Eerie shows barred by Islam

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KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 13 (Reuters) Malaysian Islamic scholars have called for a halt to popular exhibitions billed as featuring ghosts, genies and other supernatural beings, saying they are forbidden and could undermine the faith of devout Muslims.

Many Malaysians are willing to suspend disbelief when dealing with the supernatural, and the exhibitions capitalise on a widespread fascination with the ghouls and goblins that populate Malaysia's legends and folklore.

But supernatural beings should not be played up in exhibitions, state news agency Bernama quoted the chairman of Malaysia's National Fatwa Council as saying.

''They are beyond the comprehension of the human mind as they involve the invisible world,'' Abdul Shukor Husain said.

''We don't want to promote a belief in the supernatural and in superstition, which we do not know about. So we do not need to focus on such things or play them up by having such exhibitions.'' Just over half of Malaysia's population is Muslim. The National Fatwa Council, made up of respected Islamic scholars, is the main body that issues religious edicts (fatwas).

Malaysian government officials have already called for a halt to one such exhibition in a state museum that has put on display decaying artefacts described as the carcasses of a genie and a mythical phoenix bird.

Last year more than 200,000 people flocked to an exhibition of about 100 coffins, ghosts and genies that organisers claimed included relics of mermaids and vampires.