Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin today apologised to non-Muslims, particularly those of the Hindu faith, who "misunderstood" the meaning of his controversial poem.

"I sincerely apologise to the non-Muslims involved in this issue, especially those of Hindu faith who have misunderstood the meaning of my poem.

"I never meant for those of the Hindu faith in general to be involved in this issue," he said in a statement today.

He also plans to hold a dialogue with non-Muslims soon.

"My commitment is to justice for all mankind, regardless of religion," he said.

Asri's poem referred to the worship of cows, the practice of caste and the now-defunct widow-burning practices, as a response to detractors of "our preacher"...