 Twenty-one members of a religious sect in Malaysia have been arrested for allegedly possessing documents contrary to Islam, an official said yesterday.
| Contrary to Islam! Oh, hold me, Ethel! |
Muhammad Ramli Nuh, deputy chairman of Terengganu state Islamic development committee, said 14 men and seven women aged between 30 and 60 were detained. Muhammad Ramli said the seven-hour operation began late Saturday and was carried out by religious and regular police officers. Among those arrested were a police officer, a member of a popular local rock group and the fourth wife of the sect leader who managed to evade arrest, the official Bernama news agency reported. The remote commune is led by a 65-year-old illiterate Malay man, Ariffin Mohammad, better known as Ayah Pin. The village is popular among Muslims, Chinese and Indians and foreign tourists who visit to discuss various issues with Ayah Pin on weekends. The sect has had run-ins with the authorities in the past, with four members being jailed for two years in 1998 for attempting to renounce Islam.
| You can't renounce Islam. Once you're in the club there's no exit, unless somebody will declare you apostate. Then they kill you. |
Muhammad Ramli said they would be charged under the Shariah Criminal Offenses Act and if found guilty could be fined and jailed up to two years.
| Jail 'em and jug 'em. That's the way to keep 'em in the fold! |
In April the local land office ordered the community to destroy unusual structures it had built over the years â including a âteapotâ which stands several meters high, a giant vase and an umbrella-like tower â by May 28. It said they breached national regulations. âWe will not comply with the order,â a spokesman for the Ayah Pin cult, Rosli Abdul Samad, 37, told AFP. âWe have done no wrong. We promote peace and unity for all races. We are not militants.â
| The fact that you have no firearms is the reason you're being jugged. If you were jumping up and down and waving your armaments and hollering "jihad" they'd deny you were there. |
The structures are designed to promote unity among all religions, he said, accusing local religious leaders of attempting to contain the teachings of Ayah Pin by ordering their destruction. The issue of religion in Malaysia is sensitive. The government is always on the lookout for what it calls deviant sects. |