Just to show how far Malaysia has swung towards fundamentalism, even hardline Wahhabi states like Saudi Arabia don’t arrest Shiites…

(AP) — More than 200 Muslim Shiites – including Iranians, Indonesians and Pakistanis — detained in one of the biggest swoops on outlawed Muslim sects in Malaysia may be charged with breaching Islamic laws, an official said Monday.

Government authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia consider only the Sunni denomination to be legal. Sunni Islam is the world’s largest branch of the religion, followed by Shia Islam.

Islamic officials raided a shop house in the Gombak district in central Selangor state last week and arrested the group, who were allegedly followers of the outlawed Shia sect, said Nurhamizah Othman, a public relations officer at the Selangor Islamic Religious Department.

It was the largest swoop of outlawed groups in recent months, the department director, Muhammad Khusrin Munawi, told state media. He said the Shia doctrine is a threat to national security because it permits the killing of Muslims from other sects who are regarded as infidels. . . .

Nurhamizah said the detainees have all been released on bail, except two Iranians. Most are likely to be charged in an Islamic court with following the teachings of a deviationist movement, which carries a penalty of up to two years in jail, she said.