A group claiming to be followers of Ariffin Mohamed, or better known as Ayah Pin, have defended their spiritual leader after a Malay language daily published an article critical of his teachings.

The Berita Harian article on Saturday outlined the chronology of Ayah Pin's teachings since the early 1980s, its influence on professionals and university students over the years and its revival despite being banned as a deviant practice.

Requesting anonymity, the followers claimed that the article contained "very strong negative elements of fanatic Muslim".

"Apparently, the (article) described how Muslim Malaysians hated Ayah Pin for his great work to unite many people like the Orang Asli, Malays, Hindus and Balinese to one divine God," read the statement e-mailed to malaysiakini .

The group claimed the false statements were intentionally made to confuse people about Ayah Pin's teachings.

"(His) followers, many among them having degrees and PhDs, think that the contents of the article are very outdated and factually inaccurate and is funny to (read)."

Early last month, the self-styled spiritual leader's name popped up in Parliament when the government compared the threat from Ayah Pin's activities to that posed by alleged local militant groups.

Shallow understanding

The Internal Security Ministry is considering action, including using the Internal Security Act, against him but the 74-year-old instead issued a challenge to the authorities to visit his village in Terengganu along the Kelantan border.

The followers took offense to the tone of the article which they claimed portrayed Ayah Pin as a "very weak and hopeless spiritual leader".

"(The article) was also intended to threaten the followers from visiting the holy place especially during Hari Raya," read the statement, referring to Kampung Batu 13 in Hulu Besut where Ayah Pin is based.

Ayah Pin's followers concluded that the article was written by people with "a shallow understanding of human religions which has destroyed the harmony of religious practices and human rights in the world".

The group also pledged to hold true to their spiritual values following Ayah Pin whom they consider a "great spiritual leader" with a single mission of uniting all religions.

According to the Berita Harian article, Ayah Pin's teachings were declared deviant by a fatwa or religious edict on Sept 30 1995, which was gazetted two months later.

Movement revived in 2002

He reportedly hid from the law but was successfully tracked down, tried and sentenced to 11 months imprisonment and fined RM2,900 by the lower syariah court in Besut on June 27, 2001 after pleading guilty to a charge of insulting Islam. He had earlier claimed trial.

He was charged under Section 209 (2) of the Administration of Terengganu Religious Affairs Enactment 1986 which carries a RM3,000 fine, a maximum one year jail term, or both.

The article said after his release in March 2002, Ayah Pin and his followers revived the movement and continued with their activities.

They also managed to evade Jakim as well as the religious department in Terengganu and Selangor, concluded the article.

Ayah Pin has previously denied having been jailed for spreading deviant teachings. He was unavailable for comment today.

The Islamic Development Department (Jakim) could not be reached for comment either.