Several Islamic deviationist groups in the country are resorting to publishing books containing deviant teachings to recruit new followers.

These books are now distributed openly to the public as well as to mosques and other Islamic institutions in the county.

An official at the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) told malaysiakini that two such books are Tiang Agama (Pillar of Religion) and Ahlul Sunah dan Shiah sebenarnya Kristian (The Sunni and Shiah are Christians).

Chairman of the Abim's Islamic Outreach committee Azizuddin Ahmad urged the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), which is in charge of religious affairs in the country, to take immediate actions to stop the distribution of the books.

"We are worried that this new trend, if left unchecked, could affect the faith of young Muslims in this country," he said.

Anonymous writers

He said the two books, written by anonymous writers, contained false information about the basic tenets of Islam and that of Prophet Muhammad.

For its part, Abim, with the cooperation of other Islamic institutions and the Arab Saudi embassy, had recently organised a seminar on deviationist teaching.

"The recommendations made by the participants of the seminar will be sent to the relevant authorities to help them counter deviationist teachings in this country," he said.