Malaysia’s civil court has refused a woman permission to leave Islam to avoid being jailed for apostasy.
She follows the Sky Kingdom sect, known as the teapot cult because it built a giant teapot to symbolise its belief in the healing purity of water.
At the height of his popularity, the self-styled Prophet had four wives and had a following of 21 followers, including a police inspector and a drummer of a rock group, all whom were arrested and are now on trial.
Known for his giant structures of a teapot, vase, umbrella, concrete boat and a “palace” at his commune, he had claimed God was human and his deviant teachings included not making Friday prayers compulsory.
In Malaysia, quitting Islam gets you a jail term.
An Islamic court in Malaysia refuses to allow a woman to reject Islam in favor of a religious cult.
A member of the Sky Kingdom sect, a quasi-religious movement persecuted by the Malaysian governmetn, who declared herself to be a non-Muslim in order to avoid a penalty, must appear before an Islamic court.
Not many people visit the site where the controversial deviationist sect Sky Kingdom once stood. The gleaming structures are all gone.
The Terengganu government has dismissed any possibility of the defunct Sky Kingdom cult being revived by one of its founder’s followers.
More than a year after 66-year-old cult leader Ayah Pin had gone into hiding, the Sky Kingdom is now believed to have a new and younger head.
KUALA TERENGGANU: A follower of cult leader Ariffin Mohamad, a.k.a ‘Ayah Pin’, had declared herself an apostate to escape punishment. Prosecutor Mustafar Hamzah said this in his closing arguments at the Syariah High Court yesterday in the trial of Kamariah Ali, 54, who was charged under Section 7 of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Takzir) (Terengganu) 2001 for claiming she was not a Muslim. The offence carries a fine of RM5,000 or three years’ jail or both upon conviction. Sky Kingdom The Sky Kingdom was a quasi-religious interfaith commune located in the eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu. Malaysia demolished the
KOTA BARU: Cult leader Ariffin Mohamad or “Ayah Pin“, now hiding in Narathiwat, southern Thailand, has not entered Malaysia for at least five months and is suffering from chronic diabetes. Ariffin, on the run from the Malaysian authorities since an attack on his commune in Terengganu last year, used to commute frequently between here and Chamerong, near Takbai, where he now resides. Sources said the 66-year-old is believed to be unwell as he had not made the journey across the border since the end of last year. “He is now living with his close friends but his first wife (Che