Woman Jailed for 'Worshipping Tea Pot', page 1

Woman Jailed for 'Worshipping Tea Pot'

www.telegraph.co.uk

Passing sentence, the Sharia judge Mohammed Abdullah said: "The court is not convinced that the accused has repented and is willing to abandon any teachings contrary to Islam. I pray God will open the doors of your heart, Kamariah."

Mrs Ali has already been jailed once for apostasy, for 20 months in 1992.

"This has to stop. They can’t be sending her again and again to prison for this," her lawyer, Sa'adiah Din, told reporters.

"She informed the court that she is not a Muslim ...

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
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www.iht.com
www.asianews.it

It's pretty sad that in this day and age some governments are allowing things like to to happen!

Malaysia constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but ...

This lady was born a Muslim, and according to the Islamic law, one can never leave the religion. Malaysia uses the Sharia Law for Muslims citizens. Mrs. Ali left the Islamic religion and jioned a "Tea Pot" worshiping cult called Sky Kingdom.
(I think she could have picked a better religion)

Even though she told the Sharia judge that she is not a Muslim anymore and shouldn't be judged under the Islamic Sharia Laws, he sentenced her to 2 years in jail.

This is the second time she has been sentenced to jail for leaving the religion.

Are they just going to keep throwing her in jail if she never goes back to being a Muslim?

It's hard to believe stories like this in this day and age.

Talk about a "captive audience"!


www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 5/3/08 by Keyhole]

reply to post by welivefortheson

---

Aye. You right on that, sadly. Elections are on the 8th of this month. The government is doing this to pander to the Muslim-right.

Edit to add: It's not a dictatorship, though. It could be a semi-police state. Police here are way too powerful and get away with too many things unless it's really huge (like blowing up a Mongolian with explosives a year or so back).

[edit on 5/3/2008 by Beachcoma]

Even though she had claimed, even in court, that she renounced her Muslim faith, the court said they didn't believe her!

Ex-Teacher Still a Muslim, Rules Court

A former religious teacher was yesterday found guilty of having proclaimed herself an apostate to avoid action being taken against her under syariah.
In finding 57-year-old Kamariah Ali guilty, the Syariah High Court here ruled that she was still a Muslim.

This was because her earlier application at the Syariah High Court in Kelantan to leave the religion had been rejected.

Kind of hard to leave a religion when they won't let you I guess!

In passing judgment, judge Mohamad Abdullah said based on fiq (Islamic practices), a person is a Muslim until proven that he or she had left the religion but in Kamariah's case, there was no solid evidence to cast doubts on the prosecution's case.

I guess her application to leave the relgion doesn't prove anything to these people, you have to have permission to leave the Islamic faith, and until they give you permission to leave the faith, they are going expect you to follow THEIRlaws.

Kamariah claimed she had left the religion in 1998

She claims she left the religion in 1998, even though she did not receive permission to leave the religion.

The Sharia Judge told her:

Mohamad said he did not want to punish her as he would rather see her return to Islam.

I just think that it's crazy that a religion would not give somebody the "permission" to leave their faith, then throw somebody in jail for leaving the faith.

[edit on 5/3/08 by Keyhole]

Originally posted by indierockalien
That's weird that she would choose to worship a tea pot, but I guess it's no weirder than worshipping another clump of mass that once existed.

Here is a little info on the "Tea Cup" religion.
(I figured most of you were wondering about it)

Sky Kingdom

Ariffin Mohamed, also known as Ayah Pin (Ayah is a common honorific meaning "father"), claims to have direct contact with the heavens and is believed by his followers to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Buddha, Shiva, and Muhammad. Moreover, devotees of Sky Kingdom believe that one day, Ayah Pin will return as the Imam Mahdi. His followers consider him the king of the sky, and the supreme object of devotion for all religions.

A major emphasis of the Sky Kingdom religion is ecumenical dialogue and inter-religious harmony.

Ayah Pin accepts the existence of angels as well as a class of Malaysian forest fairies called Orang Bunian. Ayah Pin is reported as claiming to be a god. Sky Kingdom also emphasizes the importance of spiritual healing as well as dream interpretation.

Ayah Pin used to conduct "sessions" on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. According to a witness, the sessions began with a special ritual whereby followers would usher Ayah Pin from the main building to a concrete boat in the compound in which he would lie. His followers would then start chanting for him until 4:00 am.[5] The witness also noted that the followers were not locals.

About the Tea Pot symbolism
From original News Source

For the eccentric sect, which emphasised ecumenical dialogue between religions, the tea pot symbolized the purity of water and "love pouring from heaven".

Like I said earlier, she could have picked a better religion to leave Islam for, but that isn't really what this thread is about.


[edit on 5/3/08 by Keyhole]

reply to post by Keyhole

---

I like how you missed this part of the quote:

Mohamad said although Kamariah claimed she had left the religion in 1998, she was still teaching at an Islamic institution in 2000.

That's pretty important. She was teaching Islam at an Islamic school while she claims she wasn't a Muslim anymore. That's got to be why it was earlier rejected. If she stopped teaching religion at the school, the application would have probably gone through. People can leave the religion, and they do in this country (unless it's to avoid court action, in which case the reason is suspect).

Although I have to admit it's a little bit harder to do so where she is (East Coast states). They're conservative and very religious (think of them as this country's Bible Belt, or more accurately, Quran Belt).

Personally I think this is just political manoeuvring by PAS, the state's ruling party, to get support from the conservative base. Election day is Saturday. Their main opposition, Barisan National is expected to make big gains in the upcoming elections. PAS used to control the neighbouring state, Terengganu, but lost it in the 2004 elections after they failed to make much of an improvement (in fact they made the economy there worse, instituting strict Sharia law that alienated non-Muslims and caused businesses to suffer.)

I don't know if this tactic will work or not, maybe it will. The people of Kelantan are just weird. Very cliquish and conformist.

[edit on 5/3/2008 by Beachcoma]

reply to post by Keyhole

---

I agree, but hey, this is Kelantan. Try comparing it to one of your crazy-ass Bible-thumper states where 95% of the population are the same religion and you might have a close approximation of their nutty logic. It's like that in Kelantan as well, and probably the reason why they get away with crazy Sharia interpretations. I'm so glad I live on the West Coast.

reply to post by Keyhole

---

And people wonder why we "godless liberals" ( ) work so hard to keep religion out of American politics and legal systems. It never goes well. Ever.

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