Prime Minister's Department's religious adviser Abdullah Md Zin said liberalism is as big a threat to Islam as radicalism and terrorism.

He said wasatiyah (moderation) calls on Muslim to take the "middle path" in practising their faith.

He said liberals are those who interpret the Quran on their own and challenge Islamic principles and syariah law.

"They usually bring different views, which while interesting, end up disregarding Islam," he said.

Abdullah said this at a lecture on "The Threats of Liberalism, Radicalism and Terrorism in the Muslim World: Moderation as a Solution" at Hotel Royale Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, today.

Room for discussion

The lecture hosted by Insititut Wasatiyyah Malaysia (IWM) of the Prime Minister's Department was delivered by World Muslim League secretary-general Mohamad Abdul Karim al-Issa who condemned extremists groups such as the self-proclaimed Islamic State, for spreading violence and oppression.

While condemning liberals, Abdullah, however, believes there is room for differing views among Islamic scholars and scholars should stop bickering.

"Not only should they stop bickering, they should stop trying to be champions and thinking their ideas are the only correct ones when there are lots of views on things.

"Why can't we have differing views, and always want to have consensus?" he asked when met by reporters on the sidelines of the lecture.

He said this when asked to comment on Persatuan Ahli Sunnah wal Jamaah Malaysia (Aswaja) president Zamihan Mat Zain who claimed Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and Federal Territories mufti Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri are unqualified as mufti after disagreeing with their views.

Abdullah, however, refrained from directing his comments to anyone.

Avoid public debate

Instead, he recalled his meeting with Turkish Islamic affairs department chief Mehmet Gormez who said that the only thing which should not differ is faith.

"He (Mehmet) said what we must avoid is debate on matters of faith. We shouldn't debate on matters of faith in public because we want to invite people to goodness.

"There is only one God, but when we go into details then there might be differences but I believe these details need not be overblown.

"I am not referring to anyone, be it the mufti or Aswaja, except to say that if we keep going into the details, nothing will be resolved," he said.

Zamihan, in a video on his Facebook page said Asri and Zulkifli were not qualified to be mufti, following Asri's criticism of the arrest of former Universiti Malaya student Siti Noor Aishah Atam.

Zamihan said Asri should only speak on Islamic matters and keep within the boundaries of Perlis, and not make comments on the case.

He also took issue with Zulkifli, who issued an edict banning the collection of donations when the Friday sermon is delivered.

He said the Federal Territories edict contradicts edicts on the same issue in Sabah and Johor.