Introduction

In 1992, a group of academics from the National University of Malaysia (UKM) organized a seminar titled “Seminar Ahli Sunnah dan Syiah Imamiyyah” (“Seminar on Ahl al-Sunnah and Imami Shi’ism”) in Kuala Lumpur. The two-day event arguably aimed to demonize the Shi’a sect and its adherents, as evident from the content of the presentations which will be discussed below. Among the various presenters was Wan Zahidi Wan Teh (1992, pp. 1–34), a lecturer from the Department of Shariah who presented a paper on “Ahlul Bait Menurut Pandangan Sunnah dan Syiah” (“The Prophet’s Household According to Sunnis and Shi’as”).After a lengthy explanation of his own understanding of the Ahlul Bait, he argued that Shi’as should not have the right to talk about the Ahlul Bait, and he dismissed them as a movement founded by Jews. He then quoted the founder of Wahhabism, Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, and referred to Shi’as as apostates (ibid., p. 30). Proclaiming himself as a defender of Islam, he concluded that the goal of Shi’as in Malaysia was to cause Muslims to deviate from the Islamic creed, and to destabilize Muslim society through an underground movement in the country (ibid.).

Another paper titled “Bahaya Syiah Kepada Aqidah, Syariah, Akhlak, Ummah dan Negara” (“The Dangers of Shi’ism to the Islamic Creed, Shariah, Ethics, Muslim Society and the Nation”) was presented by a renowned Malaysian Deobandi scholar, Muhammad Asri Yusoff (1992, pp. 4–41).He began his paper by saying that “the truth is that Shi’ism is a teaching that has long been planned and organized by the enemies of Islam. It is the product and fruit of poisonous trees that were planted by Islam’s enemies in Muslim lands.” Arguably, Muhammad Asri’s paper was not presented according to academic conventions. He did not provide any framework or methodology, and his only argument was that Shi’ism was founded by a Jew by the name of Abdullah bin Saba, and is therefore inimical to Islam and Muslims as a whole.

There was only one paper that presented a more objective and balanced view of Shi’ism.