The Home Ministry has directed the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to review the ban on the book Hadis: Satu Penilaian Semula (Hadith: A re-evaluation).

Author Kassim Ahmad said he has been sent a copy of the letter, dated June 20, from the ministry’s secretary-general to Jakim.

NONE Kassim lauded the move as appropriate, “in accordance to procedure”, and consistent with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s transformation plans.

                    

“So we shall see what the Najib-led government will do with his innovation and transformation,” he said.

The five-chapter book was banned in 1986 several months after it was published because the National Fatwa Council had found that it ‘contains ideas detrimental to the faith of Muslims’.

The book is a compilation of lectures delievered at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Department of Anthropology and Sociology almost three decades ago, and offers a critical take on the Hadith.

Kassim, a former leftist leader turned Umno member, had written to the ministry three months ago, asking for the ban to be lifted and saying that times have changed.

Should be ban be lifted, Kassim said he hopes that he can challenge younger readers to rethink the role of the ulama in society.

“Muslims today in Malaysia and across the world are too (accepting of) Islamic scholars of the four schools of Islam,” he said.

A spokesperson from the Home Ministry, when contacted by Malaysiakini today, confirmed that they had sent a letter to Jakim's research and planning division.

However, the decision to withdraw the ban would depend on Jakim's response.

Related stories

Part 1: Lift ban on my hadith book, urges author

Part 2: Critics have now accepted my views, says Kassim

Tomorrow: 'Najib administration plagued with corruption'