Jakarta – National Police chief Gen. Sutanto has ordered all provincial police chiefs to contact and question leaders of the controversial Islamic sect Al-Qiyadah al-Islamiyah.

He said the order had two purposes: to prevent the sect from spreading false teachings, and to protect sect leaders from possible attacks by Muslim groups.

"We have issued orders for police chiefs nationwide to search for the sect leaders as the sect has caused great anxiety among the public," Sutanto told reporters, as quoted by Antara newswire.

"We will ask the leaders about their motives behind the establishment of this new sect, while for the sect members, we will ask them to give up their ideology and return to their previous faiths."

Sutanto said police were carrying out investigations to determine whether Al-Qiyadah members had broken any laws or regulations since the sect's founding seven years ago. "If the sect teachings are found to have insulted religion (Islam), as stipulated in Article 156(a) of the Criminal Code, the sect officials could face a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison."

Al-Qiyadah al-Islamiyah was founded by Haji Salam, later known as Ahmad Moshaddeq, sometime in 2000 at Gunung Sari, Bogor, West Java. Ahmad declared himself a Muslim prophet, replacing Prophet Muhammad, on July 3 this year after what he claimed to be 40 days of meditation at Gunung Bunder, also in Bogor.

There are thought to be hundreds of Al-Qiyadah members. The sect has been reported in several cities across the country, including Bogor, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Padang, Batam and several cities in South Sulawesi and East Java.

Some Muslim groups have protested against Al-Qiyadah's existence, saying it spreads misleading and false teachings. Indonesian Islamic Movement leader Habib Abdurahman Assegaf said the sect insulted not only Muslims, but also the government.

"Therefore, we demand the government through the police arrest the sect's officials and disband the sect immediately, or else we will disband it ourselves," he said at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta.

He said he would give the police until Thursday to deal with the matter, after which he would deploy movement members to destroy any sect buildings and facilities.

Al-Qiyadah teaches members, among other things, that they do not have to pray five times a day. It tells members they only have to pray once daily, a teaching dismissed by Muslim leaders here.

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin asked people not to take the law into their own hands and to allow the police do deal with the sect.

"Despite all of their wrong teachings, we should ask them whether they want to joint us in faith or else they can form a new religion apart from Islam. But let's do it in peace," Din said, as quoted by detik.com newsportal.