“That’s not true,” Tamyes told FMT when queried on the WhatsApp screenshot.

He declined to comment further.

The boycott call was purportedly made by Tamyes in a WhatsApp chat group called “Kosegar”, when participants were expressing support for the call on Muslims not to buy products manufactured by non-Muslims.

“For your information, Mydin is a Shia company. They refuse to pay zakat to the LZS (Selangor Zakat Board). They pay khums to Shia groups,” Tamyes allegedly wrote in the group, referring to a form of wealth tax in Islam.

“In the past, they were awarded a contract from LZS to supply uniforms for religious schools, but they still refused to pay zakat. As such, Mydin too should be boycotted,” the message continued.

FMT could not verify the authenticity of the message.

When contacted, Mydin managing director Ameer Ali Mydin declined to comment.

Shia Islam, the second largest branch of Islam, is labelled as deviant by Malaysia’s Islamic authorities, who have in the past raided the private religious events of its adherents.

Yesterday, FMT reported that mosques in Selangor have been instructed to deliver sermons condemning Shia practices, ahead of an important event next week to commemorate the death of Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad who is the central figure in Shia Islam.

“Not only is the sermon full of hatred, it is also replete with lies and inaccuracies,” vocal activist Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa told FMT.

Recently an online campaign by Malay groups to boycott non-Muslim products, supported by PAS and Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, gained momentum after non-Malay education groups refused to accept the teaching of the Jawi script in vernacular schoos.

The call was criticised by government leaders and consumer groups.