Religious schools linked to child sex abuse allegations in Malaysia to be shut down
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Malaysian Department of Social Welfare tape blocks off gates at the entrance to a care home after a raid by authorities in Subang Jaya outside Kuala Lumpur on Sept 12, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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PETALING JAYA - The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) will close down religious schools linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB),
Mais chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof 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.
“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 on Sept 14.
The fatwas 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 Datuk Seri 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.
Mr Abdul Aziz said Jais will offer full cooperation to the police, as the Selangor religious authorities fully support the police action against any abuse, including sexual harassment, in these schools under the law.
The Mais chairman’s statement comes after 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 on Sept 14, 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 Attorney-General’s Chambers, Jakim’s aqidah (creed) panel and tasawwuf (Sufism) 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.
39 more care homes on radar
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police said 39 more care homes believed to be linked to GISB are under police observation in relation to the child abuse and exploitation allegations.
Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said these care homes are “all over the country”.
“The care homes are on our radar. We are not ruling out the possibility of further action being taken following the raids conducted on Wednesday,” he said when contacted on Sept 14.
He said the raids on 20 care homes on Sept 11 under the operation codename Op Global were the culmination of a six-month investigation.
“We have been probing the company since 2011, even before allegations against it were made on social media.
“I met representatives of the Research Centre for Deviant Teachings six months ago. They were the ones who passed us the initial information that (had us) revisiting various police reports lodged against the company,” he added.
Mr Razarudin said one of the police reports was lodged by a female former GISB member from Negeri Sembilan, who then retracted the report.
“We contacted the woman and she later lodged a fresh report, leading us to open investigations under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001,” he said, adding that she also gave the police credible leads.
“This also allowed us to conduct Op Global, spearheaded by the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department and the Special Branch Department.
“Officers from both departments were essential in gathering intelligence and building a case. I was briefed on their findings two days prior to the raids in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
