GEORGE TOWN: Muslims in the country have been advised not to be easily influenced by claims involving the birth of Imam Mahdi and avoid falling victim to fraud by individuals or parties with certain trickery.
Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor felt the need to explain the matter since claims of the birth of Imam Mahdi came up from time to time.
"Since claims of the birth of Imam Mahdi are often raised, it is good that this issue is given some light to not confuse society, especially the Muslims in this country.
"In fact, we find many individuals or groups who exploited the issue of Imam Mahdi for specific purposes, especially for political interests and religious influence.
"Therefore, I want to advise Muslims in this country to not easily be influenced by claims of the birth of Imam Mahdi and not fall victim to fraud by individuals or parties with certain trickery," he said today.
Wan Salim said the first thing that needed to be emphasised was that evidence about the coming of Imam Mahdi was not found in the Quran.
He said while there were dedicated hadith about it, but most of it were weak.
He said that from all the hadiths, it could be concluded that Imam Mahdi was from the Aalil Bait, the descendants of Prophet Muhammad.
"The arrival of Imam Mahdi at the end of time, is hoped, will fight for justice in the face of the earth, which before this was filled with tyranny.
"It can be said that every divine religion, namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is waiting for the arrival of Imam Mahdi to help defend their respective religions.
"In fact, for the Shiites, there is also a version of Mahdi, that is strange and difficult to understand, which is the son of Imam Hasan Al-Askari, who is said to be hiding in an underground hole in Samurra' Iraq. Shiites have been waiting for his birth until now.
"In Sudan, many Muslims in the country regarded their religious leader, who led the rebellion against Turkish rule in the 18th century, as Imam Mahdi," he said, adding that indeed there were many individuals or groups who exploited the issue of Imam Mahdi for specific purposes, especially for political interests and religious influence.
"The issue of Imam Mahdi has nothing to do with the Islamic faith.
"Whoever believes, then he can wait for the birth of the saviour, without spreading it to the others. Whoever does not believe, then he does not become a kafir with such an attitude," he said.
Yesterday, the government said it was working closely with the Saudi Arabian authorities to locate the whereabouts of Tarekat al-Naqsyabandiah al-Khalidiyyah leader Habib Shah Firdaus Habih Ahmad.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad had said that the same action was also taken against Habib Shah Firdaus' hundreds of followers, believed to be still in the country.
Idris said the group was considered having deviated from Islam, including believing that there would be an appearance of Imam Mahdi on the last day of Arafah.
It was earlier reported that Habib Shah Firdaus is believed to have been in Saudi Arabia since last March with hundreds of his followers to perform Umrah, and at the same time, to await the appearance of Imam Mahdi.
Negri Sembilan mufti Datuk Mohd Yusof Ahmad had said that it was believed that half of the 300 followers of Habib Shah Firdaus, who have been in Saudi Arabia since last March, had returned to Malaysia after finding out that nothing happened on the day of Arafah.
However, Habib Shah Firdaus and some followers did not give up and are still living there, waiting for the 10th of Muharram (Monday) to look forward to the same event.
Following this, Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Al-Aliyah Sheikh Nazim Al-Haqqani in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, was ordered to close for six months following complaints about actions or matters in violation of Islamic law.