Al-Arqam: deviant sect or political threat?

Free Malaysia Today

FMT takes a look at the history of the banned movement, whose teachings are said to have been practised in Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings.  *The footage in this video is sourced from various social media platforms for educational and non-commercial purposes only, with all rights remaining with their respective owners.  Read More: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/10/08/al-arqam-deviant-sect-or-political-threat/  Laporan Lanjut: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2024/10/08/al-arqam-ajaran-sesat-atau-ancaman-politik/  Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5 Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTNews #AshaariMuhammad #AlArqam #GISBH

Transcript

00:00On September 11th, the authorities announced the rescue of 402 children from welfare homes

00:11said to be linked to Global Ikhwan Services and business holding Sindiran Berhad.

00:17As of October 8th, that number has risen to 662, according to Communications Minister

00:23Fahmy Fadil.

00:25According to the police, health screenings revealed that some of these children have

00:29been sexually abused.

00:30Several states have since labeled GISBH as deviant, and some of its leaders have been

00:35arrested.

00:44Police said their investigations revealed that members of the group were practicing

00:47the teachings of Al-Arqam, a controversial Islamic sect that was banned almost 30 years

00:53ago.

00:55So what is Al-Arqam?

00:57And why was it outlawed?

01:10Founded by former Pashto religious teacher Ash'ari Muhammad as a spiritual revivalist

01:15movement in 1968, Al-Arqam was intended to address the moral, political, economic and

01:21cultural degradation of Malay Muslims, and the apparent unwillingness of political and

01:27religious leaders to remedy the situation, according to University Science Malaysia professor

01:32Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

01:35Although driven by Islamic principles, the group was almost socialist in its approach,

01:40creating self-sufficient communes where economic output was shared based on need, not occupation.

01:46At its peak, Al-Arqam boasted a surprising demographic.

01:50Rather than the stereotypical image of rural, uneducated followers, the movement attracted

01:55educated urban Malays, Ahmad Fauzi said.

01:59For many, Al-Arqam appeared to offer a third way, rejecting Abno's perceived corruption

02:05on the one hand, and PASA's anti-development stance on the other.

02:09It wasn't long before the group's influence grew, even gaining sympathizers within the

02:14government and abroad.

02:16But what really put Al-Arqam on the government's radar was Ash'ari's growing popularity,

02:22and his bold claim that he could challenge Mahathir's leadership.

02:26The movement was quickly labeled a threat.

02:30What followed were allegations made by the Islamic Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's

02:34Department, including one that claimed the group had supposedly set up a 313-man suicide

02:39army in Thailand aimed at overthrowing the Malaysian government.

02:44The claim would later be debunked by the Thai authorities.

02:47Abdullah Fahim, then the Chief Research Officer at the Islamic Affairs Division, would later

02:52concede that the claim was part of propaganda drummed up by the government in a bid to contain

02:58the movement.

02:59But in 1994, the government moved swiftly, labeling Al-Arqam a deviant sect and banning

03:05it.

03:06Ash'ari and several other leaders of the movement were arrested under the Internal

03:10Security Act.

03:13After weeks in detention, Ash'ari emerged on national television completely transformed.

03:19Swapping his trademark turban, robe, and beard for a kopia, baju Melayu, and a clean-shaven

03:24look, he publicly renounced his ideology on live TV.

03:28Human rights activists like Suaram Co-Founder Siva Rasa Rasya, however, have their doubts

03:44about the legitimacy of that confession.

03:58But these people have not ever publicly complained that they were forced to confess.

04:06With followers banned from meeting and Ash'ari under house arrest until 2004, the Al-Arqam

04:11movement faded away.

04:14After his death in 2010, his widow and followers would go on to form new groups that would

04:18carry on its teachings, including Rufaqa Corporation and GISPH.

04:24The fact that Al-Arqam's teachings have lived on to this very day has caught many

04:28Malaysians by surprise.

04:31So how deeply entrenched are those teachings among the Malays today?

04:36Osman D'ma and Danish Raja Reza, FMT News.

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