There was no ill-will involved in the burning of copies of the Quran in Puchong Perdana, as it was done to dispose damaged books, Subang Jaya district police chief Mohammad Azlin Sadari said.

He was responding to a viral online posting of the incident.

The woman burnt the holy books at Jalan Kompleks Hijau today to dispose some 20 copies which have been ravaged by termites, he said.

The woman owns a shop selling holy books and clothes for Muslims, he said.

The As-Salam Puchong Perdana mosque has collected the remnants of the holy books to dispose in a proper manner, he said.

"The books were burned by the shop owner, who is a Malay, Muslim woman, for the purpose of disposing them, without any intention to malign any religion especially Islam.

"We advise the public not make negative speculation over the incident; no religion was ridiculed," he said.

According to a 1992 National Fatwa Council edict, old or damaged copies of the Quran must be disposed of by burning the copies in a controlled environment and burying the remnants.

The process must be conducted by someone authorised by the state Islamic affairs departments.

"It must not be done in public so as to avoid misunderstanding," the fatwa reads.