Malaysian ghost exhibition falls foul of Islamic clerics

A Malaysian state has closed down a controversial museum exhibition on ghosts, ghouls and supernatural beings after Islamic clerics declared it was detrimental to Muslims' faith, newspapers reported yesterday.

The exhibition at the state museum in southern Negeri Sembilan has drawn some 25,000 visitors since it opened on March 10 but it has also attracted criticisms from religious scholars who charged the show was un-Islamic and based in fantasy, the New Straits Times reported.

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Rais Yatim has also disapproved of the exhibition, saying it was not beneficial to the community. But the museum has claimed its aim was to educate the public.

The exhibition capitalizes on widespread fascination in Malaysia with otherworldly creatures from local legends and mythology. Reports said artifacts included alleged carcasses of vampires and a mythical phoenix bird.

The Negeri Sembilan state government, however, decided to halt the show on Friday after the National Fatwa Council ruled it was forbidden in Islam as it could undermine Muslims' faith, the Star newspaper reported.

Abdul Shukor Husin, chairman of the fatwa council which advises the government on Islamic regulations, was quoted as saying that spirits and supernatural beings involved the "invisible world" and were beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

"We don't want to promote a belief in tahyul [the supernatural] and khurafat [superstition] which we do not know about. We do not need to focus on such things or play them up by having such exhibitions,'' he was quoted as saying.

Negeri Sembilan state secretary Kamarudin Siaraf said the museum would follow the council's ruling. The exhibition, due to end on May 31, was closed on Friday.