Commenting on reports yesterday that the conversion of some 137 Orang Asli of the Bateq Mayah tribe was “unlawful”, Zahid – who is also the rural and regional development minister – said there was no compulsion in Islam.

“But we need to prevent this issue from being polemicised and tackle it properly,” he told reporters after chairing a Cabinet committee meeting in Parliament this afternoon.

The group of Orang Asli filed a writ of summons last year at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to nullify their conversion to Islam in 1993 which they claimed was unlawful.

The group said they were not practicing Muslims and continued to live as animists.

On a related matter, Zahid said he would see to it that the Islamic development department (Jakim) tackled this issue.

He said he would discuss with Jakim and the Orang Asli development department (Jakoa) to continuously support recent converts so they did not feel “isolated”.

“Guidance is important to prevent confusion, especially when there are claims of forced conversion.”