PETALING JAYA, April 22 — Some may choose to spend their time during the Movement Control Order (MCO) trying out new recipes or picking up a new hobby.

For Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, the AirAsia Group chief executive officer is using his time in isolation learning about the religion of others.

The 55-year-old entrepreneur, who often posts his daily activities on Instagram during the nationwide shutdown, shared an image of him reading a translated book on the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

"Using some of my spare time to understand my brothers, sisters and their religion,” the AirAsia founder wrote on Instagram.

"Time for all of us to understand and learn and be tolerate (sic).”

The successful businessman also urged many to use their time to learn more and improve themselves whilst describing the Syamail Muhammadiyah, a book about the life, appearance and mannerisms of the Prophet Muhammad as an "amazing book”.

His Instagram post received over 12,000 likes at the time of writing.

Fernandes, a Catholic, impressed his fellow Malaysians and was praised for picking up a book on the Prophet Muhammad.

"Glad to see you learning about Islam — I agree that we have to spend more time learning and understanding one another in order to achieve tolerance and unity,” commented @aminuddinazhar_cainpain.

"Malaysia should have more leaders like [you], sir,” added @asrulanwaranas.

"Amazing,” said businessman Hanif Zaki who is married to actress Anzalna Nasir.

* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.