I refer to the letter Islam is the official religion - don't forget it by Abu Mubarak. There are certain misconceptions in that letter which need to be clarified:

The first has to do with the term 'official religion' as stated in the Malaysian Constitution. Here Reid's Constitutional Commission intended Islam to be used for official government ceremonies (e.g. prayers during the opening of Parliament) to reflect the nature of the dominant religious grouping. Nothing more and nothing less.

There's a big difference between 'Islam is the official religion' and 'Islam is the state religion', which is the term the commission would have used had it intended a wider role for Islam as a state religion - which is clearly not the case.

Unfortunately, the term 'official religion' has been twisted and turned to suit the purposes of those intending to further their own narrow political agenda in arguing that Islam is the state religion of Malaysia.

Neither is there any implicit recognition in the Malaysian Constitution of Islam having 'superior importance above any other religion, in the administration of our country' as Abu Mubarak claims.

Hence there is no intended or implied precedence given to Islam over other religions should there be 'unavoidable conflict between Islam and any other religions' in Abu Mubarak's words.

Islam is indeed the 'official religion' but it is not the state religion.