The Islamic Renaissance Front’s Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa said those who have read the two books would realise that they touch on Islamic history and the root causes of underdevelopment in the Muslim world.

“The idea of book banning does not only reflect anti-intellectualism, but is inherently unconstitutional,” he said in a statement to FMT.

He was referring to Golongan Muslim Pertama: Sejarah dan Memori by Asma Afsaruddin, and Islam, Autoritarianisme, dan Kemunduran Bangsa by US-based scholar Ahmet T Kuru.

Farouk said Asma’s book aimed to provide a greater understanding of Muslim history by comparing the tolerant polity of Prophet Muhammad as compared to current practices.

He said Kuru’s book addressed the issue of the Muslim world’s backwardness and concluded that the state-clergy alliance is the most significant factor.

“It seems that any idea that seeks Muslims to reassess their understanding and to implore critical thinking should be deemed as heresy and hence be banned,” he said.

Farouk’s statement comes a day after Kuru rejected claims that his books contradict Sunni Islam, insisting that they are academic works in social sciences, not theology.

Kuru’s other book, titled Perikatan Ulama Negara Punca Autoritarianisme dan Kemunduran Dunia Muslim, was also endorsed for a prohibition order issued by the home ministry.

The publisher of his books, Lestari Hikmah, also said the recommendation by religious officials to ban the two publications only reinforces the point about authoritarianism made in one of them.

Lestari Hikmah also criticised the justifications for the ban as being generic and lacking any specific evidence from the text itself to substantiate the claim that it is “contrary to the aqidah of Ahl Sunnah Wal Jamaah, Islamic law, or that it misleads the Muslim public”.

“We maintain that no such content exists in the publication,” it said.