KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — The infamous self-proclaimed Raja Bomoh Datuk Ibrahim Mat Zain has made a comeback after almost a two-year hiatus.
In a YouTube video uploaded yesterday, the controversial figure who calls himself a shaman, performed a ritual using a globe, a mini telescope that he said belongs to his great grandfather, turmeric rice and padi burung along with pandan (screwpine) leaves dipped inside a bowl of water.
Ibrahim claims that the ritual will create a shield around Malaysia that will protect the nation from diseases.
In the video, he is also seen praying for Malaysian who are stuck in foreign countries and also dished out precautionary tips to protect one against Covid-19.
“Here are some tips that I want to share, wash your mouth, wash your nostrils, earlobes and also your face. Wash your hands properly before you go inside your home.”
“So I hope that we, the people of Malaysia, will just stay at home and don’t go to work.”
“As the Raja Bomoh would like to ask the government to give some allocations towards those who are working on their own and local traders who have to close down their business,” he said.
The Raja Bomoh first made headlines in 2014 when he conducted two rituals using coconuts and bamboo ‘binoculars’ at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and in Perak in an attempt to locate the still missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Ibrahim also made an appearance in 2017, amid tensions with North Korea over the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, to perform a ritual outside the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, claiming to protect Malaysia from a potential missile attack.
He subsequently apologised for the ‘drama’, saying he wanted to repent for his string of bizarre rituals, which were un-Islamic in nature that were done under the instructions of another person, whose identity he chose not to disclose.
He pleaded guilty to all counts under the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) 1997 (Act 559) by insulting or bringing into contempt the religion of Islam and the court released the 69-year-old on a six-month good behaviour bond, with two sureties under the observation of the Federal Territories Mufti office.
