It’s not just The Herald and Catholic Asian News that has come under the Home Ministry’s scrutiny.
Two books on Islam including one by the respected group Sisters in Islam (SIS) have been banned. The books were banned because they contained “twisted facts on Islam that can undermine the faith of Muslims”, according to a Bernama report.
I contacted Zainah Anwar of SIS and she told me the book “Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism” was an old one which has been out since 2005. According to her, it was actually a compilation of papers arising from a seminar among Muslim women’s groups from around the region and edited by Norani Othman, an experienced academic and researcher.
This report from Bernama:
Govt Bans Two Books Containing Twisted Facts On Islam
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Bernama) — The Home Ministry has banned two book titles containing twisted facts on Islam that can undermine the faith of Muslims.
Publications and Quranic Texts Control Division principal assistant secretary Abdul Razak Abdul Latif said the titles were banned by a prohibition order under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
The first book entitled “Pelik Tapi Benar Dalam Solat” by Abdul Rahman Mohamed, published by Telaga Biru Sdn Bhd, Jalan Raja Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur and printed by FDZ Design & Communications, Taman Bukit Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Another book title banned is “Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism” by Norani Othman, published by Sisters in Islam, Petaling Jaya and printed by Vinlin Press Bandar Baru Seri Petaling.
– BERNAMA
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I wonder how educated or smart are these people in Publications and Quranic Texts Control Division, able to censor/ban books written/edited/compiled by people with experience. Did they actually read the book, or understand its contents?
Or, do they just read the title, look for keywords that are in their list, and decide accordingly? If that be the case, we should perhaps title all books with positive words, write nice-sounding abstract and foreword. Surely that will work !!
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Can you enlightened me who respect SIS? Is it the liberals, Muslim groups, communist, non-Muslim or whoever that have the same interpretation of Islam with SIS?
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Malaysia is in the habit of banning anything is that has truth, fairness, justice or intelligent discussions in it. The government has no place or does allow people to voice out their opinion especially if it feels it will threaten their position. I have a lot of respect for Sisters in Islam who have the courage to speak out against the injustice towards muslim women. To you, I say, keep up your courage and may God bless you.
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I’m guessing here that the SiS has no idea which part of the book is twisting Islam?
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Only tongue twisting is allowed
Sorry, ‘twisted facts’ are banned
Dancing ‘Let’s twist again’ is followed
By sisters who need to be cooled and fanned
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng – 140808
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Thu. 14th Aug. 2008.
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Nothing suprised me anymore.
Here ban there ban.
BANKRAP punya idea this warlords.
Whoever try to potray the real religion will be ban.
Only the warlords and PAS religion is right.(that also a bit flip flop due to secrect meeting exposed and they are banging each other now)
rajraman.Nothing to say before you ban me.(i wont be suprise if you ban me)
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How weak is a faith that can be undermined by reading books?
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We definitely have freedom of speech in Malaysia
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So this proves that (certain followers of) Islam (are) ignorant, weak & intolerant, no?
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Can someone tell me how many muslims support or even acknowledge this twisted SIS organisation???
These people behind this SIS mask are nothing than just a bunch of unhappy women who fights for their own so called rights.. They never really acknowledge the content of Holy Quran or what the Prophet told. If they do, they would not have come out with the nonsense of fighting for what they called “Muslim women’s rights”.. Do anybody even know how many followers this SIS have??
They are talking nonsense and only been spreading twisted facts about Islam..
The ban suit them to the bone.. In fact, the organisation itself should’ve been ban with it..
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Will the Government of Malaysia banned the following books:
Women In Islam Versus Women In The Judaeo-Christian Tradition
http://www.twf.org/Library/WomenICJ.html
Jesus and the bible
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2731984/Jesus-the-Bible-Rashad-Abdul-Muhaimin
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How many Muslims in Malaysia would support gender equality in Muslim maariages ? Presumably, that is not allowed under Malaysian Islamic interpretation and maybe even considered “twisted”.
UK now provides legal structure for gender equality in Muslim marriages. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2518720/New-Sharia-law-marraige-contract-gives-Muslim-women-rights.html
Are the UK Muslims “twisted”? Or are they progressive with the times ?
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Banning a book that was published in 2005?
A bit late, isn’t it?
Question of the Day: What’s the average IQ of our government censors?
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Phua Kai Lit,
May i anwser your question?
. thats the anwser not even 0.
rajraman.My IQ dont know yet.
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“The books were banned because they contained “twisted facts on Islam that can undermine the faith of Muslims”, according to a Bernama report.”
Are seminar papers a challenge to the Quran?
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Ch. 9 of “Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism” is a paper authored by Hoda Rouhana and titled, “Women Living Under Muslim Laws”
Herewith a relevant excerpt:
“Although sexual orientation does not feature as a
common “transgression” of “honour” in Muslim countries and
communities, we believe that this is a function of the absolute
silence that surrounds alternative sexualities, especially for
Arab women in the region, rather than an indication of
tolerance. In many countries and communities where WLUML
has active networking linkages, women’s organizations have
consciously or unconsciously avoided openly establishing local
initiatives to support the rights of lesbians either because this is
not prioritised or because it is seen as too contentious and
potentially damaging to their advocacy initiatives in areas
affecting wider numbers of women.”
http://www.unicamp.br/pagu/Publicacoes%20do%20Pagu/ColEnc4/colenc.04.a09i.pdf
Doesn’t sound like the author is a faithful adherent of Islam restating the position of Islam on lesbianism, does it? Almost the entire chapter tries to play the western feminist game by establishing a sliver category of violence against women called “Honour Killings” and at the outset of the chapter plays a semantic game by trying to draw a specious distinction between “Muslim Law” and “Islamic Law”.
A common debating trick is to try to establish categories in a manner to which no one can respond with appropriate charges of hypocrisy by pointing out that the author should first pull the log out of his or her eye before commenting on the splinter in someone else’s. By defining the “issue” as “honour killings” rather than treating “violence against women” in general the western feminist Islamophobes who promote the idea of “honour killings” try to insulate themselves from charges of hypocrisy relating to the incredible degree of violence against women in western society that includes far more killings.
Regarding western feminists, I personally recall an instance in 1990 when Israel was beating the mothers of resistance fighters to get the fighters to surrender. Israel has done this all along, but there was some actual – though brief – publicity about it in the western press at the time. I contacted all the dozens of women’s groups at the US university I attended to get them to issue statements of condemnation for this violence against women. These same organizations often whine about the “oppression” of women having to wear hijab, but not even one organization issued a statement rejecting the Israeli campaign of violence against women as a weapon of war.
So the reason the meme “honour killings” has been promoted by western feminists and their “Sisters in Islam” stooges is to avoid having feminists being in a position to possibly have to answer for such hypocrisy.
If someone wants to publish their own support for lesbianism and their opposition for one tiny category in the vast ocean of violence against women, that’s their business, but when an author attempts to promote lesbianism in a context that supposedly represents Islamic values and is published by a group calling itself “Sisters in Islam”; when it tries to draw a facile distinction between Islamic law and Muslim law in an effort to promote Islamophobic views; when it establishes categories to protect their non-Muslim friends and allies; then that’s quite another thing. That’s group slander and there’s no reason why Muslims should have to tolerate it being spoken in his or her name.
Chapter 9 is alone sufficient to ban the book, and if the other chapters have similar bogus content, then the issue is not why did it get banned, but why did it take so long?
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There are much confusion and distortion here regarding the sublime teachings of Islam. For in-depth comprehension of this universal faith, check out the following links:
http://www.islamonline.net/english/index.shtml
http://www.understanding-islam.com/
http://www.islamreligion.com/
Peace and blessings of Allah, the Most Gracious be upon you!
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Umar and Ahmed Siraj,
Alhamdulillah and thank you for the explanation and help… people sometimes just blame everthing that they feel is not right without really understanding the overall context.
Sisters in Islam shouldl be banned from using the word Islam in their name.. thay are just a bunch of secularists. Ya Allah, save our ummah from such blasphemy.
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It is a good thing for SIS to try to uphold and fight for women right. But, don’t fight blindly. There is the reason why Allah revealed Quran to mankind…to be the guidance, the main source of knowledge and rules. If you want to make a critic, at least do your homework properly. Study how the deduction of rules being made. It is not just something that can be based on history, there are methods, ways and steps that you need to follow.
Islam is not a religion that is based on mind / thinking alone. If this is the basis of Islam…it would have already been destroyed. It is based on facts. Facts that you need to study thoroughly. Not just cut and past like doing assignment. So please, think properly.
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