Resort manager remanded for four days

A manager from the Tanjung Sutera Resort, Tanjung Sedili in Kota Tinggi Johor has been remanded for four days after allowing a Buddhist group to meditate in a surau. The manager aged 45 was arrested at the resort at 1:30 pm yesterday and brought to court at 9:30 am today. It was reported in Berita Harian that the surau had the wrong direction to Mekkah and the Quranic verses on the wall were inaccurate too. The disclosure was made after inspection by the Johor Islamic Religion Department (JAJ) together with the Mufti of Johor Datuk Mohd Tahrir Samsudin and Johor Islamic Religious Council (MAIJ) advisor Datuk Noh Gadut. He added that according to calculations, the surau's Qiblat direction is at 280 degrees while the correct direction to Kaabah in Mecca is actually 292.5 degrees. He also said the ‘Kalimah Syahadah’ hung on the wall were not according to the Arabic tajweed (rules which dictate how the Quran should be read). The decision on the casse will be made after investigation is done under section 7 (a) of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1997 for insulting the Islamic religion. The resort manager was arrested following a prayer video entitled ‘Surau dijadikan tokong Buddha di Johor’ for 85 seconds on Youtube and Facebook went viral. Guidelines to build a surau by MAIJ: • Built on a wakaf (endowment) land. • Construction must get MAIJ permission and reference through the Kadi District Office. • Have the correct direction to Mecca. • Monitoring carried out according ton cleanliness and Quranic verses in the mosque. • Havemanagers / committee / person responsible to manage the mosque. • Have a bilal and imam.