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Wife of missing Perlis activist grilled over ‘Shia pictures’

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Norhayati Ariffin was asked about Arabic calligraphies of Imam Mahdi and Hussein, two important figures in Shia Islam.

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Free Malaysia Today
Norhayati Ariffin was grilled about pictures in her home taken by Perlis religious authorities.

KUALA LUMPUR:
The wife of missing Perlis activist Amri Che Mat was today asked about her religious leanings, based on pictures of her house taken by state religious authorities during a raid in 2015, about a year before his mysterious disapperance.

Norhayati Ariffin, who was questioned at the inquiry by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today, was shown photographs taken from her house, showing picture frames in Arabic.

Asked by police observer R Munusamy on the meaning of the images, Norhayati said they were related to Imam Mahdi, a character some Muslims believe will at the end of time come to redeem humanity.

When pressed by Munusamy to state whether it was a Shia teaching, Norhayati replied: “All Muslims believe in Imam Mahdi.”

Munusamy then showed another image with Arabic text, to which Norhayati said it was a reference to Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet who is one of the central figures in Shia Islam.

When asked whether Hussein was a figure for Shia Muslims, Norhayati said she was not aware of this.

The references to Shia Islam in today’s inquiry were due to suspicions that Che Amri’s disappearance could be related to his alleged Shia belief.

In January, Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who joined the 2015 raid on Che Amri’s home, had attacked him for practising Shia Islam, the second largest sect in the Muslim world which Malaysian Islamic authorities label as “deviant”.

Asri said Amri, who co-founded welfare body Perlis Hope, practised mut’ah, a form of contract marriage not recognised in Malaysia, which can be summarily ended with the consent of both sides.

The Suhakam inquiry is also investigating the disappearance of Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth. The couple was last seen on Nov 30, 2016.

The inquiry had also included the case of Pastor Raymond Koh, who has been missing since February last year after he was abducted by some 10 men in Petaling Jaya.

But the inquiry could not continue with Koh’s case after a suspect was charged with kidnapping the pastor.

Wife of missing Perlis activist names mufti Asri, Shahidan Kassim

Asri attacks missing Amri, says Shia Islam threatens ‘national security’

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