Friday sermon in Selangor fires broadside at ‘deviant Shiahs’

(Malay Mail Online) – Followers of Shiah, the second largest denomination in Islam, came under scathing attack in a sermon prepared by Selangor Islamic authorities today in which the former were labelled as “deviants” who undermine the faith of adherents to the rival Sunni school.

In sermon conspicuously titled “The deviation of Shiah”, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) listed down tenets of Shiah followers that were deemed incompatible with Malaysia’s sanctioned Sunni school of jurisprudence.

Among others, these included the Shiah view that the Caliphate of Islam was divinely decided, that their imam (leaders) are sinless, that they practice “temporary marriages” for sexual gratification, and the practice of self flagellation.

“Based on these convoluted teachings, it has now become clear that the creed, beliefs, and practice of Shi’ism are against the aqidah (faith) of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah.

“Hence, it behoves us to avoid from having any ties or relationships with such ideologies so we would not deviate in practising the matters that are not from the true Shariah,” read the English version of the sermon prepared by Jais.

Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah refers to the community of Sunni Muslims, while Shariah refers to Islam’s moral code and laws.

The conflict between the Sunni and Shiah schools of Islam traces back to a disagreement over the successor to Prophet Muhammad.

Sunnis believe the Prophet’s father-in-law, Abu Bakar, was the rightful successor who was chosen by consensus. Shiahs, in turn, believe that Muhammad had preordained his cousin, Ali, to lead Muslims.

In December, Putrajaya launched a concerted move against followers of the Shiah sect after Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi declared during the 64th Umno General Assembly that it is in the interest of “faith and national security” that the government clamp down on the spread of the Shiah ideology.

Ahmad Zahid had also issued an order to religious authorities to act against Mohamad, who is PAS’s deputy president, over his alleged links to the Shiah movement, though the PAS number two has since denied the claim and said he will sue the minister over the statement.

In 1996, the National Fatwa Council decided that the Shiah sect is a deviant movement that goes against the tenets of Sunnah wal Jamaah, the dominant Islamic ideology in Malaysia.

Islam is Malaysia’s official state religion but the country’s constitution purport to allow other religions to be freely practised.

Muslims make up 61.3 per cent of the Malaysian population, followed by Buddhists at 19.8 per cent, and Christians at 9.2 per cent, according to the latest census data from 2010.

Shiah is the second largest denomination in Islam after Sunni, but its followers comprise only about 15 per cent of Muslims worldwide. There are no official figures on the number of Shiahs in Malaysia.