Ayah Pin’s family denies trying to revive deviant cult

Compiled by TEH ATHIRA YUSOF and R. ARAVINTHAN

THE family of Ariffin Mohammed, famously known as Ayah Pin, has denied allegations that they are involved in attempts to revive the Kerajaan Langit (Sky Kingdom) deviant group.

An unnamed female relative told Kosmo! that family members are prepared to give their statements and cooperate with the authorities on the matter.

“If authorities have questions, then we are ready (to answer). All the allegations are false and I do not know anything of the claims made.

“Do not take action just because people report it. We have been detained before, naya (it is troublesome),” she said when met at Kampung Batu 13 in Hulu Besut, Terengganu.

The relative also spoke to Terengganu police chief Datuk Mazli Mazlan, who was inspecting the settlement of Ayah Pin’s followers. The settlement, which was once the headquarters of the Sky Kingdom and covers approximately 2.3ha, is inhabited by 124 family members.

Meanwhile, the woman also appealed for a fair investigation as some of her family members are elderly and frail.

She said she felt uncomfortable and that it was difficult to maintain privacy with the presence of outsiders in their settlement.

Mazli said so far, police were satisfied with the explanations given by Ayah Pin’s family, adding that police would continue to work with the Terengganu Islamic Religious Affairs Department to monitor and curb any attempt to spread deviant teachings.

Last Sunday, Kosmo! reported that Muslims in Terengganu had voiced their concerns about attempts to revive Ayah Pin or Sky Kingdom.

Previously, the Terengganu Islamic Religious Council and Malay Custom’s fatwa committee had issued a fatwa declaring Ayah Pin’s teachings as deviant.

> Actress Rozita Che Wan or Che Ta said she sets boundaries with her married male co-stars on set to avoid any misunderstanding, Utusan Malaysia reported.

She said this has been her practice since she started her career.

“When I started acting, I was already a divorcee. Whenever I was partnered with a married co-star, I would not talk to them much on set,” she said.

Che Ta was responding to questions about cases of third parties among local celebrities affecting co-stars’ marriages.

The actress also said third parties often knew about their partners being married and having families.

“My advice is to be cautious (of such people). That is why I have no female friends,” she said.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.