No PAS members involved in GISBH - Fadhli

PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari stressed that no party leader nor member has been involved in Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH).

He said those who were involved in the controversial group only joined after they had quit the Islamist party.

“No PAS members are involved in GISBH. Only some who have quit the party have been found involved (in GISBH),” Fadhli told reporters briefly at a press conference in Bangi, Selangor, today.

He was asked if any PAS members or leaders were involved in GISBH, which has been declared as deviant and a successor group of the banned al-Arqam movement.

It should be noted that Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad was a PAS candidate for the Bangsar seat in the first general election after Malaysia’s independence, in 1964.

In early September of this year, the police launched Ops Global and raided charity homes across Peninsular Malaysia linked to GISBH, which were suspected of being involved in child and religious exploitation activities.

As a result, 572 victims were rescued while 359 followers of GISBH, including its senior management, were arrested.

Pahang declares GISBH deviant

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that the Pahang Mufti Department, through the Pahang State Islamic Law Consultative Committee, declared that GISBH followers are heretical and deviant.

Pahang Mufti Asmadi Mohamed Naim said GISBH followers continue to uphold the beliefs and practices of Aurad Muhammadiah propagated by the al-Arqam group which was banned in 1994.

Group members believe that Ashaari, who passed away in 2010, did not die but ghaib (vanished).

“This decision encompasses any version, form, or offshoot of the said teachings including beliefs, ideologies, philosophies, or groups that have existed or will be established,” Asmadi reportedly said.

He said this decision was made during a special meeting on Wednesday (Oct 2), adding that the state ruler Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah consented to its dissemination to the public.

The committee also agreed that the economic system developed by GISBH followers is not Islamic and does not comply with Islamic laws.

He urged all authorities, including the Pahang Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, Pahang Islamic Religious Department, Royal Malaysia Police, Social Welfare Department, and Pahang State Education Department, to monitor and rehabilitate the group’s followers.

Yesterday, Selangor outlawed the beliefs held by GISBH members, after state ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah consented to a decision made by the state fatwa committee on the matter.

Previously, Perlis made a similar decision on the matter.

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