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Malaysia bans group's Islamic sex guide
Straits Times - November 3, 2011
Anyone found in possession of Islamic Sex, Fighting Against Jews To Return Islamic Sex To The World could be fined up to RM5,000 (S$2,040). Anyone found reproducing the book for the purpose of offering it for sale could be jailed up to three years or fined up to RM20,000, or both.
Datuk Mashitah Ibrahim, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia had found the book to be in violation of the Islamic Publication Materials Censorship Guidelines.
"We sent the book to the Home Ministry yesterday to be gazetted as a banned publication as the content contradicts Islamic teachings," Malaysia's Berita Harian quoted her as saying on Tuesday.
"We will also continue to investigate and study other books published by the OWC which have dubious content if there is any complaint," she added.
The Home Ministry's Al-Quran Text and Publishing Control Division secretary Abdul Aziz Md Nor yesterday cited two reasons for the ban.
"The book was released by an organization that had clear links with the banned al-Arqam. As the movement has been banned, anything related to it, such as the club and the book, are also banned," The Star quoted him as saying.
He said the book's content also violated Jakim's Islamic publication material censorship guidelines.
The controversial OWC, formed by members of the defunct Al-Arqam cult that was banned in Malaysia in the 1990s, first gained notoriety in June by telling Muslim women to 'serve their husbands better than a first-class prostitute'. The book, launched in August, stirred further controversy.
But OWC's international leader, Madam Hatijah Aam, the widow of Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad, defended the publication, saying that it was aimed at promoting the highest levels of 'spiritual connection' between a man and his wives. She also said that the club's goal is to set an "ISO standard" for sex within marriage.
Priced at RM50 and initially available only to members of the club, the 115-page sex guide was decried by women's groups for insulting modern women. Dr Mashitah said its content, especially on the spiritual husband-wife relationship, is beyond logic and could mislead others if not curbed.
The OWC now claims more than 3,500 members worldwide, including in Singapore.
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