JOHOR BARU: The Johor Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) has detained a 50-year-old religious preacher on suspicion of teaching without valid credentials at a house in Pasir Gudang.
JAINJ director Nasri Md Ali said the department’s Enforcement Division, assisted by the Seri Alam district police, detained the local man at 8.30pm on Wednesday to facilitate investigations under Section 11 of the Johor Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1997 for teaching religion without proper accreditation.
“The preacher delivered his sermon to a congregation and streamed it live on social media.
“The house, which belongs to another individual, had been used as a venue for daily religious lectures after Maghrib and Subuh prayers.
“At the time of the arrest, several individuals were listening to his lecture at the house, and the session was being livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, but the video has since been deleted,” Nasri told Bernama yesterday.
He said a complaint regarding the preacher had been raised earlier this month.
“According to records, the preacher was previously detained in 2016 for the same offence. In 2020, the department conducted another raid, but he managed to escape.”
