‘CRYING’ PETAI TREE IN KELANTAN: BE CAREFUL OF ‘SYIRIK’, WARNS MUFTI

KOTA BHARU 25 February 2015. ( KBB927M / SUPPLEMENT ) Mufti Kelantan, Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad. NSTP/Syamsi Suhaimi

KOTA BARU – The Mufti of Kelantan Datuk Mohamed Shukri has reminded the local community not to be so taken up with a tree which secretes water as they would be in danger of committing syirik (polythiesm).

Mohamed said the obsessive belief that strange happenings could have either bad or good outcomes could be considered minor syirik.

He added that the belief in strange happenings could also affect the faith of Muslims.

“There should not even the slightest belief that water coming from unnatural sources would have any effect as it all depends on Allah,” he told Bernama here today.

Mohamed was commenting on the petai (stinky bean) tree in Kampung Petani, Saring which has reportedly been ‘crying’ since last week.

The incident had caught the attention of the public, with some catching the water in pails to drink or wash their faces as they believed it had medicinal value.

Meanwhile, there’s a scientific explanation for this strange phenomenon and it might gross you out!

A news portal reported earlier today that the ‘crying’ petai tree was a result from a type of insect known as Cicada or riang-riang which urinates after sucking the excess water from the tree.

A zoologist from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Prof. Dr. Abdul Hamid Ahmad, said some of the Cicada species will suck the nutrients from the tree.

“However, the content of carbohydrates in the liquid is very low and this causes the insect to suck more liquid and remove the excess fluid through its digestive system,” said Dr Abdul Hamid when contacted today.

Dr Abdul Hamid added that the insects live in groups and when a bunch of these insect remove excess fluid from their body, it will look like rain.

Dr Abdul Hamid said although the water was not harmful, people were advised to avoid consuming it because the fluid could be categorised as Cicada’s urine.

“The liquid is not harmful to those who drink it. Although, the fluid can be categorised as urine as it comes from the insect’s digestive system,” he said.

– NST