KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom warned Malaysians today against joining the splinter groups or rivals of militant group Islamic State (IS), insisting that the fatwa against armed militancy covers groups with different names.

The minister in charge of religious affairs conceded the attractiveness of dying a martyr in the holy struggle for Islam for Muslims nationwide, causing them to join armed struggles abroad.

“The fatwa council has stressed that battles without the element of combating enemies and not declared by the government, is not a battle that can be called jihad,” the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department told reporters during the International Seminar on Aqwah 2014.

“Regardless of what names they use, if they do not fulfil the criteria of defending the religion, country and sovereignty, then it does not count as jihad.”

Jamil had previously said that a fatwa against IS was not needed because the government has made it “clear” that joining the IS is “wrong” even as the violent Islamist militant group continues to lure young Malaysian Muslims to its bases in Syria and the Middle East.

However, National Fatwa Council subsequently decreed in October that joining IS’ struggle is against Islamic teachings, and dying for them does not make one a “martyr” following arrests after arrests of Malaysians plotting to join IS.

“We understand that people can easily be ‘fascinated’ with the call of jihad,” said Jamil, pointing out that buried a martyr would allow a Muslim to automatically enter heaven in afterlife without going through judgment.

“However, they do not study the background of these groups. Even though they change their names, this does not make the struggle allowed.”

Earlier this month, the prime minister tabled a White Paper in Parliament titled “Addressing the threat of Islamic State”, in which he outlined the history of IS, the threat the group poses and the impact it has on Malaysians as well as the danger in allowing its skewed Islamic teachings and practice of violence to spread in Malaysia.

According to the White Paper sighted by Malay Mail Online, 39 Malaysians are already in Syria, with 17 of them involved in IS while 22 had joined rival militants Ajnad al-Sham.

It is believed that some Malaysians have also joined al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front.

The police have also arrested 40 suspects in the country as of November 13, with the first arrest on February 7.

The White Paper pointed out that the arrests of 11 suspects on April 28 exposed their plans to bomb entertainment centres in KL, an alcohol plant in Selangor, government buildings in Putrajaya.

Putrajaya also confirmed last week that it was planning to introduce a new anti-terrorism law, with the bill expected to be debated during the next Parliamentary sitting in March next year.