The Malaysian Insight

POLICE do not consider Mustafa Akyol to be a threat to the country, said the inspector-general of police today, despite the Turkish journalist and author’s detention and questioning by Immigration and religious authorities last week over an inter-religious talk.

Mohamad Fuzi Harun said Mustafa’s detention was based on his lack of accreditation to give religious talks, which did not make him a threat.

“He (Mustafa) is not so much of a threat,” he told reporters in Putrajaya today.

“From a religious point of view, (having accreditation) is a basic requirement, that’s all. One needs to be accredited before one can teach.”

Mustafa did not proceed with a scheduled talk on “The Islamic Jesus: The Commonalities Between Judaism, Christianity and Islam” on September 25 after being summoned by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi).

He was about to leave Malaysia but was stopped from boarding his late-night flight and was taken to the Jawi headquarters and then to the Jalan Travers police station before he was released the following day. Mustafa left Malaysia that night.

The US-based author and academic was reportedly questioned for 18 hours under Section 11 of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act for preaching without credentials.

Mustafa had been hosted by the Islamic Renaissance Front, which also organised the talk.

Mustafa’s writings appear regularly in Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, the New York Times and Al-Monitor.com.

He has published six books, including “Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty”, which has been translated into Turkish, Bahasa Malaysia and Indonesia.

His latest book is titled, “The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims”.

In an opinion piece in the New York Times after his ordeal, Mustafa wrote that religious authorities were causing people to lose faith when they policed religion. – October 2, 2017.