THE book “Breaking the Silence: Voices of Moderation - Islam in a Constitutional Democracy” published by G25 has been banned after the government deemed it to be “prejudicial to public order”.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers e-Federal Gazette said the ban was made law today after Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi authorised the ban on the book on June 14.

“The printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution or possession of the publication which is likely to be prejudicial to public order, likely to alarm public opinion and likely to be prejudicial to public interest is absolutely prohibited throughout Malaysia,” said the e-Federal Gazette.

G25’s Noor Farida Ariffin told The Sun she was shocked by the ban, which she called an  “act of  repression”.

“This book consists mainly of academic articles by leading academics, prominent lawyers and progressive Islamic scholars. I don’t see any of the articles as being prejudicial.

“In fact, it is meant to encourage debates about the Islamic religion,” she said.

The 22 writers of the book are constitutional scholar Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, Just World director Dr Chandra Muzaffar, Universiti Malaya law professor Azmi Sharom, and former Sisters in Islam executive director Ratna Osman.

G25 is a group of 25 Malay-Muslim leaders whose goal is to preserve the basic rights of freedom of expression and worship while recognising Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country with Islam as the official religion. – July 27, 2017.