Checks with the ministry found the status of the seven books remained unchanged.

They were banned over allegations that they contained elements of Shia Islam, the school of thought labelled as “deviant” by Malaysia’s Islamic authorities.

“As of now, there are no new instructions regarding the status of the books,” FMT was informed by the ministry.

The seven books banned by the previous administration are “Sebongkah Batu di Kuala Berang”, “Karbala”, “Tiga Kali Seminggu”, “Ingin Jadi Nasrallah”, “Perempuan Nan Bercinta”, “Sinema Spiritual: Dramaturgi dan Kritikan:”, and “AKU___, MAKA AKU ADA!”

Previously, Faisal, whose real name is Faizal Musa, had voiced out against the ban on the books by the previous administration.

When he spoke to FMT in the aftermath of the 14th general election, Faisal noted that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not ban his works during his first stint as prime minister.

The 44-year-old academic at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said that even a novel which had openly insulted Mahathir at the height of the Reformasi protests in the late 1990s was not banned.

“The novel by Shahnon Ahmad was not banned although it was a direct and blatant insult on Mahathir,” he said then, referring to the work titled “SHIT” by the late Shahnon Ahmad, a national laurette who is also Faisal’s former mentor.

Earlier today, Faisal, after meeting the Council of Eminent Persons, urged the government to set up an advisory council comprising experts in religious and non-religious sciences to advise Islamic agencies in the country.

Faisal’s revisionist writings of Malay history and culture do not sit well with mainstream scholars.

Authors hope new govt lifts ban on books with differing views on Islam