I don’t think politicians read any book. And it’s not just politicians that decide (what gets banned). It’s the bureaucrats, the Islamic civil servants in certain institutions. They are the ones who push for the bans.

“I’m not saying no books should be banned. There are books that perpetuate hatred or racist agenda. Books that threaten the security of society. Yes (they should be banned). But you must give your reasons. You must be given the opportunity to talk about the book. The process can’t be (done in) one day after somebody just signs an order.”

Last year, Malaysia ranked 144th (out of 180) in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. – January 4, 2018.