The Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) will investigate a claim by former Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin, that a religious leader had asked followers to consume his saliva in order to attain his grace.

NONE Asri ( left ) had said in his most recent column for Malaysiakini that the ‘ceremony' had been convened during a lecture in a mosque.

He said the religious leader holds a state-appointed post and is accredited by Jais, but did not name the individual in the article.

When contacted, Jais public relations officer Nurhamizah Othman said the department has not received any report on the matter, but has opened a file on the case based on Asri's claim.

She advised Asri and members of the public to provide details to facilitate an investigation, including the name and location of the mosque, the identity of the religious leader and when the ‘ceremony' had taken place.

When contacted yesterday, Asri refused to identify the religious leader , but said he would ask those who had attended the ceremony to lodge a report with Jais.

Asked if he would cooperate with the department, Asri said: "Hold on. Let's see the progress of the investigation."

In his article, he described how followers of the religious leader and other participants had been told to queue up to receive the saliva in their mouth, but did not go into details.