The government will not implement the apostasy law because that would be a disincentive to non-Muslims to convert to Islam, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said this disincentive will prevent people from learning more about Islam and would eventually be responsible for the stagnant growth of the religion in the country.

"In a multiracial society, there will be marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims. There are differences of opinion here. Some say that the Jews and Christians who marry Muslims do not have to convert to Islam. The Catholics will insist that their children be baptised whereas the Muslims will demand that their children become Muslims," said Mahathir.

"However, in Malaysia, the problem does not exist because when couples marry, the non-Muslim husband or wife converts to Islam. However, there are times when a woman is divorced and she has to fend for herself. In difficult circumstances, she may revert to her former religion," he added.

Mahathir said that there are some schools of thought which may call for this woman to be killed for committing apostasy.

"But if we do this then I think it will be a great disincentive for non-Muslims to convert to Islam. This will eventually stagnate the growth of Islam," he said in response to a question from a participant after officiating the International Seminar on Islamic Law in the Contemporary World at the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding, Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir also spoke on the differences in the implementation of laws in different states and the spread of "unhealthy" teachings.

He pointed out that the debate on apostasy has been going on for ages, as far back as year1400. Certain quarters say that man should be free to decide his own religion while others say that when someone is already a Muslim, he no longer has the freedom to decide his own religion, he said.

"This is a long debate. But our society has changed and no longer consists of 100 percent Muslims ... therefore, certain Islamic laws can no longer apply, especially the one that calls for the killing of apostates," said Mahathir.

"Since we do not have clarification and have not reached an understanding regarding the issue of apostasy, we have chosen not to go ahead with the apostasy law yet," he added.

He also said that it would be a grave misdeed if the government were to implement the Bill without understanding its full implications, because once the law is enforced, it would be difficult to reverse its practices, for example killing of people who were deemed to be apostates.

Therefore, he added, the government is careful in not to implementing any law which is extreme.

The "proposed" controversial apostasy law, which provides power to the authorities to detain Muslims involved in deviant teachings and practices up to a year at faith rehabilitation centres, was subject to much debate recently, and was opposed by a group of individuals in a petition to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) [#1]('Apotasy' Bill contravenes constitution, says group[/#], Sept 25).

The NGOs claim that the Bill contravenes Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution which states that "every person has the right to profess and practise his (or her) religion".

However, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim had said that the Bill was still not ready to be tabled to the Parliament[#2] (Gov't to study 'apostasy' bill for possible constitutional implications[/#], Sept 28)

Differences in implementation

Mahathir clarified that there are differences in the implementation of Islamic laws according to various states as when Malaysia came into being, there was an understanding with the sultans, that they would be given the right and freedom to rule their own states.

He said that while the government had tried to provide the sultans with certain guidelines, it was unfortunate that some of the sultans do not want to adhere to the guidelines.

He also reiterated that those who subscribed to unhealthy teachings in Islam should not be dealt with too harshly.

"It is true that we have the power to deal with them harshly, but the best method is still to discuss and show them the right way so that the Muslim community at large can decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong," he added.