"I am afraid it is the act of certain quarters wishing to disrupt peace, just like in Temanggung, where someone had spread pamphlets and slandered Islam to make Moslems angry," Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has said his office will investigate reports about the discovery of a book carrying a picture of Prophet Muhammad in a library of an Islamic school in Solo, Central Java.

"The Ministry of Religious Affairs would conduct an investigation into the case and withdraw the book as soon as possible," he told newsmen here on Wednesday.

Suryadharma said the book, titled "Interesting Childhood Stories of Prophets", was neither produced nor distributed by the religious affairs ministry.

"I am afraid it is the act of certain quarters wishing to disrupt peace, just like in Temanggung, where someone had spread pamphlets and slandered Islam to make Moslems angry," he added.

While the investigation is under way, the minister has urged people to not overly react to the case and avoid possible provocation by certain parties.

Suryadharma said his office would leave the investigation of the case to the police.

He noted it would be easy for the police to do the investigation because the book had a publisher. "If it has no publisher, then it is clear that it is intended to provoke," Suryadharma added.

The minister said the case was already being investigated to find whether the ministry of religious affairs had actually ordered its distribution to elementary schools.

"The ministry cannot easily determine whether a book should be used as a school book. It is not that easy, because a study must first be done. Even the Korans that come from abroad have to be studied letter by letter before being distributed here," Suryadharma explained.

He said a school book was used nationally and so it was impossible for schools to use different books unless they were "local content books".

"In the case of religious lessons, it must be the same," the minister added.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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