Shi’ites are prohibited from spreading their teachings to adherents of Sunnah Wal Jamaah (Sunnis) but are free to practise them, Dewan Rakyat heard today.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said they are allowed in accordance with provisions in the constitution that gives the right of freedom of religion to people in this country.
“We don’t prohibit Shi’ite adherents to practise but there are acts in the states’ Islamic law that don’t allow preaching to adherents of Sunnah Wal Jamaah,” he said when replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Ismail Mohamed Said (BN-Kuala Krau).
Ismail wants to know if Shi’ite is a new teaching or sect and what action had been taken against its adherents.
Jamil said although the Shi’ite teaching had been categorised as deviant by the National Fatwa Council, not all the teachings are contrary to that of Sunnah Wal Jamaah as practised by Muslims in Malaysia.
“As such, they (Shi’ites) can’t be detained under the Internal Security (ISA),” he said when replying to a supplementary question from Nasharudin Mat Isa (PAS-Bachok) who wanted to know why the Shi’ites are not detained under ISA.
To the original question by Ismail, Jamil said various efforts had been taken by the government to check the spread of Shi’ite in the country.
These include issuing of fatwa that prohibits the spread of the Shi’ite faith, public awareness talks and monitoring and control of materials promoting Shi’ite.
He said religious agencies had also stepped up cooperation and taken legal action against those who violate provisions in the state’s syariah law.
