A widespread government campaign to curb the spread of Shiite sect in Malaysia may be a double-edged sword as it will only help spread the teachings to the curious, “searching” younger generation.

NONE PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar ( left ) said that while he agreed that Shiite teachings is not part of the Sunnah Wal Jamaah that is practised in Malaysia, the recent methods used to halt its spread needed to be re-examined.

"I am worried that the way the newspapers are giving so much publicity to Shiite teachings, even though their motive is to discriminate other political parties or what not, the end result is (that) it will prompt the younger generation to ask: 'What is Shiite?' " Mahfuz told reporters at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Key Malay-language newspapers - Berita Harian , Sinar Harian and Utusan Malaysia - have all recently featured stories about the spread of Shiite in Malaysia on its front pages.

Sinar Harian today reported that an Islamic NGO has alleged that Shiite teachings were also found in school textbooks.

Mahfuz said that instead of using the hammer approach, the government should instead identify Shiite followers and have a dialogue with them to stop the spread and at the same time build up on knowledge of Sunnah Wal Jamaah to counter them.

On Sunday, Berita Harian also carried a report that Shiite teachings, often associated with Iranian revolutionary movement, were being spread among undergraduates in four of Malaysia's universities.

Generation Y

Mahfuz, however, said that he was not surprised if the youths were drawn to Shiite teachings.

"That's generation Y for you. They are not the same as the older generation... they will not easily accept any truths on face value."

Mahfuz urged all Islamic teachers and authorities to understand the younger generation better as they are always searching, questioning everything, especially handed-down traditions.

He expressed concern that Shiite may follow the cause of Wahabi teachings, which had similarly spread due to persecution and due to its perceived as a more “simple” teaching.

When asked if PAS had Shiite followers, he deferred to earlier statements from other PAS leaders which had already denied the allegations.

Mahfuz, who is also the Pokok Sena MP, called a media conference to complain about the rise in controlled prices of essential goods during the Ramadan festive season.

He questioned why ceiling prices for most goods have been raised even as salaries were not keeping up.

"This is not win-win but win-lose situation. The government wins because it has lower subsidies and the wholesalers get more profit because of price hikes but the consumers are losing big," Mahfuz said.