-Bernama filepic
PETALING JAYA: The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) will close down religious schools linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB), which is at the centre of a controversy after premises linked to it were raided by the police this week.
Mais chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (pic) said the order to shut down the schools is also based on viral videos that have linked the company to the banned deviant Al-Arqam group in Selangor.
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“Those videos have linked GISB to the teachings and practices of Al-Arqam, which was banned in Selangor under three fatwa (religious legal edicts) issued on Feb 4 in 1993, Aug 11 in 1994 and Dec 2 in 2006,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The fatwa also ban any teachings and practices with similarities to Al-Arqam.
“The religious enforcement officers and inspectorate for religious schools under the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) have been ordered to immediately investigate all charity homes and schools linked to GISB to ensure that no deviant teachings are propagated in these premises,” said Abdul Aziz. He further said that if the schools are found to be propagating deviant teachings, they would be de-registered and shut down under the state’s syariah laws.
Abdul Aziz said Jais will offer full cooperation to police, as the Selangor religious authorities fully support the police action against any abuse, including sexual harassment, in these schools under the law. The statement from the Mais chairman comes after the police raids on Sept 11, which saw 402 minors rescued and 171 individuals arrested from 20 premises linked to GISB.
GISB leaders have denied that such practices took place within their establishment as well as the claims that it is a deviant group, as alleged by certain quarters.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim) said it has been holding dialogues on alleged deviant Islamic teachings with GISB since February 2019.
In a statement issued by the Jakim director-general’s office yesterday, the department said it has since then organised 12 meetings, workshops and national task force initiatives addressing issues linked to the company.
“The dialogue included representatives from the National Security Council, Royal Malaysia Police and Home Ministry,” it said.It added that a private session with GISB was conducted with representatives from the Muzakarah Committee, the Attor-ney General’s Chambers, Jakim’s aqidah (creed) panel and tasawuf experts in September 2019.
“A special session with the Home Ministry and police was convened in July 2022 to coordinate a response to the issues raised, which was followed by further talks,” Jakim added.
