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Ayah Pin flees again

New Straits Times, Malasia
Sep. 20, 2005
www.nst.com.my

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Tuesday September 20, 2005

Sky Kingdom cult leader or Ariffin Mohamad or Ayah Pin has fled the country again, barely 24 hours after a photograph of a man believed to be him appeared in the newspapers today.

Security sources said the 65-year-old, who returned to the country after more than a month of self-exile in southern Thailand, went back across the Golok River through one of the illegal jetties at about noon here.

They said Ariffin returned to meet friends and family members here and had been in and out of the country since July 20, when his commune was attacked by a mob and several buildings were torched.

Sources also said the cult leader had dinner at one of the restaurants here in Wakaf Baru at about 9pm last night.

A petrol station employee in the area claimed that Ariffin and his friends stopped by the station at about 10am today.

“They appeared to be looking around as if they were Ayah Pin’s bodyguards,” he said.

Sky Kingdom

The Sky Kingdom is a quasi-religious interfaith commune located in the eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu.

While Malaysia has a secular legal system, the country is ruled by a moderate Muslim majority.

“Muslims in Malaysia come under the purview of religious courts that are not part of the secular federal legal system. Any attempt to deviate from Islamic teachings, or to leave the religion, can bring harsh penalties from the religious courts.” [Source]

Sky Kingdom leader Ayah Pin claims to be a deity

The group includes former Muslims

Research resources on Sky Kingdom

Yesterday, Ayah Pin was spotted having a meal with two friends at a restaurant here at about 3.30pm, soon after coming back into the country through Pengkalan Kubur.

A patron at the restaurant who recognised Ayah Pin took several pictures of the group with his camera handphone.

He claimed that the three men left in a car, heading in the direction of Simpangan here, the place where three of Ayah Pin’s four wives were arrested on July 31.

Ariffin was reported to have been staying in Yala with his son at the house of a Buddhist since early this month.