Song Hong
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Syed Mohamad was celebrating a key date in the Muslim Shia calendar in secret when officials burst in and detained him, one of several raids that have set the long-persecuted community on edge.
Dozens of Shia Muslims have been rounded up recently in the Sunni Muslim-majority country, including several foreigners, fuelling fears that religious authorities are stepping up a crackdown on adherents of the minority sect.
As Syed prayed with a small group in a rented premise in Johor, a 20-strong raiding party scaled a fence and burst in.
“It sparked fear among the worshippers, the women and children began crying,” he told AFP.
“There were four men with face masks… One of them had a gun and they accused me of not cooperating and threatened to assault me.”
Such raids, which have been happening on and off since 2010, have “created a climate of fear among the Shia community”, the 53-year-old told AFP.
And a private gathering of some 60 Pakistani Shias was disrupted when religious enforcement officers burst in, although none were arrested.
No-one detained in the recent raids was held for long and none have so far been charged in court – but they worry the tactics are aimed at making them too frightened to worship.
Shia Muslims say they have faced frequent persecution in Malaysia since a top Islamic body issued a fatwa against them in 1996, and religious authorities regularly denounce them as “deviant”.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/c...still-fear-crackdown-after-ashura-detentions/
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/c...still-fear-crackdown-after-ashura-detentions/
Dozens of Shia Muslims have been rounded up recently in the Sunni Muslim-majority country, including several foreigners, fuelling fears that religious authorities are stepping up a crackdown on adherents of the minority sect.
As Syed prayed with a small group in a rented premise in Johor, a 20-strong raiding party scaled a fence and burst in.
“It sparked fear among the worshippers, the women and children began crying,” he told AFP.
“There were four men with face masks… One of them had a gun and they accused me of not cooperating and threatened to assault me.”
Such raids, which have been happening on and off since 2010, have “created a climate of fear among the Shia community”, the 53-year-old told AFP.
And a private gathering of some 60 Pakistani Shias was disrupted when religious enforcement officers burst in, although none were arrested.
No-one detained in the recent raids was held for long and none have so far been charged in court – but they worry the tactics are aimed at making them too frightened to worship.
Shia Muslims say they have faced frequent persecution in Malaysia since a top Islamic body issued a fatwa against them in 1996, and religious authorities regularly denounce them as “deviant”.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/c...still-fear-crackdown-after-ashura-detentions/
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/c...still-fear-crackdown-after-ashura-detentions/