Malaysian religious affairs minister rejects false claims about closure of religious schools in two states
- Published on November 12, 2025 at 04:24
- 2 min read
- By Najmi Mamat, AFP Malaysia
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Malaysian schools have seen a spate of violent incidents, including bullying, rape and murder, but there has not been an order to close religious schools in the states of Kedah and Kelantan from authorities. The religious affairs minister, who oversees religious education institutions, called the claims circulating online "false, malicious and defamatory". As of November 12, there have been no official announcements or reports about the closure of religious schools.
"Rape at school, murder at school, bullying at school, drunkenness at school... In the end, it's religious schools that get shut down, what a stupid religious affairs minister," reads a Malay-language Facebook post on October 23, 2025.
The post features a photo of the Malaysian Minister of Religious Affairs, Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, speaking to the press. Malay-language text above the image reads: "Unregistered religious schools (pondok) in Kelantan and Kedah are expected to be ordered to close."
The same image of Mohd Na'im was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on Facebook and Instagram.
The posts surfaced following several high-profile incidents of bullying, murder and rape in Malaysian local schools (archived here, here and here).
AFP has debunked a string of false claims after the incidents.
Although national media reported on October 23 that the Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIK) ordered one religious boarding school to close temporarily for operating without valid registration, there have been no reports of statewide closures in Kedah or Kelantan as of November 12 (archived link).
A keyword search on Google found Mohd Na'im calling the circulating announcement "slander" in a statement on his official Facebook page on October 23 (archived link).
"I strongly reject the claims circulating on social media that the Federal Government or my ministry will order the closure of religious schools (pondok) that are unregistered in Kelantan and Kedah," reads the Malay-language post. "The claim is false, malicious and defamatory."
"No order for the closure of the religious school (pondok) has been issued."
A Google reverse image search followed by keyword searches found the photo of Mohd Na'im used in the false post was originally uploaded to his official Facebook page on August 27 (archived link).
It was featured in a post about the minister attending a Koran recitation event in Kuala Lumpur and makes no mention of closing religious schools.
On October 28, Mohd Na'im demanded one of the Facebook users who first made the claim admit to making defamatory statements and issue a public apology (archived link).
Subsequently, the Facebook user issued a public apology over his allegation on November 4, admitting he had made a false claim (archived link).
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