The Education Ministry will investigate a claim that workbook used by Form Four students contained a caricature of Adam, who is regarded as a prophet by Muslims.

"This should not have happened. We have to find out whether the book is one of the official books approved for use by the ministry.

"If it is published by the private sector and sold outside the school, the action the ministry can take is when the book is brought into the school," said minister Hishamuddin Hussein in the Dewan Rakyat today.

According to a Bernama report, the issue was raised by Mohamed Aziz (BN-Sri Gading).

He said although there was no reference to Adam in the caricature, the drawing of a man and a tree was placed next to a poem that narrated the story of Adam and the tree that bore the forbidden fruit.

Prophet Mohamad caricatures

In February, the caricatures of Prophet Mohamad - deemed blasphemous by Muslims - had rocked the Malaysian media industry.

The government had slapped the Sarawak Tribune newspaper with an indefinite suspension while two Chinese newspapers were issued two-week suspensions for reproducing the caricature.

However, it was revealed later that even the state-owned RTM television station had aired the images during a news programme.

Also landing in hot soup over the issue were private television stations TV3 and ntv7.

Even the Umno-linked New Straits Times ruffled feathers and was slapped with a show-cause letter for publishing a cartoon lampooning the caricature controversy.

The caricatures were first published in Danish newspaper and had riled up Muslims worldwide.