The
Malaysian Home Ministry’s ban, with immediate effect, on an explicit
sex guide published by the Obedient Wives Club (OWC) has reportedly
drawn much amusement in the world media.Those found in possession of the material will be liable for a fine of up RM5,000, the ministry added, while reproduction or distribution will attract a maximum fine of RM20,000 and a three-year jail sentence.
The OWC says that the book titled, “Seks Islam, perangi Yahudi untuk kembalikan seks Islam kepada dunia (Islamic sex, fighting Jews to return Islamic sex to the world)”, is a guide -- with explicit graphics -- for Muslim brides on how to pleasure their husbands in bed. It says its studies showed women only gave their spouses 10 per cent of what they desired of their wives. (The club’s vice-president, Dr Rohaya Mohamad, advises women to behave like “a first-class whore” if they want their marriages to succeed.)
But according to the ministry’s Al-Quran Text and Publishing Control Division, the book was banned because of its links to the outlawed Al-Arqam movement and for violating the Department of Islamic Development’s (Jakim) censorship rules.
Al-Arqam, an Islamic sect branded as deviationist and banned by the government in 1994 (and their commune in the outskirts of the city Kuala Lumpur shut down) was founded by Ashaari Mohammad who died of illness in May 2010 at the age of 73.
The OWC is seen by some as an attempt to revive Al Arqam, but some say the organisation never died; the ubiquitous black turban, green robes and kohl lined eyes, once visible all over Kuala Lumpur, just gave way to normal clothes so they could blend in, using sundry shops and other businesses as fronts. Although its members have been detained for long periods without trial under the draconian ISA laws, the Al-Arqam have never been linked to terrorism.
Considering how the government is very prickly about anything it considers deviationist, book importers routinely avoid importing books with titles that include the words Qur’an, Islam, Muslim, Sufi, and the like, to prevent harassment. Booksellers, too. (One can import Fanny Hill and sell it to children, but not Islam.) Often, locally published books on Islam manage to remain under the radar for a while but, once they are outed and found to be not in accordance to the ‘official’ version, they are quickly banned.
The Malaysian Insider
