Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia - Followers of Ariffin Mohamad, the leader of the Sky Kingdom deviationist sect, believe that he is the creator of all religions, the Syariah High Court here heard yesterday.
State syariah enforcement officer Mohd Tahir Long told the court he obtained the information from an alleged sect follower Tuan Rosmani Tuan Muda, 52.
Mohd Tahir said he recorded the statement of Tuan Rosmani, a coffee shop owner after she was detained during a raid by the state religious department at the commune in Hulu Besut on July 20 last year.
He said Tuan Rosmani told him that Ariffin, better known as Ayah Pin, received wahyu (revelation) from the sky.
“She also told me that Ariffin’s actions were based on orders from the sky.”
Mohd Tahir, the prosecution’s fifth witness, was testifying in the trial of 47 alleged followers of the sect. They had been charged under Section 10 of the Syariah Criminal Offence Enactment (Takzir) Terengganu 2001 for not adhering to a state fatwa declaring the teachings as deviant.
Mohd Tahir said another alleged sect follower Wan Norriah Wan Ali, 50, had told him that some of the followers prayed to Ariffin as they considered him as God.
“She had never seen Ariffin performing the solat,” he said during examination-in-chief by chief syariah prosecutor Mustafar Hamzah.
Mohd Tahir said he had also recorded the statements of several other sect followers – all at the Besut district police station in Kampung Raja.
Mohd Tahir said another syariah enforcement officer Ismail Awang witnessed him recording the statements.
He also tendered to court 12 pictures and a sketch of the commune.
At this juncture, Mustafar produced a centrespread picture of the commune, which was published in The Star on July 6 and asked whether the pictures were the same.
He agreed it was the same with what he had taken.
Earlier, state religious officer Jasni Din said he had distributed pamphlets that the teachings were deviant at all mosques in the Besut district.
Replying to counsel Sa’adiah Din, who was representing all the accused, Jasni said he did not distribute them at the sect commune.
The hearing before judge Mohamad Abdullah continues today.