SHAH ALAM: The Selangor Government has directed the Gombak district office and Selayang Municipal Council to check on illegal land use and violations at a mosque run by the deviant group Qadiani.

State Islamic Affairs, Malay Customs, Infrastructure and Basic Amenities Committee chairman Datuk Dr Hasan Ali said the mosque was built on residential land, and this was a clear violation of the provisions of the National Land Code.

“The council is now looking into the signboard at the mosque which was put up without approval,” he told reporters after launching a special briefing for government officials on the Non-Islamic Religions Enactment (Controls on Propagation Among Muslims) 1988 here yesterday.

Dr Hasan had said early last month that the state government was keeping tabs on Qadiani, which has been active around Kampung Nakhoda in Gombak for the last four years.

He also said the group seemed to be challenging the authorities, with its members going about the surrounding villages carrying banners of the movement, which had already been declared as deviant by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department.

Among its beliefs are that the members are prophets and descendants of slaves (ghulams) and that the haj should be performed in India. It has also changed verses in the Quran.

Dr Hasan said yesterday that the state government categorised the place of worship used by the deviant group as a mosque after finding that it was being used for Friday prayers and to conduct sermons (khutbah).

“The action by the district office and the local council is the first phase. We hope that it will send out the message that we are going after them,” he said.

“If they remain defiant and refuse to abandon their teachings, we will start looking at sterner action, including arresting the leaders behind it,” he said.