Professor who claimed ancient Malays could fly loses university post

Malaysian academic Dr Solehah Yaacob, who drew public scrutiny over claims that ancient Malays could fly and had taught the Chinese flying kung fu, is no longer associated with the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

Dr Solehah is challenging her termination and plans to take IIUM to the Industrial Court, accusing the university of acting unprofessionally in its decision, Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported on Sunday (August 23).

"I was dismissed within 24 hours and not allowed to appeal," she told FMT. "IIUM wanted to pay me the equivalent of six months, but I refused."

IIUM confirmed in a Facebook post that Dr Solehah’s academic service ended on April 27 and that she no longer holds a position as a professor or represents the university in any capacity, according to the New Straits Times (NST).

IIUM, however, did not disclose the reason for the termination.

The statement by IIUM’s Office for Communication, Advocacy and Promotion (OCAP) added that Dr Solehah is not permitted to use any title, position or affiliation associated with the university in promotional materials, media reports, publications, advertisements, social media content or any other form of public communication.

The university said the clarification was issued to prevent misunderstandings about Dr Solehah's status and to safeguard the institution's integrity and academic standing.

Dr Solehah, an Arabic language and linguistics scholar, came under scrutiny last year after a video of her claiming that ancient Romans had learnt shipbuilding from Malays went viral.

Dr Solehah later defended the claim as a research hypothesis based on her study of classical Arabic sources, prompting IIUM to establish an internal inquiry panel to examine her claims, according to the NST.

The controversy prompted Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir to urge university academics to refrain from making assertions outside their areas of expertise, while IIUM stressed that Solehah’s views did not represent the university’s official position, the Malay Mail reported.

Among the controversial historical assertions attributed to Dr Solehah are claims that ancient Malays could fly and had taught the Chinese flying kung fu, as well as claims that ancient Romans learnt shipbuilding techniques from the Malay world, according to NST.

More recently, Solehah suggested that ancient Kedah’s rich iron deposits may have been linked to a meteor shower or extraterrestrial impact.

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helmy.saat@asiaone.com