The Shah Alam Umno division wants a written apology from the Bar Council, the legal profession's governing body with a 10,000-strong membership, before it will consider letting the matter rest.

A Bernama report quoted the division's community service centre chairperson Ahmad Sharizal Jimin as saying that the Bar should apologise in writing if it does not want the issue to be further highlighted or prolonged.

"I'm willing to consider the matter as settled without any official action by the authorities if the Bar issues an apology," he reportedly said in a statement to the national news agency today.

Yesterday, Bar president Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari said the views expressed in the article was the writer's own and did not reflect that of the Bar.

Ahmad Sharizal was reportedly disappointed with the Bar's move to distance itself from the article especially when it appeared in Infoline , the Bar's official publication.

He also regretted Kuthubul's statement that the Bar does not practice censorship of articles on the grounds of championing free speech and press freedom.

"The Bar Council should know better than to hide behind such arguments when its implications could threaten the country," he said.

Yesterday, Shah Alam Umno division committee member Mohd Azhar Othman lodged a report over an article published in Infoline allegedly insulting Islam and Muslims.

The article had allegedly belittled Islam by describing the Muslims' call to prayer, the azan , as 'noise pollution' and thus a nuisance to residents in the vicinity.

'Never an issue'

Contacted today, Yang Pei Keng who contributed the article to Infoline declined to comment and instead left a message for the matter to be referred to the Bar Council.

Yang, a Johor-based lawyer, is well-known as a human rights advocate and works with the country's human rights movements to demand for the abolition of the Internal Security Act.

He is also a member of the Johor Bar newsletter sub-committee and a regular contributor of articles on various issues such as post-Merdeka national education.

Kuthubul could not be reached for further comment today.

Responding to the issue earlier today, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the Muslim call for prayer or azan should not be questioned due to Malaysia's status as an Muslim nation with Islam as the official religion.

Bernama quoted him as saying that the azan had never been an issue with the country's multi-racial society until now.

He said the Muslim community in the country had always respected the religious freedom of others and the government's stand had always been to defend the dignity of other religious beliefs.

Today's Berita Harian quoted Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as requesting all quarters to be tolerant and respectful of every religion in the country in order to avoid any racial or religious clashes.

"We ... the Malays ... the Muslims practice our faith preceded by the azan . We respect the non-Muslims' drum beats, bells and others. They (the non-Muslims), too, should respect (us) when the azan is on," he was quoted as saying.