Sabah authorities to crack down on deviant religious group

KOTA KINABALU - Islamic authorities here are waiting for a state Cabinet decision as to whether Indonesia-based deviant religious group Milah Abraham will be banned in Sabah, said assistant minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif.

He said at a meeting last May, the religious authorities discussed the activities of Milah Abraham and decided that it was deviant to true Islamic teachings.

"We have issued a fatwa on Milah Abraham and the proposal for the ban has been submitted to the state cabinet," said Mohd Arifin after presenting excellence performance awards to the Sabah Islamic Affairs Department (Jheains) on Wednesday.

Arifin said that he hoped that the state Cabinet will announce their decision as soon as possible so that the ban on Milah Abraham could be enforced immediately.

He said that the ban would allow religious authorities and the police to go all out to arrest followers of this group.

He said that following a crackdown on Milah Abraham in the peninsula in 2016, many of its followers fled to Sabah.

"We are in the process of tracking down these followers," Arifin added.

On Monday, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar called on religious authorities in Sabah to ban deviationist groups like Milah Abraham from spreading their teachings in Sabah and Sarawak.