KUALA LUMPUR: The government must take stern action against the network of a company alleged to have revived deviant teachings because the doctrine is seen as a "ticking time bomb" for the country, says Umno ulama council chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali.
The former PAS syura ulama council secretary stressed that this was necessary because the care homes owned by the company's network had allegedly exploited children and teenagers.
In addition, the issue also involved belief and misusing religion for certain interests.
He said the group's followers were previously found to be fixated on their leaders, who are believed to have continued the Al-Arqam movement, which the government had banned some time ago.
"There must be stern action taken because this issue also involves criminal elements. In Islam, we need to provide arguments first but, if this group refuses to accept it, only then can measures like imprisonment be enforced.
"The group must be dissolved and the members separated to avoid this issue from becoming a time bomb for the country.
"In fact, their group is based overseas, including opening business branches in Turkiye, Jordan and Australia,” he told Bernama on Saturday (Sept 14).
Previously, the company went viral on social media for allegedly being involved in exploiting children as workers before the police rescued 402 children aged between 1 and 17 years old from 18 care homes in Selangor and Negri Sembilan under Ops Global on Wednesday (Sept 11).
On Friday (Sept 13), Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain revealed that investigations found that 13 of the children at the homes linked to the company are suspected to have been sodomised.
Khairuddin, also the Religious Adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said the revelations about the exploitation of children and teenagers had undermined the public's trust in Islamic non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
"Let’s not allow the actions of a misguided few to cause the public to lose trust in Islam. It would be even worse if society were to lose faith in religious scholars,” he said.
Khairuddin also questioned the actions of the group in separating children as young as two years old from their parents and placing them in nurseries operated by the group.
Meanwhile, the mufti of Negri Sembilan, Assoc Prof Datuk Dr Faudzinaim Badaruddin, in a statement on the official website of the National Security Council (MKN), reminded all parties not to try to revive the Aurad Muhammadiah teachings practised by the Al-Arqam group, which have been declared contrary to the beliefs of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah (ASWJ).
He said the teachings had been deemed deviant by the National Fatwa Council over 20 years ago. However, his office has not received reports or findings related to the exploitation of children by the company in question.
Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar said a special committee would be set up to investigate and review the group's doctrine in detail.
The special committee would be placed under the minister's direct supervision to curb these deviant teachings right to the grassroots level, in addition to providing data and research support to the authorities, including the Muzakarah Committee of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI).
Meanwhile, Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim), in a statement, said it was ready to assist in the process of rehabilitating, caring and guiding the affected children, adding that human exploitation in the name of religion for whatever purpose is extremely bad and must be opposed.
Yadim also called on all religious-based organisations and institutions to always protect the dignity of Islam and avoid tarnishing the religion's image. – Bernama
