Umno opposes any effort to promote and spread Syiah sect

BAGAN DATUK: Any effort by anyone to promote and allow the Syiah sect to spread in this country must be strictly rejected, said Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He pointed out that although followers of the sect were respected, efforts to assimilate the belief among members of the Sunnah Wal Jamaah adopted in this country would lead to factionalism among the Muslims.
The National Fatwa Council had stipulated that Malaysia rejected Syiah not because it hated the ideology but because it did not want the ideology to deviate the Muslims in this country, he said.
He added that although the Federal Constitution did not state it but the Islam practised in this country was based on the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah, and it must be respected because it was our social contract.
"The National Fatwa Council had decided that we rejected Syiah not because we hate it but we did not want the ideology to deviate the teachings of Muslim in Malaysia," he said at a function to fete 93 haj pilgrims in the Bagan Datuk Parliamentary constituency, here this afternoon.
The former Home Minister was commenting on a posting in the local portal which reported that the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa had said that Syiah followers in this country had the right as Malaysian national as long as they did not commit any crime. — Bernama