2008/12/23

SHAH ALAM: The National Land Code may be used against an Islamic group in Selayang which is believed to be practising deviationist teachings.

State Islamic Affairs, Malay Customs, Infrastructure and Basic Amenities Committee chairman Datuk Dr Hasan Ali said the move could help curtail the group’s activities.

The group, known as Qadiani, had acquired a plot of land several years ago, on which stands a mosque, to run its activities.

Dr Hasan said yesterday that the Gombak district office had been ordered to look into the legality of the acquisition.

He said the land was a residential lot and a structure such as a mosque could be deemed illegal.

It is also believed that the building of the mosque was not approved by either the district office or the Selayang Municipal Council.

He was speaking after launching a briefing for government officials on the Non-Islamic Religions Enactment (Controls on Propagation Among Muslims) 1988.

Dr Hasan said the state government was watching Qadiani, which had been active in Kampung Nakhoda in Gombak for many years.

He said the group’s members were going around nearby villages carrying the movement’s banners.

He said that this could be viewed as a challenge to the authorities because the group had been declared as a deviant sect by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department.

Among Qadiani’s beliefs are that the members are prophets and descendants of slaves and that the haj can be performed in India.

They have also modified verses in the Quran.

Dr Hasan said that the state government had categorised the group’s place of worship as a mosque after discovering that it was used for Friday prayers and for holding sermons.