HOW ISLAMIC IS IT TO HAVE SEX WITH KIDS: Convicted maths student not following Quran - Dr M

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has blamed selective and distorted interpretation of the Quran for the moral issues faced by Muslims today.

He said Muslims tend to pick and choose the verses in the holy book without thinking about the context of the scripture, which distorted its meaning and twisted the true teaching of Islam.

This, he said, is why Islam no longer has great scholars.

"We had a lot of scientists and mathematicians during Islam's glory days.

"Now we have a mathematician who downloads 30,000 child pornography videos because we don't follow the Quran any more,” he said during the Perdana Discourse Series on Islam and Islamisation at Putrajaya this morning.

He also gave an example about how most Muslim men consider polygamy a basic right when it is not.

“Islam does not encourage polygamy but people say Islam encourages polygamy. You are permitted two, three or four wives if you can be fair to them.

“But usually people only mention the first part, not the second (being fair),” he said

Mahathir said he is always critical about the country’s Islamic teaching which he claims did not focus of ‘Ad-din’ or the understanding of religion.

He said this makes it an uphill task for the people who wants to debate on Islam rationally as they, like himself, are always being sidelines by people who have “BA in Islamic teachings” as he did not possess Islamic credentials nor speak Arabic.

“The teaching of Islam in schools only focuses on certain rituals. Not on Ad-din.

“These people (who said they’re Islamic) only gather with their kind and don’t let others join them. They like to speak to children as they don’t like to be questioned. They want to speak and want people to follow (their understanding),” he said. - M'kini