A Malaysian deputy minister on Thursday (Nov 23) claimed that atheism is a “very dangerous” ideology that goes against the country’s Federal Constitution.
Mr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said the ideology also goes against Malaysia’s Rukunegara that prescribes “Believe in God” as one of its tenets.
The Rukunegara is a set of national principles formulated after the May 13 racial riots in 1969 to uphold Malaysia’s diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Mr Asyraf alleged that the freedom of religion in the Federal Constitution — which guarantees the freedom to worship — does not include the freedom to not believe.
“We have to understand that in the Malaysian context, our Federal Constitution states that the freedom of religion does not mean freedom from any religion because that is unconstitutional,” he said.
“This means we cannot incite someone to leave a religion or promote not having a religion. We cannot order or promote the belief of not having a religion — that is against the Federal Constitution.” [Today Online] Read more
