Maldivian Democracy Network's (MDN)'s report was not intended to incite hatred towards Islam, says Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.
Speaking at an event held at Iskandhar School on Wednesday night, the former president stated that the report did not refer to religious text or the prophet (PBUH) with the intention to incite hatred towards Islam in any sense of form.
In my perspective, I don't think there was any intention to create hatred or doubt about Islam. Neither do I believe the authors of the report had any such intention after I read the report. It seems to be a misunderstanding as it was written in academic English. I believe this is the result of the authors being educated abroad and writing a paper in partnership with an international organization on Maldivian and international religious books while adhering to internationally accepted standards and overlooking the Maldivian context.Mohamed Nasheed
He further said that religious issues are not simple topics that should be debated and finalized on the parliament floor. He added that no parliament, neither in the Maldives nor any other country, has no jurisdiction to make decisions on issues regarding the religion.
While the matter was heavily debated during this week's parliament sittings, Nasheed said that he has heard the concern of the lawmakers and that all the members agreed on certain concerns about the report such as the phrasing used to refer to the Prophet (PBUH) and references to particular religious texts.
Further highlighting that Sheikh Hussain Rasheed, whose event he was attending, has released translations of Shahih Muslim that guides on how to refer to such topics before the MDN report was published, Nasheed said that he had consulted Sheikh Rasheed on the issue after reading the report for himself.
Upholding the standards is important, especially writing a report referring to religious texts, said Nasheed.
While the matter was heavily debated during this week's parliament sittings, Nasheed highlighted that he has heard the concern of the lawmakers.
Noting that the report was heavily condemned before reaching the parliament floor, he stated that the consensus of MPs on the matter is to seek advice from religious scholars or experts.
In order to address the concerns voiced by the public and the parliament members, the Speaker has called officials from he Islamic ministry, education ministry, home ministry and MDP to the parliament to discuss the matter.
He added that the country needs to find the clearest method to continue on a moderate path by working together with religious scholars.
Nasheed added that he neither wishes to hear calls for murder nor offensive and hateful speech.
