ABOUT 100 people listening to a religious talk given by former Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin in a house in Hulu Klang last night were shocked when 35 Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) enforcement officers barged in and arrested him.

The crowd that also included the MP for Ampang Zuraida Kamaruddin and Hulu Klang assemblyman Saari Sungib was taken aback by the Jais officers barging into the Taman Sri Ukay house to arrest Mohd Asri.

His personal assistant Khosim Ismail said the incident happened at 11pm, in the middle of the talk, when the Jais officers and police arrived and halted the event.

“The excuse given was that Mohd Asri did not have any approval from Jais to organise or give religious talks in Selangor,” Khosim told Malay Mail.

He said the talk given by Mohd Asri was on religion and had nothing to do with politics. “Some of the people present told us the Jais officers were very rude when asked why Mohd Asri was being arrested,” he said.

Mohd Asri was arrested at 12.10am by police and taken to the Hulu Klang police station. Ampang Jaya district police chief ACP Abdul Jalil Hassan said police were only assisting Jais in the operation and that he did not  have details  on the matter.

Mohd Asri, who is widely known as Dr Maza, was Perlis mufti from 2006 to 2008. He is known for his liberal approach to Islam. The 38-year-old Penang-born is also remembered for his differences of opinion with the National Fatwa Council and the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) on certain issues.

Several days ago, 13 Muslim NGOs sent a protest note against Mohd Asri’s appointment as Yayasan Dakwah Islam Malaysia (Yadim) chairman, in which they also accused  him of attacking well-known ulama such as Imam Nawawi and Imam Ghazali.