A desolate grave awaits the Ulu Tiram Police Station attacker

KUALA LUMPUR: The Johor Religious Department has instructed the authorities to bury the attacker of the Ulu Tiram police station in seclusion, with his family being the only ones allowed to prepare his funeral and offer prayers at home.

The department released a harsh statement in which it declared the two police officers killed by the suspect to be martyrs (syahid) who lost their lives while protecting their country and stated that the directive is intended to serve as a warning and a “reminder.”

Muslims commonly perform communal funerals, with prayers for the deceased’s body being said at the closest mosque or surau to the grave.

The department’s fatwa committee has prohibited all mosques and surau in the state from performing prayers and funeral rituals for the attacker, a move intended to isolate the family as a form of retribution.

“The fatwa committee has ruled that the suspect’s body would be washed, shrouded, and prayed for only in the hospital or the suspect’s family home.

The suspect’s body is not to be carried to any mosques or surau for the ceremony,” the statement read.

“Once the body has been cleansed, shrouded and prayed for, the body must then be buried at a certain burial ground where his grave is placed further away from others’,” the department stated.

“The committee believes that this should serve as a caution to the public not to get involved or do what the suspect did.

It is also intended to send a strong statement that we condemn the suspect’s horrific actions, including the murder of two police officers who served to safeguard the country.”

The authorities first suspected that the incident was a form of terrorism, but later stated that the suspect was not affiliated with any terror groups, despite the fact that his father was a former member of Jemaah Islamiyah.

During a press conference at the Johor Police Contingent Headquarters two days ago, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed that the 21-year-old man acted alone.

The guy was claimed to have entered the Ulu Tiram police station around 2.45 a.m. on May 16, armed with a machete.

A man brandishing a machete attacked two police officers, Constable Ahmad Azza Fahmi Azhar, 22, and Constable Muhamad Syafiq Ahmad Said, 24, killing both. Corporal Mohd Hasif Roslan, 38, was struck by a bullet.

According to the Johor Religious Department, the deaths of the two cops are classified as Fi Sabilillah, a phrase used to describe individuals who die while serving God.

Muslims believe that martyrs who are martyred for their faith and God are guaranteed a place in heaven.