Police in Malaysia raided twenty Islamic charity homes on Wednesday, making 171 arrests and rescuing 402 children from alleged neglect, molestation, and sexual abuse.
The homes were run by an Islamic charity known as Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), a Malaysian firm with interests in Indonesia, Singapore, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia, and Thailand.
GISB has been linked to a defunct religious sect called Al-Arqam, a movement that was founded in 1968 and banned by the Malaysian government in 1994 as a “deviant” form of Islam.
The founder of the movement, Ashaari Muhammad, was a messianic leader who claimed to practice a more “pure” form of Islam, and wanted his followers to develop a “self-sufficient,” utopian Islamic community. Among other quirks, he claimed to be in direct communication with Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
Malaysia, which is governed by a two-track legal system that includes both secular and Islamic sharia law, deemed Ashaari Muhammad’s beliefs heretical and banned his movement. Ashaari himself was arrested as a threat to national security. He died of a lung disease in 2010, leaving behind four wives and some 40 children.
Al-Arqam counted tens of thousands of members at the height of its popularity and controlled a business empire ranging from farms to publishing houses and restaurants. Business owners who remained loyal to Ashaari’s teachings founded the GISB conglomerate, sometimes known as GISBH, in 2010. The company swelled to include 415 holdings spread across 20 countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa, with over 5,000 employees and some $75 million in assets. It also developed partnerships with Muslim corporations in other countries, like a company in Saudi Arabia that agreed to distribute Global Ikwhan-branded beverages.
GISB continued to promote some of Al-Arqam’s ideas while growing its business empire, including polygamy and severe discipline for disobedient wives and children. One of the company’s creations was the “Obedient Wives’ Club,” a group that taught women to submit to their husbands “like prostitutes.”
In an August 2024 interview, GISB CEO Nasiruddin Mohd Ali expressed frustration that some Muslim businesses were reluctant to partner with his conglomerate or invest in its enterprises due to its odd religious background.
“They have this distrust issue,” he said. “What is wrong with contributing to the betterment of the ummah [worldwide Islam]? As some people say, this is economic jihad.”
One reason for the reluctance to do business with GISB was the growing suspicion that it was using its welfare houses to indoctrinate children in Al-Arqam religious doctrine. There were also rumors of sexual abuse at these charity homes.
Reports of poor living conditions and abusive practices at the shelters were filed as early as 2011, sometimes by former GISB employees. GISB generally responded to these allegations by denying any involvement with the controversial welfare houses.
The raids on Wednesday rescued exactly 201 boys and 201 girls from the welfare houses. The oldest was 17, while the youngest was only one year old.
The 171 people arrested included several Islamic religious instructors, known as ustazs. One of the people charged with child abuse was a 19-year-old girl.
Malaysian Inspector General Razarudin Husain said the police acted on reports of “neglect, abuse, sexual harassment, and molestation.” He did not detail the allegations or identify the persons who filed them. He did, however, state that all of the raided welfare houses were run by GISB. Two of the properties were registered with the Malaysian government as Islamic schools.
GISB on Thursday denied the allegations of abuse and insisted it did not manage the shelters that were raided.
GISB accused the Malaysian police and shadowy parties with an “agenda to bring down the image” of the company were conspiring to defame it.
“We deny all accusations because the said shelters are clearly not under the management of GISBH. It is not our policy to plan and implement things against Islamic sharia and national laws,” the company said.
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