Jais moots special detention camp for deviationists
The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) is proposing the establishment of a detention centre specially to cater for followers of alleged deviationist Islamic teachings.
The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) is proposing the establishment of a detention centre specially to cater for followers of alleged deviationist Islamic teachings. 
Its deputy director of enforcement, Mohd Rais Rasid (right), said this was necessary to contain followers of deviationist teachings to be quarantined separately from other detainees.
“They must not be allowed to share cell rooms with other detainees because we are worried that this group would affect the faith of others.
“Let them be confined together among themselves,” he told Malaysiakini during an interview at the Jais headquarters.
According to Mohd Rais, the group which poses most concern to them now are followers of the Shiite branch of Islam. In recent weeks, 128 alleged Shiite followers have been detained by Jais.
H
e said that such detention centres will also act as “rehabilitation” centres and detainees in such cases would not be placed in jail where they are in contact with others.
“If we don’t have such detention centres, we will have a dilemma. If we put a leader of a deviationist movement in jail, there will be chaos.
“We are worried that he would spread his teachings to other detainees,” he said, citing the example of how the leader of the Kahar cult disappeared while in jail.
Seeking from the wrong source
He said that the proposal for the detention centres is still in the early stages and more details would be revealed in the future.
Meanwhile, deputy planning and strategy director Nasrul Hadi Rohani (below) said that many followers of deviationist teachings were duped.
He said that normally the followers of such groups are individuals who are looking to learn more about Islam. 
“But they end up meeting the wrong teachers who set them on the wrong path. That’s why we encourage the public to learn about religion in the surau and the mosque because the teachers are recognised by Jais.
“This is what they should be looking for and not ask their friends, who would in turn ask another friend. This is what causes deviationist teachings. They are not seeking from the correct source,” he said.
The government considers only the Sunni denomination to be legal in Malaysia. Sunni Islam is the world’s largest branch of the religion, followed by Shia Islam.
