Malaysia Boleh...Ayah Pin

This I read and found quite interesting..so I copy & paste all to read...

FOLLOWERS OF THE 'TEAPOT TEMPLE' They believe water from this teapot can cure the ill
We uncover an unusual religious sect in Terengganu, once held by Islamic party PAS
By Josephine Chew
DEEP in what was once an Islamic stronghold lies an eye-popping commune.
The followers of the Ayah Pin religion have built a colourful mini-village dominated by this two-storey-high teapot.
Like a slice of Disneyland in the Terengganu heartland, the teapot which was built last year, stands alongside a giant umbrella, a giant vase, a giant crescent and a sampan - all in clashing hues of hot pink, bright yellow and royal blue.
Kampung Batu 13, home of the giant crockery, is in Ulu Besut, just a stone's throw away from Kelantan.
A little dirt road that seemed to head into the jungle, was marked by only a small sign.
I entered cautiously.
There had been a flurry of advice when locals heard I was heading there.
'Be careful. The last time a reporter went there, he was chased out with parangs.'
'They'll cast a spell on you and won't let you leave.'
'Don't take any of the water and food - you'll become Ayah Pin's next wife.'
A place of myth and magic for the locals, it seems.
NO ENTRY
Kak Bidah, a fruit seller at a nearby village who gave directions to the little lane, said: 'They don't bother us, we don't bother them.
'We don't even know what they do there. But they're not from around here, they're all outsiders and I think they're quite rich.'
A massive iron gate with a sign saying No Entry Without Permission looked ominous. But it was easy getting in.
A short holler, and a resident just waved me in.
But the 60 believers who live there were suspicious at first, especially since the head of the group, Ayah Pin, wasn't at home that day.
The New Paper on Sunday caught up with him in Kuala Lumpur the next day.
The group was wary of reporters as it has been plagued by allegations of cultism.
At least four Malays in the group have renounced Islam, and have been jailed for this.
But after I'd spent some time at one of the more than 20 kampung houses on site, residents warmed up and answered questions cheerfully.
Do they still consider themselves Muslim?
The answers were mixed.
'Because we're Malay we have to be Muslim. But we transcend religions because there are many routes to the one God who made us all,' said Mr Mohd Yusof Hussein, 45, who has lived there for four years.
'I don't pray five times a day, I don't believe in going to Mecca. Does that mean I'm not Muslim?
'But I'm very religious and I believe in God.
'And people of different religions come to listen to Ayah Pin as well.'
The hotch-potch is reflected in the architecture.
Right alongside the beautifully-made, modern concrete community structures were over 20 shabby, wooden kampung houses.
Ayah Pin lives in a tiny kampung house all by himself, while his four wives and 21 children live in separate houses nearby.
The reach of his teachings could be seen from cars, with plates from Johor, Perak and Terengganu.
Apparently, followers who want to live on the compound can build their own houses.
But rising above all is the giant teapot.
What's it for? The standard reply was: 'If you have to ask, it means you wouldn't understand anyway.'
The RM40,000 ($18,000) teapot was conceived by a 'divinely inspired' member of the group who has since died.
Detailed plans were drawn up by another before it was built in gotong-royong (co-operative) style over four months last year. It was finished in November.
It's a proper teapot, with 'special water'.
The 300 sick people who throng to the compound every weekend to seek Ayah Pin's help either drink or bathe under the water which comes from a nearby well.
TEA-ROOM
When the vase that dispenses water from its taps runs low, the pipe valve in the teapot's spout automatically pours water into the vase.
And it doubles up as a meeting room as well, because there's a room inside the teapot.
The latest structure, which was finished in February, is the three-storey umbrella structure. It has a room inside as well.
Costing roughly RM70,000, it was also built by the faithful, using materials paid for by donors.
The place even has its own coffeeshop.
During my visit, several merchants, and the electricity and telephone bill man wandered in and out of the compound freely, if somewhat uncomfortably.
And followers were quick to point out that while they advocate an alternative lifestyle, they were very much a part of mainstream life.
'All our children go to the nearby government school at Bukit Payung secondary and primary school.
'And when we're sick we go to the government hospital,' said Ayah Pin's third wife, Madam Ruzila Makhar, 40.
'Most followers work, earn money and pay taxes too. We're really not as abnormal as everyone makes us out to be.'
Squabble over land ownership
THERE's a struggle for Terengganu's little Disneyland, and it's about land.
The head of the group, Ayah Pin, and his first wife moved to the site 25 years ago.
The land is still owned by his first wife, Che Minah Ramly, 58.
It was then dense jungle land that was allocated as agricultural land for fruit trees and the like.
But when the group expanded and started building the surreal structures from 1996 onwards, the Terengganu government started taking an active interest.
ORDERED TO BE TORN DOWN
In 2000, the land office issued orders for the buildings to be torn down as they contravened the national land code for the use of agricultural land.
However, the order was quashed in 2002 by the Kuala Terengganu high court after the group filed a protest.
The group filed to convert the land from agricultural to built-up land, which was rejected in March this year.
Said lawyer Haris Mohd Ibrahim who acts for the group pro bono: 'I find it very curious that this one kampung has been singled out with a strict insistence on the National Land Code.
'Virtually every kampung in this country doesn't comply to it.
'So unless there's a move to implement and apply this code strictly throughout the country, it will be a battle I will continue helping them fight.'
He also clarified that he is a Muslim who is not a follower of Ayah Pin.
'They could be worshipping the devil - which they are not by the way - but they still have a human right to exist if they follow the laws of the land. That's why I spend my time helping them out.'
He's the leader with 4 wives
His ideas are out of this world
HE supreme head of this group, Ayah Pin, believes he is God Tincarnate. 'I'm omnipresent and omnipotent. I was once Jesus, and have been reincarnated since the beginning of time into the vessel of a human body.
'This is my last human incarnation, so when this body dies, it'll be the end of the earthly world, and time for my government in the sky.'
The Malay-speaking religious leader Ayah Pin made such outlandish statements during the interview with The New Paper on Sunday recently.
Born Ariffin Muhamad in a small village in Kelantan 61 years ago, he had just returned from a four-day trip to Bali, where followers said he was honoured as head priest of a Hindu group there.
He has more than 1,000 followers and they are far from being limited to the borders of Terengganu.
It was quite a sight to watch videos of Hindu priests washing his feet, and bowing in respect to him - not just in Bali, but at Batu Caves and at a nearby Hindu temple at Setapak as well.
The eight followers who were present during the interview also said that at least nine Singaporean businessman have come to seek his help for the success of their business while they were in Johor last year.
And it's not as if his followers are redneck hicks, because many are cosmopolitans who have spent time overseas.
Among them are civil servants, successful businessmen and even musicians with Anugerah Muzik Industri (the Malaysian Grammys) awards.
Still, it was bizarre meeting the man claiming to be God at a follower's shophouse at Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.
But though I was surrounded by many of his followers, I did not feel threatened.
He was a perfectly charming and genial old man, with piercing brown eyes.
Even when it was obvious that I was finding many of the claims difficult to process, he didn't seem to mind.
'You'll understand in time. There are many different levels of understanding. There's no rush,' he said.
HUMAN VICES
But he was also very human, with human vices, like puffing away on cigarettes while waving the thick gold chain on his right wrist.
He has also had six wives and 21 children.
His first wife, Che Minah Ramly, 58, owns the land they occupy in Terengganu.
One has died, the other he divorced, leaving him with four wives in his current stable.
'I'm not Muslim, the different religions are just a means to the one God. And I'm over and above all the religions.
'But don't get me wrong, all religions are good because they help a person find the truth,' he said.
'But it's easier to not have one particular religion because the different structures and practices may impede your search.'
When asked whether he thought he was human, the answer was a firm no.
But was he subject to human failings, like anger? Or lust?
'Put it this way, even if I do wrong, I'm above it all. So it becomes right anyway,' he said after much prodding.
JAILED ONCE
The 61-year-old native Kelantanese said he had a revelation at the age of 10 that his body had been chosen as a vessel for God.
In a strange parallel to the life of the Christian saviour, Jesus, he only started his religious leadership at the age of 29 or 30, after years of fasting and praying in the wild.
For his unorthodox teaching, he has been put in jail by the Malaysian authorities.
His 11-month imprisonment at the Pengkalan Chepa jail in Kelantan ended in March 2002, and his influence seems to have continued expanding even then.
However, he claims that his imprisonment was illegal as having declared that he is not Muslim, the Syariah court does not have jurisdiction over him.
He continues to live mostly at his Kampung Batu 13 home and has an open house for suppliants seeking aid from Saturday to Sunday night.
So why are the seemingly random building shapes in his compound in Terengganu the way they are?
'Don't ask me why.
'It is just a mirror of the way it is in the government in the sky.
'I can't lie because once you go up yourself, you'll know if the plans are wrong.
'So things are the way they are just because, you can't explain it logically,' was his unhelpful explanation.
NO PROBLEMS WITH MONEY
The religious leader, who doesn't work, couldn't explain why he seemed to have an endless supply of money either.
'I don't know where it comes from. Sometimes if I tap my pockets, I suddenly have money. Anyway, my followers handle the money, not me,' he said.
At this juncture, the KL section head piped in saying that Ayah Pin had never asked him for money, ever, and if anything, it was him who has received money from Ayah Pin.
It was a surreal world indeed, as very intelligent, well-dressed followers entered in complete suppliance on their knees to greet him, and hung on his every word.
Perhaps the most disturbing part was when he said the world would end after his death.
But don't worry, he clarified. He still has a lot of work to do. And with our increasing lifespan, we have at least 20 more years to enjoy.
HIS FOLLOWERS
ONE of Ayah Pin's most fervent believers is Mr Kamarul Zaman, 37, who played host to me.
Suspicious at first, he ended up revealing how he once belonged to the banned Al-Arqam cult in Kuala Lumpur.
Despite earning RM6,000 ($2,700) a month as a successful graphic artist, the civil engineering graduate felt unhappy.
'But it's only now that I've found contentment and peace... it's about openness to all religions, all races, all peoples, while still integrating with the earthly world - we send the kids to government schools, and we follow the laws.'
But the beliefs are unorthodox.
Like how all religions have equal access to God, keeping God in mind is more important than praying or going to Mecca.
Holy books like the Quran and Bible are not regarded as the ultimate source of truth.
Madam Mary Pereira, a 51-year-old Catholic telemarketer was introduced to Ayah Pin by a Hindu friend.
'Honestly, it was a big struggle to accept him at first because it sounded so crazy. But now I really do believe he is the human vessel of God, of Jesus.
'I've had some love disappointments in the past... I've always had a bad temper and been a control freak. But I'm slowly getting better now.'
She says she is still Catholic and doesn't see her faith in Ayah Pin as a contradiction.
Her mother, however, disapproves. So does Mr Kamarul's mother.
He said: 'But I'm not sad because I know I've found the right road. Hopefully she will too.'