In reply to Dr Abdullah Mohd Zin's letter Free condoms: Gov't right to consult Fatwa Council , I would like to emphatically say that Malaysia is not an Islamic state. Any decent constitutional lawyer can tell you that.

Malaysia is a parliamentary democracy with a Muslim majority population. The objection to the Fatwa Council's involvement in this issue is valid. Where will we draw the line if we have to refer to the Fatwa Council on such matters?

People in PAS and other Islamists will have you believe that Islam is all-encompassing. No secularism in Islam. If that is the case, doesn't it follow that we should refer to the Fatwa Council for our entertainment, economic, foreign policies and other matters of concern to parliament? Where does it end?

No, I say that we should not give the Fatwa Council such arbitrary powers. The Malaysian government cannot simply abandon its responsibility to govern by assigning such matters to the Fatwa Council for 'approval'.

Such Islamic bodies do not have the mandate to decide on government policies. At the end of the day, Malaysian Muslims must be mature and enlightened enough to see that Malaysia does not belong to themselves only. They share it with people of other religious beliefs. The myth of a Malaysian 'Islamic state' has to go.