The government has detected 22 deviant sects to date and topping the list was the one headed by self-styled spiritualist 'Ayah Pin', whose real name is Ariffin Mohammad, in Terengganu.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Mohd Abdullah Zain told the Dewan Rakyat today these groups are scattered all over the country and have a total of 2,820 followers.

Out of this number, 2,383 have repented through various religious means such as counseling, he said in his reply to Ismail Noh (PAS-Pasir Mas).

Apart from Ayah Pin's sect, the others include the Al-Arqam movement, ajaran Ghazali Othman, ajaran anti-Hadis, ajaran al-Mas, syiah, ajaran qadiani and ajaran hasan anak rimau .

At a press conference later, the minister described Ayah Pin's sect , which he estimated to have around 200 followers, as "the top deviationist and its existence very challenging".

Second on the list was the Al-Arqam movement, which according to Mohd Abdullah, also has about 200 active members.

He said there were efforts to revive the movement's influence following its ban in the mid 90s.

ISA detention?

Mohd Abdullah said the government will continue to monitor these sects and provide them with counseling.

"If they are still stubborn, we will take legal action against them such as charge them in the syariah court," he added.

He also pointed out that it was difficult for the government to curb deviant teaching groups because many of them who claim to have repented, were not being honest.

"They just pretend to repent. They pretend everything is normal during daytime but they continue to affiliate with the group at night," he told reporters.

Asked on whether the government will use the Internal Security Act against these groups, he said the preventive law will only be invoked when their activities threatened public order and national security.

"We are a democratic country, don't always talk about detention... we believe we will continue to give counseling to them and the matter of detention, I will leave it to the Internal Security Ministry," he added.