Muis to help those affected by alleged deviant religious group
Council re-investigating self-styled prophet, calls again for people with evidence to testify
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In this photo taken at a late-night eatery on Oct 10, a man who is allegedly the leader of a deviant religious group is seen with five women who have been described by the group's former followers as the man's spiritual wives. Among his teachings, the man professes to be Prophet Muhammad, permits gambling to help needy Muslims and aspires to have 13 spiritual wives.
ST FILE PHOTO
The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) has repeated its call for those with credible evidence about the alleged leader of a deviant religious group here to come forward and aid its investigations.
Those with reliable evidence such as e-mails, recordings and other documents and who are willing to testify should make their submissions to it before Dec 11, Muis said in a second statement on the matter yesterday.
"Muis understands there are families and individuals who have been affected by the alleged group.
"We are reaching out to affected individuals who have approached us on the matter to render support and assistance," said the council.
People who are able to help Muis can e-mail info@muis.gov.sg or present evidence in person at the Singapore Islamic Hub.
Muis is working with the authorities to re-investigate the self-styled prophet, after The Straits Times' expose on the deviant group was published on Nov 9.
The man at the centre of the investigation is a former massage therapist in his 50s.
It is believed that he has led the group, whose female followers help run a small restaurant and an event management business, for the last 15 years.
Among his teachings, the man professes to be Prophet Muhammad, permits gambling to help needy Muslims, and aspires to have 13 spiritual wives.
ST's four-month-long investigation documented the existence of five highly educated women, who were described by the group's former followers as the man's spiritual wives.
Four of the five women had divorced their husbands between 2010 and 2017.
The men were accused of mistreating their former wives and not giving them allowances.
As at yesterday evening, ST's video story on the group has garnered 468,000 views on Facebook, including 4,800 shares and 1,300 comments.
Muis' first statement on the matter on Nov 10 revealed that it was first alerted to the case in 2018.
The council had then issued a formal advisory to the man, who is not a qualified or registered religious teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), to cease his religious activities immediately.
Muis said in its latest statement: "We would like to remind the community of the importance of seeking religious guidance and knowledge from credible and recognised asatizah."
In the last three weeks, Friday sermons at Singapore's mosques have focused on the dangers of deviant religious teachings and how to spot them.
ST understands that as part of its investigation, Muis seeks to find out if the man had continued teaching his deviant religious beliefs despite being told to stop by the council.
A former male follower of the group, Mr Ahmad (not his real name), told ST he hoped Muis would expedite its investigation.
Mr Mohammed (not his real name), a former husband of one of the self-styled prophet's spiritual wives, said he is relieved that the Muslim community is now "aware of the dangers of someone teaching Islam without ARS certification".
