A Shiite leader protested at discrimination against the sect's followers after the detention of 200 members by religious officials who claim they breached local Islamic laws.

NONE Shiite community leader Kamil Zuhairi Abdul Aziz told AFP the group had submitted a protest letter to the national human rights commission (Suhakam) after a recent raid of their prayer hall by state religious officers.

"The officers broke into and damaged our prayer hall which is private property and where we were having special prayers for the Prophet Muhammad's grandchildren," he said.

"If other communities like Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs and others have their right to worship and practise under the constitution, then why not us," Kamil Zuhairi added.

"We were condemned, criticised, slandered and threatened in local media just because we practise what had been preached by our ancestors who were Shiites and have lived in Malaysia for centuries."

Stigmatised

Kamil Zuhairi said there were about 40,000 Shiite followers in Malaysia but most practised their faith behind closed doors for fear of being stigmatised and targeted by the authorities.

A state Islamic religious department official, who declined to be named, told AFP the detainees, who include Pakistanis, Iranians and Indonesians, had been released on bail.

He said investigations were still ongoing and that the group could be charged with not following Sunni Islam, considered the only legal sect of Islam in Malaysia.

Shiites make up around 15 percent of Muslims worldwide. They represent the majority populations in Iraq, Iran and Bahrain and form significant communities in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Shiites believe the Prophet Muhammad should have been succeeded by his cousin Ali rather than his companion Abu Bakar. Traditional Sunnis believe any suggestion that Abu Bakar was an usurper is tantamount to blasphemy.

The Shiites are one of several Islamic sects under close watch by Malaysian religious authorities, which crack down hard on so-called deviant groups that deviate from orthodox teachings.

- AFP