KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants all quarters to stop indulging in racial polemics as all Malaysians are guaranteed equitable rights and justice.

       Referring to the Imam Nawawi’s 40 Hadith Appreciation Module launched by the Education Ministry last Aug 19, Anwar said it was only targeted at Muslim students and there was no compulsion for non-Muslims to study it.

       "This subject is only for Muslim children as part of Islamic education. Ask first instead of getting angry.

       "Today I am in Little India, extremists would say Anwar is looking after Indians only. When it concerns Malays, including text (module) for Muslim children to study the hadith, they say Anwar only cares for Islam. Everything I do seems to be wrong,” said Anwar.

       He said this when launching the Lestari Niaga@Kuala Lumpur D’Medan Selera Madani Programme at Kompleks Tun Sambanthan today. Also present were Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar and Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Saraswathy Kandasami.

       Anwar said it was his responsibility as a leader to ensure that Islam was properly learnt and appreciated.

       The hadith module is aimed at inculcating an appreciation of the hadith starting from the school level, among other things, to instil the spirit of love and promote religious understanding, especially among Muslim students and teachers.

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       The pilot programme will be implemented at 61 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) and 228 Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan (SABK) throughout the country.

       Certain quarters including the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism, had disputed the implementation of the module, claiming that it was against the Federal Constitution and violated the right to freedom of religion.

       However, the Education Ministry has explained that the module is only for teaching Muslim students.- Bernama