Enforcement officers from the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) last night confiscated seven copies of the book, ‘ Allah Liberty & Love - Courage To Reconcile Faith & Freedom ’ by controversial author, Irshad Manji, as the content is deemed to be contrary to Islamic teachings.

NONE Chief senior assistant director of Jawi's enforcement division, Wan Jaafar Wan Ahmad said the raid, involving eight officers, was conducted at 8.45pm on a bookshop in a well-known shopping complex in Bangsar.

"We received information that 500 copies of the translated edition of the book have been printed and available in the market nationwide, and we are still tracking them," he told reporters.

The Uganda-born Irshad, who has Canadian citizenship, has also created controversy by supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual movement.

Wan Jaafar said following the seizure, the case would be investigated under the Federal Territory Syariah Offences Act for publishing copies of a book that ran contrary to Islamic teachings and violating the sanctity of Islam.

Manji was in Malaysia last week to launch the book .

Bookstore to be summoned

It is learnt that during the raid customers at the Borders bookstore were pestered by the Jawi officials, who arrived with a group of journalists.

irshad manji book launch signing autographs A female Jawi officer informed the bookstore representative that it was selling books deemed to be against the syariah law.

"There were 30 Jawi officers along with media personnel and they took photographs of the bookstore staff and our business cards.

“The Jawi officer told we had to provide our details, including IC (identity card numbers), for them to summon us," said a staff member at the bookstore, who declined to be identified.

"So we had to give our particulars, even though we are non-Muslims."

Manji's first book, ' The Trouble with Islam Today ', is banned in Malaysia, but the authorities have yet to issue an official ban on her latest book.

Jawi is investigating the case under section 13 of the Federal Territory Syariah Offences Act 1997 for offences on the sanctity of Islam and its institutions, where if found guilty the court could order the alleged abusive material to be seized for it to be destroyed.