The story I am going to narrate is about a man called Ariffin Mohamad who was born in Kelantan, Malaysia during the World War 2. This 65 year old man is called "Ayah Pin". In the Malay language, "Ayah" means father and Pin is the shortform for Ariffin (the local Malays have a knack of pronouncing names differently for instance "fin" becomes "Pin".
When he was 10 years old (1953), he became seriously ill and he alleged that an angel had visited him and the same angel had visited him 20 years later which started off his spiritual movement.
Ayah Pin, a muslim, claims that he has direct communication with Heaven. The followers on the other hand believes him to be the reincarnation of Buddha, Lord Siva, Prophet Muhammad and also not to miss out Jesus Christ. My, my, my....what a claim! This is more outrageous than the celebrity Madonna claiming to be the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe. Some guys who could not tolerate this claims went on to superimpose his image to reflect what he claims to be..."the king of the sky" as can be seen by the photo below:
Not only that, but the followers of the Sky Kingdom strongly believe that one day Ayah Pin will return as the "Imam Mahdi". In Islamic terms, the "Mahdi" means the "guided one". The "Guided One" is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay either 7 yrs, 9 yrs or 19 yrs on earth (some variation on the interpretation exists) before the "Yaum al-Qiyamah" meaning the day of Resurrection or Day of the Standing. It is a strange belief where Muslims believe that Jesus Christ and Mahdi will together rid the world of error, injustice and tyranny. I am a little bit loss of words to comment on this one. This concept of Mahdi is actually not at all mentioned in the Quran or in the Hadis belonging to the Sunnies. Infact, the theologians do question the Mahdist beliefs as such though such beliefs do form a necessary part of the Shi 'ite doctrine.
His followers consider him the king of the sky, and the supreme object of devotion for all religions. Yeah, Right! Somehow, strangely, this supreme object of devotion who is the king of sky is now on earth living in exile in Thailand as the Malaysian Islamic body is after him for his blasphemous sermons, claims and activities.
............News report from the Star........
Friday November 14, 2008
Sky Kingdom’s Ayah Pin living in Thailand
By STEVEN DANIEL and R.S.N. MURALI
Ayah Pin
KUALA LUMPUR: Elusive “Sky Kingdom” cult leader Ayah Pin, who disappeared after the crackdown at his Terengganu commune in 2005, is said to be living in self-exile in southern Thailand.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said Ayah Pin, whose real name is Ariffin Mohamad, had sneaked into Terengganu recently but fled soon after. He said police were about to pick him up but “the state Religious Department told us to leave him be.”
Musa, who was speaking to reporters after a seminar at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia in Gombak here yesterday, said he had instructed the Terengganu CPO to brief him on the details.
At the height of his popularity, Ayah Pin had four wives and almost 50 followers living with him in the commune, including a police inspector and a drummer of a rock group, all of whom are facing trial now.
The deviant religious group was known for its giant structures of a teapot, vase, umbrella, concrete boat and a “palace” erected at the commune in Hulu Besut, Terengganu.
Ayah Pin had, among others, claimed that God was human. His deviationist teachings included not making Friday prayers compulsory. At one point, many thought Ayah Pin had died as he had not been seen for a while.
Earlier in his speech, Musa pointed to Ayah Pin as an example of overlapping jurisdiction between the state religious departments and Syariah courts with the police on certain cases involving Muslims. He said in the Ayah Pin case, it was the Syariah courts that first monitored the group before the police assisted them in gathering information.
“We passed our information to the religious department but they were slow to act and by the time they gave us the green light to detain him, he had fled,” Musa said.
The IGP suggested it was time the police and the Syariah courts and state religious departments streamlined their laws and jurisdictions to prevent recurrences. Ayah Pin was declared an apostate for leaving Islam and had spent 11 months in jail in 2001 for his activities.
In Kuala Terengganu, State Religious Affairs and Information committee deputy chairman Muhamad Ramli Nuh said the religious department felt that Ayah Pin could no longer influence people as his teachings had been wiped out.
“Our mission was to eliminate his teachings and we had no intention of dragging him to court as it would be time consuming and bring no gain. We were successful in shooing him away to Southern Thailand, which is more relevant,” he said here yesterday. He said the “Sky Kingdom” base in Besut was no longer active, while his followers had also dispersed, adding that Ayah Pin was no longer a cause for worry.
Muhamad Ramli denied that enforcement officers were afraid to apprehend him as he possessed supernatural powers where he could vanish upon seeing the authorities. “All this talk is ridiculous. The man is old and frail, let him spend his twilight years repenting,” he added. When asked whether he knew the whereabouts of Ayah Pin when he visited Terengganu, Muhamad Ramli replied “Yes, we have been monitoring his movements closely.
2 comments:
He still in kamunting?
As the news report goes, he probably lived in Thailand but only lately spotted in East Malaysia.
No. Ayah Pin was not detained by the authorities in Kamunting using the "ISA". He is still a Free man.
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