Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia - A remark comparing the beruk (monkey) with the state religious department employees drew laughter at the trial of followers of the Sky Kingdom sect at the Syariah High Court here.
Masjid Kampung Lah iman Nawawi Husin, 64, said he stopped holding religious classes at the sect’s commune in Hulu Besut after hearing a remark supposedly made by a sect follower.
He said a villager at nearby Kampung Batu 13 had informed him that the follower told him (villager) that his beruk was better than the state religious department employees.
The testimony of Nawawi given in thick Terengganu dialect evoked laughter, including a wry smile from judge Mohamad Abdullah.
Mohamad interjected, asking whether Nawawi had heard the remark himself. Nawawi replied that he had heard it from a villager in a coffee shop.
Nawawi, the prosecution’s 11th witness, was testifying in the trial of 47 alleged followers of the faith.
They have been charged under Section 10 of the Syariah Criminal Offence Enactment (Takzir) Terengganu 2001 with not adhering to a state fatwa declaring the teachings as deviant.
On the directive of the department, Nawawi said he held 13 religious classes in the house of a follower in the commune from January to May 2002.
“Those who attended were mostly women, including the wives of Ariffin Mohamad (better known as Ayah Pin),” he said.
Cross-examined by counsel Sa’adiah Din, he said the classes were held in the evenings and sometimes after dusk.
“All of them joined me in prayers either during Asar, or during Maghrib and Isyak,” he said, adding that he had never seen Ayah Pin in the commune.
Another witness, Che Jusoh Sulaiman, 48, said the structures built in the commune gave the impression that the place was Mecca.
Che Jusoh, the Kampung Batu 13 Village Development and Security committee chairman, was replying to a question from chief syariah prosecutor Mustafar Hamzah.
Cross-examined by Sa’adiah, Che Jusoh admitted he had never been to Mecca.
He said some of the sect followers had told him that the commune was the same as Mecca since the two places were built by humans.
“They feel there is no need to go to Mecca,” he said.
The judge is expected to visit the commune to have a clearer picture of the events that transpired in court.