As the debate against ‘I Want To Touch A Dog’ event organiser continues, Umno Youth has stepped in to bring more civility to the debate.

Believing that it is better to have an intellectual discourse on the matter, the youth wing is organising a forum featuring the much-maligned event’s organiser Syed Azmi Alhabshi and an Islamic scholar.

“This is a discussion to hear all points of view. It is better to discuss in an intellectual manner than to threaten or insult anyone using abusive language,” Khairy ( right ) said on his Facebook page.

He said this when announcing the forum titled ‘Keterbukaan vs Sensitiviti Lazim’ (Openness vs Common Sensitivities).

The forum is organised by Akademi Kepimpinan Kapten Hussein (Akhi) and will feature Umno Youth executive council member Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya, who is also an Islamic scholar.

Akhi is a political academy by Umno Youth which, apart from organising dialogues and forums, also organises political courses to train future political leaders.

The forum will be held at 8pm on Thursday at the 12th floor of Wisma PNS, Kelana Centre Point.

Syed Azmi has been receiving death threats and other hateful messages within hours of organising the controversial event on Oct 19.

He, together with the event’s co-organisers, will be meeting the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) on Nov 6 to explain on the matter.

Jakim and other Islamic authorities have condemned the event, saying that it goes against the Shafie Muslim school of thought adhered to by most Malaysian Muslims.

The Shafie school of thought says it is forbidden for Muslims to unnecessarily touch dogs while the Maliki school of thought says that only dog’s saliva is considered impure.

However, some scholars argue that Muslims need not rigidly follow only one school of thought.