The seizing of the Irshad Manji's book Allah, Liberty & Love , first by the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) and then by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) only exposes the "Napoleons" within the departments, book publisher Ezra Zaid says.

NONE "This issue has now gone beyond the banning of the book, beyond who the author is," the owner-director of ZI Publications said.

"(Their actions) expose the fact that there are Napoleons within these departments who believe they can act in a lawless fashion."

He slammed the two departments for their "distraction" in attempting to frame the issue of Islam being undermined.

"I feel that it is the responsibility of every Muslim to facilitate avenues that allow discussions on differing opinions - but the banning and seizure of books works against this objective," Ezra added, acknowledging that Muslims had differences in opinions.

He further criticised the authorities for having no respect for law and the federal constitution, saying they did not respect that any "deprivation of liberty" could only be done according to the law.

irshad manji book launch 2 Yesterday morning, Jais raided the premises of ZI Publications in Petaling Jaya and seized copies of the Malay translation of Manji's book, while Jawi confiscated seven copies of the book from a bookshop in Bangsar last Thursday.

The Home Ministry early last week banned Manji's book, saying it contravened the teachings of the Quran and the Hadith.

This came several days after the Malay language version of the book hit shelves nationwide.

Ezra was also taken to the Jais headquarters in Shah Alam for questioning yesterday and was later released on a bond of RM1,800 pending further investigations.