KUALA LUMPUR: Canadian-Muslim author Irshad Manji's publisher of her book “Alla, Liberty and Love” who translated it into Malay filed for a judicial review on Tuesday to challenged the raid carried out by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS). ZI Publications and its director Mohd Ezra bin Mohd Zaid filed for the review with the Appellate and Special Powers Division of the High Court registrar through Messrs Bashir & Co. They named JAIS, its director-general, Selangor Religious chief enforcement officer, Selangor Syariah chief prosecutor, Selangor Government and the Government of Malaysia as the respondents. “The plaintiffs sought to null the raid and seizure of 180 books on May 29 from ZI Publications' premises in Petaling Jaya, Selangor and for the books to be returned,” the Bernama news agency reported. They also sought to revoke Mohd Zaid's arrest during the raid and subsequent prosecution. The application stated that the Malay version was a translation from an English publication by Random House Canada, with the same title. It further argued that the English version had been in local bookstores since June of last year. The book was banned because officials in Malaysia said it went against Islamic teachings, but activists and others told Bikyamasr.com they believe Manji's book was banned because she is a lesbian. Bookstore manager 36-year-old Nik Raina Nik Aziz was charged this week at the Syariah court for distributing and selling the book. If convicted, she could be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for two years. The company said Nik Raina has been victimized and is demanding that the charge against her be dropped. In fact, the notice only came from the Home Ministry a week later. As store manager Nik Raina was not involved in the book selection process, adding that she is grossly mistreated and want all charges against her be dropped immediately. Earlier in the week, Yau had said: “This current event has really broken her down. There are a lot of concerns of the safety of her family, pressures being put on them from around, she kept on saying to me “I understand why I have to go through this, but my family, my friends not all of them will understand what's this all about, to them I am already guilty". For me, that's really sad because all she was doing was performing her duty." Yau is now worried about her other staff who are mostly Muslim. She said she may have to reconsider the hiring policy from now on. “You are asking me whether (am I) going to relook our hiring policies and consider excluding Muslim – my personal reaction to that is absolutely not. As a business person, I have to say, it has crossed our mind," she added. Activists and readers in the country told Bikyamasr.com that the ban was “ridiculous" and that “people should be able to choose for themselves what they read and how they react." Mohid Serat, a university student and political science major in Kuala Lumpur, told Bikyamasr.com that he hopes the charges will be dropped, or the government will intervene somehow. “It is really a dark spot on our future right now to be banning books and trying to force a certain belief over people," he began. “I just wish the government would let us choose how we want to react to different views." The Home Ministry banned the book last month after it was deemed offensive to Islam, contained “elements that could mislead the public," and was “detrimental to public order." According to Manji's website, the book “shows all of us how to reconcile faith and freedom in a world seething with repressive dogmas." She has been a longtime proponent of tolerance and understanding within Islam, and describes herself as a “practicing Muslim." ** Alisha Hassan contributed to this report.
