Despite an official ban on one of her books and protests resulting in the cancellation of her book launch and speaking engagements, liberal-Islam author Irshad Manji believes Malaysians are ready to talk about Islamic reform and moral courage.

    

"I know that many Malaysians want to hear about Islamic reforms and moral courage because my Twitter timeline is flooded with messages of support from them, ever since I announced my arrival in Kuala Lumpur last night," she is quoted in a statement from her local publisher today.

NONE According to the statement signed by ZI Publications director Ezra Zaid, Manji's book launch scheduled to take place at a popular bookstore in the Klang Valley and her speaking engagement at a university in Selangor have been cancelled.

“The bookstore had expressed concerns about safety while the university claimed it was pressured by state religious authorities,” related Ezra.

The ‘controversial’ Uganda-born Canadian author’s book launch was initially postponed last week, while another speaking engagement at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) was cancelled outright after complaints were lodged against her.

This followed a PAS Youth statement of protest against Manji’s presence in Malaysia as well as street demonstrations by hardline Islamist factions in Indonesia, which forced similar cancellations of her events in the neighbouring country and delayed her arrival in Malaysia.

NONE ZI Publications said it was still hoping to find some public space for Manji to discuss the Malay translation of her new book, Allah, Freedom & Love , which will be released in the country.

            

Earlier today, a Muslim lawyers group Persatuan Peguam-Peguam Muslim Malaysia (PPMM), issued a statement protesting Manji’s programme in Kuala Lumpur on account of her “liberal” Muslim position. It wants her out of the country.

            

“PPMM urges the government not to allow her to continue with her programme and have her leave Malaysia immediately, as it can be a cancer to Islamic practices in Malaysia,” its president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said.

                  

Manji, 44, courted fame and infamy for her very liberal views on Islam as well as her initiatives to promote interfaith marriages, adamant that a couple does not have to convert from their faith just to get married.

This is contrary to accepted notions of Islam, where a person marrying a Muslim must convert to the religion as well.

She earned the distinction of having been publicly chastised by the Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News which accused her work as “fraudulent”.

NONE However, Manji has also won praise for her work, being accorded the Chutzpah Award for “audacity, nerve, boldness and conviction” by Oprah Winfrey’s magazine O , named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and identified by The Jakarta Post in Indonesia as one of three Muslim women creating positive change in Islam.

The author is also known for her work as the director of New York University’s Moral Courage Project and Project Ijtihad, an initiative to return to what she claims is Islam’s own version of ijtihad or creative thinking.

Manji’s work mostly challenges accepted notions in Islam, in the belief that education and the freedom to think are paramount and not the indoctrination she believes is commonly practised in most religious teachings.

Before Allah, Liberty and Love , she had written the international best seller The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith, which is officially banned in Malaysia. She also produced an Emmy-nominated PBS film, 'Faith Without Fear'.