ALOR STAR: The Shia teachings, which have been declared deviant from Sunni teachings in Kedah, are not suitable to be practiced in Malaysia or the Southeast Asia region at large.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said Shia teachings are only suitable for practice in Iran, and are not suited to the nature of the 300 million Muslim population in this region.
"The early preachers brought a teaching (Sunni) that is pure and suited to our nature of being polite and well-mannered.
"Shia is suitable for Iran, and in some parts of Iraq. Shia is only suitable to be practiced there.
"When the teachings were spread to Pakistan, India, and Indonesia, there were bloodbaths and murders in the name of mazhab differences with Sunni," he said in his speech before presenting accreditation to Islamic teachers in Seri Mentaloon here today.
Present at the event was Kedah Mufti Datuk Fadzil Awang.
Sanusi stressed the importance of learning lessons from the civil war in Syria, which was purportedly sparked by the Shia-Sunni conflict.
"If we fail to protect our teachings (Sunni), one day there will be bloodbaths and murders in the name of mazhab differences.
"It is a sheer loss for a Muslim nation (Syria) that has achieved great civilization but is now torn into pieces," he said.
Meanwhile, Fadzil concurred that some of the extreme teachings under Shia are not suitable for Muslims in this country.
"There are many streams in Shia, but those that are too extreme are not suitable for us. In fact, Islam does not condone extremism," he said when met after the event.
Last month, the Kedah Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jheaik) detained 21 people during a raid on the house of a suspected Shia leader in Pendang.
Jheaik religious enforcement chief Zainul Mukhtar Abdullah Sirajuddin was reported as saying that the raiding team had also seized books and items associated with Shia teachings.
The Kedah government had, on June 15, 2014, gazetted the teachings and beliefs of Shia as being in conflict and deviant from the teachings of the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah, which forms the core belief of the Muslim community, particularly in the state.