Selayang, Malaysia – In the middle of Kampung Nakhoda, there is an unassuming three-storey building. Nothing about its humble stature makes it stand out from nearby houses, except for a council-erected signboard that clearly reads: “Qadiani Bukan Islam” (Qadianis are not Muslims).
Youths mingle inside the building’s compound, warily observing passers-by beyond the front gate. At FMT’s approach, they smiled and opened the gate, only to quickly close it, and the front doors leading to the building’s living room.
Inside, the youths set up video cameras and other recording equipment. They are friendly, but slightly skittish with the visiting journalist. They relax a little when their religious leader, Maulana Ainul Yaqeen Sahib, enters.
It is easy to see why. Ainul belongs to the Ahmadiyya movement, an Islamic sect coldly received by Malaysia’s Sunni Islamic authorities.
Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) officers in the past, he said, have raided the building – named Baitussalam – which serves as the local Ahmadiyya community’s gathering place and mosque.
“They (JAIS) pushed themselves through a hole in the front gate when we didn’t let them come in. They didn’t have a warrant,” he told FMT, relating the 2009 incident.
The JAIS officers barged their way into the building, and started inspecting its prayer room and taking photographs.
Categories: Malaysia