Ayah Pin

Ayah Pin with his 4 wives

Ayah Pin was born as Ariffin bin Mohammed on 22 June 1941 into a Muslim Malay family in Beris Kubor Besar, Bachok, Kelantan. His parents are Mohammed Merah and Saadiah Yaacob, both of whom were menial workers.[4] Abdul Rahman was his younger brother.[5]

Ayah Pin was illiterate[6] and he attended primary school until Year 2.[6] He was also involved in small part-time business, eventually working in scrap iron and buffalo trading, and even worked as a sub-contractor.[4]

He had four marriages and twenty one children.[4] Ayah Pin's first wife, Che Minah Ramli died in 2012; he later married an 18-year-old woman.[5] After remarried, Ayah Pin suffers from stroke.[5][7]

In 1953, Ayah Pin became seriously ill and he alleged that an angel visited him. Twenty years later, the angel returned and he began his spiritual career. Whether Ayah Pin was the founder is unclear; during this phase he may have been a follower of Hassan Ya'acob (also known as Anak Rimau), apparently another claimant to divinity.

After Hassan died, Ayah Pin and his four wives developed the Sky Kingdom teachings. His wives also the followers of the cult, since then Ayah Pin managed to gather many of his followers. Among of his deviant teachings are doomsday will not happened and Ayah Pin allegedly would become the Prime Minister in the afterlife.

Around the mid-1980s, the Sky Kingdom commune was formed on its present site in Besut. Some reports state that the office of Islamic Affairs declared the group to be deviant at this time. In 1995, Sky Kingdom's signature building projects began, as per divine revelation. Two years later, Local Religious Affairs council (Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Melayu Terengganu) issued a fatwa against the group. Around this time, four adherents were arrested for renouncing Islam, but they were later freed on grounds that as ex-Muslims Malaysia's sharia court no longer enjoys jurisdiction over them.[2]

In 2001, Ayah Pin renounced Islam.[2] The Sharia court accused him of contravening Section 25 of the Enakmen Pentadbiran Hal Ehwal Agama Islam 1986 (Administration of Islamic Religious Affairs 1986), stating that his teachings and beliefs were false, deviant, corrupting and threatening to the public peace (membawa ancaman kepada ketenteraman orang awam serta merosakkan akidah). He pleaded guilty to the charge of "belittling Islam" (menghina Islam), and was jailed for 11 months and fined RM 2,900. The Religious Affairs Office hoped that Ayah Pin's arrest would prevent the movement's growth, however Sky Kingdom continued to attract new followers from among university students and Orang Asli.[8]

On 18 July 2005, a group of masked vigilantes vandalised the group's headquarters, smashing windows and torching buildings.[9] Two days later, 58 followers were arrested,[10] and on 31 July three of Ayah Pin's four wives were also arrested in Kelantan.[11] Ayah Pin escaped arrest and became a fugitive wanted by the Malaysian authorities. Forty-five members face charges of failing to observe the government fatwa (i.e. for continuing to be members of a sect declared as deviant), which carries a fine up to RM 3,000 or two years in prison. One of those arrested faced an additional charge of "humiliating Islam". Court cases promise to revolve around the issue of religious freedom, which is theoretically guaranteed by the Malaysian constitution.

On 1 August 2005, officials of the Besut Land and District Office destroyed Sky Kingdom's various buildings, citing Section 129 of the National Land Code (which punishes unauthorised construction with land confiscation). The titular landowner is Ayah Pin's first wife, who apparently failed to appear in court for a hearing on the matter. On 1 September 2005, at a hearing, a trial date for 45 followers accused of violating the government fatwa was set for three days beginning 18 December that year. All of the accused were represented by Wan Haidi Wan Jusoh of Ubaidullah Aziz and Co, who unsuccessfully petitioned the court to order his name blacked out by the media. The group had previously experienced great difficulty in attracting legal representation, presumably owing to attorneys' fear of reprisals or negative publicity.[12]

As of 2007, after wide media coverage, the original Hulu Besut commune, now down to 24 members, had reportedly chosen a new leader, who turned out to be a former police chief inspector in his 30s. The group is suspicious of visitors, and routinely turns off the commune's lights whenever a car approaches at night, in order to conceal themselves.[13] From 2009 onwards, Ayah Pin was believed to have been residing in exile in Narathiwat, Thailand, past border from Kelantan.

On 22 April 2016, Ayah Pin died in the home of his third wife, Che Jaharah Awang in Kampung Batu 13, Hulu Besut due to natural causes. He was 74 years old. Before his death, it was reported that he had been suffering from various illnesses since fleeing from the authorities in 2005. His body was laid to rest at Batu 13 Cemetery, Hulu Besut, Kuala Terengganu.[14][2]

• List of people who have claimed to be Jesus
• List of Buddha claimants
• List of Mahdi claimants
• List of messiah claimants
• Freedom of religion in Malaysia

• "Ariffin Mohammed a.k.a. Ayah Pin, cult leader – obituary". The Telegraph. 5 May 2016.