Police: Quran was burned to dispose of damaged copies

KUALA LUMPUR: The woman who burned copies of the Quran openly at a roadside along Jalan Kompleks Hijau in Puchong Perdana yesterday afternoon, did so as a means to dispose of books that were worn out.

Subang Jaya district police chief ACP Mohammad Azlin Sadari said investigations found that the woman had no intention of insulting any religion, especially Islam.

The woman, who owns a shop selling Islamic religious books and clothing, burned 20 copies of the holy book in the 12.30pm incident on Sunday.

“Copies of the Quran were burnt because the books had been destroyed by termites and could no longer be used,” he told Bernama last night.

Mohammad Azlin said the case went viral after several individuals who witnessed the burning of the holy books, took photographs of the incident and uploaded the images onto Facebook, drawing much attention from netizens.

When asked if burning the holy books was the proper way to dispose of the Quran, Mohammad Azlin said the woman’s action was not in accordance with the procedures established by the National Fatwa Council.

“However, a member of the As-Salam Puchong Perdana mosque gathered what was left of the burnt sacred texts to dispose of it in a more respectful way.”

Mohammad Azlin said police had not received any report over the incident.

“I wish to remind the public not to speculate as there was no attempt by any party to insult the religion,” he said.

Yesterday afternoon, images of a woman and several individuals burning the holy books openly at a roadside along Jalan Kompleks Hijau Puchong Perdana were shared over social media after it was uploaded to Romen Ayu Lavender’s Facebook page.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/11/07/police-quran-was-burned-to-dispose-of-damaged-copies/