AS the Pakatan Harapan government settles in, some authors and groups want it to review bans on their books enforced by the previous administration.

These bans were instituted by the Home Ministry under the Barisan Nasional government, known for its conservative Islamist leanings.

Most of the bans were on books by authors like Faisal Tehrani, the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) and Sisters in Islam (SIS), who challenged BN’s interpretation of the religion and its application of shariah law.

Faisal, who is an academic, said he will put in a request with the new government to lift bans on seven of his books.

However, the author, whose real name is Faizal Musa, said he will wait until the dust has settled on the attorney-general’s appointment.

Faisal, who lectures at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said the PH government is newly formed and has a lot of things on its plate.

“I would like to (have the bans lifted), but I think it’s not an important thing to do now because PH has been the government for just three weeks.

“They have been doing a lot of things, especially (pertaining to) 1MDB,” Faisal told The Malaysian Insight, referring to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd financial scandal.

“I will ask my lawyer to apply (for the bans to be lifted). It is in my plans.”

The latest ban on his book was on September 6 last year, when the Home Ministry banned AKU _______, MAKA AKU ADA! (I _______, Therefore I Exist!), published by Dubook Press Sdn Bhd.

The gazette on the ban said the book is “likely to be prejudicial to public order, likely to alarm public opinion, and prejudicial to public interest”.

Faisal’s other books that were banned include Sebongkah Batu di Kuala Berang, Karbala Tiga Kali Seminggu and Ingin Jadi Nasrallah, as they allegedly contain Shia elements.

IRF’s Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa said it will wait for the government to complete its changes to the Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

“We have not appealed to the Home Ministry yet.

“Since the reason given by (former) home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was that the ban was based on a report by Jakim, we are waiting for the changes that will happen in Jakim before we submit our application to the home minister.”

The ministry banned IRF’s Wacana Pemikiran Reformis (Jilid I) and Wacana Pemikiran Reformis (Jilid II) (A Discourse on Reformist Thought, Volumes I and II).

The BN administration had said the publications were “likely to be prejudicial to public order and interest”, and “likely to alarm public opinion”.

The ministry also banned the Bahasa Malaysia and English versions of Turkish author Mustafa Akyol’s Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.

IRF had helped translate the book into BM.

Rozana Isa of SIS said the group’s Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism was banned two years after it was published.

“The banning of books in Malaysia is an arbitrary practice that must end. Such enforcement undermines the public’s intelligence and limits access to knowledge.”

SIS wants the ban on its book, as well as those on IRF and Faisal’s, to be lifted.

“We hope that the new government will acknowledge and give credence to the Malaysian public to decide for themselves what they want or don’t want to read.” – June 9, 2018.