A young Malaysian Muslim who took part in Hindu rituals to pray for his ailing mother publicly repented on Thursday in a ceremony live-streamed by state religious authorities, a day after a sharia court ordered him to undergo three months of faith rehabilitation.
The spectacle has raised questions about the enforcement of Islamic orthodoxy in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where state religious departments wield significant influence to police the personal conduct and religious beliefs of Muslims.
Wearing emerald-green traditional Malay attire, 21-year-old Aliff Daniel Adli read his declaration before senior Islamic officials at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque in Selangor, the state surrounding Kuala Lumpur. The proceedings were broadcast on the official Facebook page of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department.