Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holding (GISB) When the long arm of the law seems too short

 

Exterior view of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) headquarters in Rawang on Sept 12, 2024. - (Photo by FAZRY ISMAIL / EPA)

Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holdings (GISB), a company embroiled in controversy recently over the exploitation of children in 20 charity homes, was originally founded by the banned Al-Arqam leader, Ashaari Muhammad, under the name Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd.

According to GISBH Holdings' 2024 corporate video on the company’s website, after Ashaari’s death in 2010, GISBH was led by two former executive chairpersons, Hatijah Aam who was Ashaari's wife and Datuk Mohd Rasidi Abdullah.

Currently, GISBH is headed by Datuk Nasiruddin Mohd Ali, who served as both executive chairman and chief executive officer.

Based on the website, the company was established to promote an Islamic way of life in all aspects, including education, arts, culture and agriculture.

At present, GISBH operates 415 business networks in 20 countries, including Britain, the UAE and France.

GISBH employed 5,346 people across 25 of its subsidiaries, with key assets such as restaurants in London, Paris, Istanbul, Dubai and Makkah; accommodations in Turkey; a hotel in Sarajevo; and a 48-hectare farm in Perth, Australia.

"There are 1,656 families within GISBH and its business network, 425 of which are polygamous families," according to the corporate video.

- SinarDsily.

With every revelation related to Gisb, more questions emerge.

WE should all be shocked, angry and, yes, absolutely disgusted, which was how Federal Police Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain felt regarding the investigation into Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holding (GISB).

“All I can say is... In this case, I am disgusted by the findings (of the investigation),” he told the press. This was in the early days following the police’s Sept 11 raid of 20 GISB-RUN charity houses in Selangor and Negri Sembilan. A total of 402 children aged between one and 17 years were rescued, and 171 individuals were arrested.

While Shuhaily declined to explain his feelings of disgust, the nation soon knew the reason: Many of the children in those homes were subjected to horrific treatment and exploitation.

By Monday, the number had risen to 572 children rescued from GISB care homes, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who added that the authorities had opened 80 investigation papers against the company and 359 individuals associated with the company had been detained in connection with the ongoing investigation.

This is unfortunately shaping up to be Malaysia’s worst child abuse scandal. But possibly, the most shocking revelation is that the children are not orphans but third or fourth-generation offspring of GISB members, who are estimated to number about 10,000.

Inspector-general of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain disclosed that the children were separated from their parents from as young as two years old and spent their formative years entirely in these homes.

The public also got to know that GISB goes back to the outlawed organisation Al-arqam. Older Malaysians will recall how Ashaari Muhammad, the founder, was arrested and Al-arqam banned in 1994 for deviant teachings. But the movement did not die out, with the remnant followers keeping Ashaari’s ideology and business activities alive by setting up Rufaqa Corporation.

When the government went after Rufaqa for trying to revive Al-arqam, it morphed into GISB, which was established by Khadijah Aam, Ashaari’s widow, before his death in 2010.

According to reports, GISB positions itself as a bumiputra-muslim-run business with assets worth Rm325mil and an annual revenue of Rm187mil, and numerous supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies, factories and restaurants in Malaysia and 20 other countries.

The Malaysian Reserve reported that it even has accommodations in Turkiye, a hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia-herzegovina, and a 120acre estate in Perth, Australia. It has more than 5,300 employees under its 25 subsidiaries.

Just how this group could flourish under the guise of another name in the last 15 years or so is simply mind-boggling. Understandably, people and civil groups like G25 are asking why action was only taken now when Razarudin said police had been investigating 41 police reports over the allegations since 2011. Not only that, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) was also aware of the issues surrounding GISB since 2019.

By way of explareligion,nation, the IGP said it could only make the arrests after receiving “credible evidence” while Jakim director-general Datin Hakimah Mohd Yusoff claimed action was taken against the company since February 2019 in the form of 12 meetings, workshops, special task forces and collaborations with national security agencies such as the National Security Council, Home Ministry, and police. Go figure.

As for the credible evidence, was it supplied by the Malaysia Centre for the Study of Heresy (Pukas) when it revealed GISB’S alleged deviant activities on its Facebook page?

Whenever illegal and immoral activities are done behind a veil of religiosity, the authorities will understandably want to tread carefully. But 13 years of investigation is jaw-droppingly slow.

If Jakim had pushed for real action five years ago, how many of the 572 children could have been spared the inhumane treatment and indoctrination they went through? At least one teacher has pleaded guilty to four charges of abusing three boys and was sentenced to 10 years’ jail by the Klang Sessions Court. Police said these children are

nd third or even fourth-generation offspring, which shows how long this has been going on and how tightly controlled GISB members are.

While the children have been rescued, they may face further problems with their status. According to press reports quoting Syariah Lawyers Association of Malaysia president Musa Awang, they could face the risk of being declared anak wati’ syubhah (children born from illegitimate intercourse) under syariah law if the parents cannot prove their marital status.

Weeks after the police raids on the homes, none of the parents of the rescued children had come forward to claim their children, Razarudin said, because to do so would expose their facade of presenting the charity homes as orphanages to solicit donations.

Surely it can’t get uglier than this – parents denying or abandoning their children to save their own hides. Will the authorities resort to DNA tests then to match children and parents?

What has also emerged from this scandal is the claim and counterclaim between agencies. On Sept 25, Razarudin had asserted that its investigation with the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) under the Income Tax Act 1967 showed that the company had never paid their relevant taxes.

On Monday, however, LHDN issued a statement saying the IGP was only referring to the current assessment year, and that it had conducted more than 60 audits on GISB, its associated companies and individuals in previous assessment years, resulting in fines that had been paid by the respective taxpayers.

The Selangor Zakat Board has also come out to say the 20-plus Gisb-linked companies had never paid their business zakat (tithe). This coming from a self-styled bumiputra-muslim company is truly despicable.

Yet another revelation on Monday showed how widespread the company’s tentacles went.

According to Malaysia Competition Commission chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Yunus, GISB Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd is among 81 companies that might face financial penalties for allegedly participating in a price-fixing agreement for umrah travel services in Malaysia from early 2023.

While Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin – who, in early September, urged the authorities to investigate GISB – has issued a fatwa declaring the group’s beliefs and teachings to be deviant and a continuation of Al-arqam, other states have yet to do so.

Declaring fatwas against them, shutting down their businesses, freezing their bank accounts, and arresting and charging the perpetrators are all well and good. But all this still pales in comparison to what they have done to hundreds of vulnerable, innocent children for decades.

One might say it has nothing to do with religion, or rather that the religion was misused. But this country needs to do more against those who will use religion to mislead many for their evil and self-serving ends.

What we need is a Royal Commission of Inquiry to find out exactly how and why, despite numerous reports lodged against it, a banned deviant group was allowed to keep reinventing itself into a multi-national empire and evade taxes, brainwash thousands of followers and run homes of horror for children for years.

His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, has called for a thorough investigation into the alleged crimes and child abuse, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also spoken: No one can hide behind religion or race if found guilty of child abuse or exploitation. “Do not use race, do not use religion. If you are oppressive, break the law, or abuse and mistreat children, you are in the wrong.”

The views expressed here are the writer’s own.

JUNE HL Wong

Source link

Judges, Throw the book at Hoslan!

ON THE BEAT By WONG CHUN WAI 

By not taking action against him, the judges have sent a wrong message to Malaysians.

IT’S incredible that an imam who threw his slippers at judges was not cited for contempt of court on the spot. If we talk about respecting and upholding the law, the judges should have just thrown the book at him, so to speak. 

The imam, Tuan Haji Hoslan Haji Hussain, got himself in the limelight last week when he lost control after his application for the Federal Court in Putrajaya to hear his appeal was rejected. He said he was frustrated when documents he had tendered were rejected as they were not sent within the stipulated time.

Hoslan’s problem started when he was removed as the imam of Masjid Al-Rahimah in Kampung Pandan in 2008. Then, in June last year, the Federal Territory Religious Council obtained a court order forcing him to vacate the imam’s quarters where he had been staying for a decade with his seven children.

The FT Religious Council obviously had a disciplinary problem with this former al-Arqam follower but Hoslan, in turn, claimed he had tendered documents alleging irregularities in handling mosque funds.

When the panel of judges heard this case on Wednesday, Hoslan threw a slipper, followed by the other one, at the judges. He then threw his ihram (a piece of white cloth) on the floor and performed the sunat prayer. His actions caused more than a stir.

Police later escorted him out of the court and he was told the judges had decided not to take action against him.

There was only one reporter who witnessed the incident and the judges sought his cooperation not to publish it. So, if not for the online news portal The Malaysian Insider, we would all have missed this unprecedented incident.

Calls by the other media to the offices of the registrar and judges were not returned when they tried to follow up on the report the following day. Only Hoslan seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting from the media.

The three-member panel of judges comprised Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, who is Chief Judge of Malaya, Datuk Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datin Paduka Zaleha Zahari.

Obviously, the judges have shown compassion, tolerance and liberalism by not wanting to punish the guy. But in doing so, they have sent a wrong message to Malaysians.

They could at least have reprimanded him instead of pretending the incident did not happen and hoping that the media would not become aware of it.

It’s as good as telling us that it was okay for Hoslan to throw his slippers at the judges and then bad-mouthing them to the media outside the court.

It was only after this unfortunate episode became public knowledge that deputy registrar Jumirah Marzuki lodged a report against Hoslan – on Friday, two days later.

More incredibly, she was quoted as saying that she lodged the report because the second slipper which Hoslan had flung towards the Bench had hit her!

Come on, I am not sure whether she expected Malaysians, including the police, to share her disappointment or to laugh at her decision.

Justice Zulkefli has told the media “to let the police investigate”.

Let’s hope the police will not have to take a decade to investigate this open-and-shut case involving an irate man who really needs to have his head examined.

Zulkefli is spoken about affectionately by most court reporters, who describe him as a “kind person”. So they were not surprised when he said “the panel did not make any decision to cite Hoslan for contempt of court as it does not serve any purpose. We do not want to get into the drama. It will complicate the matter further.”

But there are some fundamental issues here. First, the Federal Court is the highest in the country. Two, the panel was led by the second highest judge.

Hoslan does not deserve to be treated like a hero for throwing his slippers at these top judges. By not taking action on the spot, our honourable judges may send the message that they did not mind the action of this man.

No one should be allowed to go scot-free for throwing things at the Bench because they are unhappy, angry, sad or insane. In law, students rely on past court cases or precedents. Well, this is one precedent of a man who threw his slippers at the judges and got away with it.

There is no other way in this case. Hoslan should be taken back to the court and punished. The fact that he is a religious figure should also be taken into consideration. He should have been more composed and exemplary instead of behaving in an outrageous manner.

Throw the book at him!

Frustrated imam ‘bares his sole’

By SIRA HABIBU and M. MAGESWARI newsdesk@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The imam who threw his slippers at judges claimed that he did it out of frustration.

Hoslan Hussain, 46, said he was extremely frustrated because documents he had tendered at the Federal Court had been rejected because they were not sent within the stipulated time.

“But there was no objection earlier during the case management. The case was rejected because the respondent MAIWP (Federal Territory Religious Council) objected,” he said.

Hoslan, a former Al-Arqam follower, created a stir when he threw his slippers at the panel of judges at the Federal Court on Wednesday.

“I became angry. I threw a slipper. I do not know who was hit.

“Then I threw another slipper. And after that I threw my ihram (a piece of white cloth) onto the floor and performed sunat prayer,” he said.

Hoslan said the police later escorted him out of the court and told him the judges had decided not to take action against him for contempt of court.

“I walked out barefoot,” he said.

Hoslan had tendered the documents alleging irregularities in handling mosque funds.

MAIWP had removed him as the imam of the Masjid Al-Rahimah in May 2008, and in June last year, obtained a court order forcing him to vacate the imam quarters where he had been staying for a decade with his seven children.

The Appeal Court and the Federal Court had upheld the High Court decision.

The three-member panel of judges comprised Tan Sri Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, Datuk Suriadi Halim Omar and Datin Zaleha Zahari.

In Kuala Lumpur, a deputy registrar of the Federal Court lodged a police report yesterday over the slipper-throwing incident.

Deputy registrar Jumirah Marzuki lodged the report against Hoslan as the second slipper which he had flung towards the Bench had hit her.

Justice Zulkefli confirmed that the report had been lodged. “Let the police investigate,” he said.

Asked about the incident, Justice Zulkefli said the panel did not make any decision to cite Hoslan for contempt of court as “it does not serve any purpose. We do not want to get into the drama. It will complicate the matter further”.

Head of corporate communications and international relations Mohd Aizuddin Zolkeply said the Chief Registrar’s office of the Federal Court denied any allegations by Hoslan, including that he had been denied his right to be heard fairly.

“It is unfounded. Our office has all recordings for hearings at the Federal Court,” he said.

Mohd Aizuddin said the judiciary took seriously matters which could tarnish its image.

OWC stirs controversy again: Taking sex to the PhD-level? Anti-climax in ‘Seks Islam’ book!

Tweet


Founder: A man can have simultaneous, spiritual sex with wives in separate locations. Sex is the main reason people get married. The climax is like heaven on earth - Hatijah



PETALING JAYA:  The Obedient Wives Club (OWC) stirred up fresh controversy when its founder claimed that spiritually, a man can have sex with all his wives simultaneously.

Club founder Hatijah Aam, who is also the author of the controversial book Seks Islam Perangi Yahudi Untuk Kembalikan Seks Islam Kepada Dunia (Sex in Islam Wage War Against Jews To Return Islamic Sex To The World), said that when a man reached the highest spiritual level, “he can appear in multiple apparitions and have sex with his wives even though they are in separate locations”.

“We never said that a man can have an orgy with all his wives on the same bed.

“That is not allowed.



“What we meant is when a man has reached the highest spiritual level, he will be granted the ability to have sex with his wives spiritually,” she said.

“This is how men who were at war in the past satisfied their needs,” she said at a press conference here yesterday from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, via Skype.

The club is going ahead with the global launch of the controversial sex guide despite protests from women's groups.



Hatijah said the book would soon be launched globally in countries where OWCs have already been set up, including Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Britain and France.

However, the club does not intend to launch the book in Malaysia. “The book was meant to be circulated among our members only.

“We knew that the public's reaction to the book would be negative because they do not understand the concept,” said Hatijah, who is also the wife of late Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad.

Women's groups like Sisters in Islam, All Women's Action Society and the Women's Aid Organisation described the book as a cheap publicity stunt designed to raise the profile of the club.

Hatijah defended the importance of the detailed sex guide on grounds that sex is God's gift to married couples and they should be educated on the ways to approach it.

“Sex is the main reason people get married. And in a way, the climax is like heaven on earth,” said Hatijah.

She also explained that like praying, sex between married couples was also a pious act.

“So, why can't we teach people how to do that in a pure way?” she asked.
 (The Star)

Taking sex to the PhD-level?

One Man's Meat
By PHILIP GOLINGAI

The Obedient Wives Club wanted to keep it under the covers but since it leaked out, interest for its sex-guide book has yet to reach a climax.

FRIDAY’S press conference by the Obedient Wives Club (OWC) reminded me of Salt-n-Pepa’s 1991 hit song Let’s Talk About Sex.

The hip-hop song goes: “Let’s talk about sex. Yo, I don’t think we should talk about this. C’mon, why not? People might misunderstand what we’re tryin’ to say, you know? No, but that’s a part of life.”

That about sums up the exasperation of the club embroiled in a controversy after it published a pocket-sized 115-page Malay-language book titled Seks Islam, Perangi Yahudi Untuk Kembalikan Seks Islam Kepada Dunia (Islamic Sex, Fighting Jews to Return Islamic Sex to the World). 

Embroiled in controversy: The sex guide which was published by OWC.

To clarify media reports that the book encouraged a man to have an orgy with all of his wives, five OWC officials (including two men) met the press.

At the start of the 90-minute press conference in Petaling Jaya, OWC national chairman in Malaysia Fauziah Ariffin read a statement from Hatijah Aam, the club founder.

Hatijah, one of the wives of the late Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad, said the sex guide was only for OWC members who were married.

“We are disappointed with those who distributed the book without our knowledge until it created a misunderstanding,” she said.

Fauziah then tackled the controversial issue of “seks serentak (simultaneous sex)”.

“Simultaneous does not mean that on the bed there is one man and four women,” she said with a sarcastic laugh.

“When a man has reached a high level of spirituality, his wali (spiritual guardian) can come in contact with his wives wherever they are.

“Maybe one wife is in Ipoh, another in Kuala Lumpur, in Singapore or in Johor but he can ‘come’ to his wife simultaneously. That is the wonder of spiritual sex.”

Wow! I thought. Note to myself: evolve from missionary position. But was “spiritual sex” possible, I wondered.

As if reading my thoughts, Dr Azlina Jamaluddin, a dentist and OWC leader, said it was not something a common person could comprehend.

“To you there might be no logic to what we are saying,” Dr Azlina explained. “But when Prophet Noah built an ark on a mountain at that time there was no logic in what he was doing.”

Mohd Rasidi, a male member of the panel, claimed what was taught in the book was “high level” sex. “It is PhD-level,” he said.

“To understand the book,” said Fauziah, “the author of the book herself wants to talk to the media via Skype from Mecca.”

And Hatijah’s voice filled the conference room.

In an exasperated tone, the 57-year-old Malaysian woman based in Saudi Arabia said the club purposely did not sell the book to non-members because the public would not be able to comprehend it.

In other words, you and I are practising “kindergarten-level sex” as compared with “PhD-level sex”.
And, quoting the Quran, Hatijah went deep into the theory of “spiritual sex”.

Here are some of Hatijah’s insights on sex.

> If your spirit is pure you can have sex with your wife even though you are abroad fighting a war.
> God allows sex sports. And to be good in sex you need practice.

> Orgasm releases a pain killer and helps with fever. But don’t have affairs on the pretext of curing your fever.

> Orgasm prevents wrinkles.

> Sex can make you younger. Jogging can be replaced by “sexcercise”.

> Only animals have sex without mukadimah (foreplay).

> It is important for a woman’s breasts to be sucked in order to prevent breast cancer (quoting a BBC news report).

During the Q&A session, I asked: “I’m curious, has the panel experienced simultaneous sex? Have you reached the PhD-level of sex?”

And – I’m not sure whether I imagined this – the panel members lowered their heads as if they felt sexually inadequate.

After a hush-hush discussion among themselves, Mohd Rasidi said: “So far, it is a knowledge that we are still trying to understand.

“We have not experienced it as our roh (spirit) has not reached PhD-level,” he explained.

“How about Hatijah?” I asked.

And Azlina, the dentist, said: “We have not experienced it yet. We are still trying. The person who has experienced it is Hatijah Aam. Hopefully one day, God willing, we can reach that level.”

Hatijah also revealed that she was writing a second sex guide book.

“The first book revealed 20% (sex knowledge). But the second book will reveal 100%. But we will make sure the public will not get their hands on this book about heaven on earth,” she added.

Anti-climax in ‘Seks Islam’ book

One Man's Meat By PHILIP GOLINGAI

The Obedient Wives Club (OWC) controversial pocket-sized Malay-language sex guide sold exclusively to its members is more of a mother’s labour of love for her son who was getting married. 

IF I got RM50 for every time someone asked me a copy of Seks Islam, I would be as rich as Alex Comfort, the author of The Joy of Sex.

On Oct 21, in Petaling Jaya, at a press conference organised by Obedient Wives Club (OWC), the author of Seks Islam, Perangi Yahudi Untuk Kembalikan Seks Islam Kepada Dunia (Islamic Sex, Fighting Jews to Return Islamic Sex to the World), Hatijah Aam (pic) gifted the book to journalists.

Speaking via Skype from Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Hatijah, the OWC founder, told the club members: “Please present the book now to the media representatives.”

“We don’t want to hide it. We want to be transparent.

“We want to show that we are not hiding our (sex) knowledge,” she said.

And the dozen or so journalists became proud owners of the controversial pocket-sized Malay-language sex guide sold exclusively to OWC members for RM50.

Instantly, When I – @philipgolingai – “live” tweeted that I had a copy, I received several requests for a copy.

In my office, almost everybody I met was excited over my owning THE book except for this one guy who got aroused for the wrong reason. He thought I had a copy of the Auditor-General’s Report.

It seems everyone I knew lusted for the knowledge on how to graduate from kindergarten-level sex to PhD-level sex.

Who wouldn’t want to read a book advocating “spiritual sex” (a man could “come” spiritually to all his wives simultaneously even though they’re in Ipoh, Kuala Lum­pur, Singapore and Johor)?

And, by the day, the book is getting more notorious. Last week, the Sarawak government banned the distribution of Seks Islam in the state.

As my friends flipped through the book, their initial remarks were: “No picture ah?” or “No graphics ah? All words?”.

Sorry to disappoint, but the book isn’t the Comfort’s titillatingly illustrated Joy of Sex.

In fact, the 115-page booklet was a mother’s labour of love for her son who was getting married.

The preamble to Seks Islam – from its research – OWC found that what a woman sexually provided her husband was 10% of what his real sexual needs were.

“The wife thinks her 10% is 100%. She’s also dumb not to want to be taught about sex. She has a prejudiced perception that sex is obscene,” wrote Hatijah.

Chapter one explains why OWC was formed, chapter two talks about Hatijah’s husband, the late Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad, chapter three about giving 100% loyalty to your husband, chapter four is a guide for the future groom and chapter five is a letter to the bride.

Yawn. Yawn. Nothing that really makes me blush.

Hatijah also explained the difference between a man and a woman.

A man is held hostage by his desire. In order words, just like peeing, when a man has to go, he has to go.
A woman, however, can turn off and turn on her sexual desire as if it were a switch.

“If a wife loves her husband, she must instantly fulfil his sexual needs,” she advocated.

The climax of the book is in its conclusion.

Hatijah writes about her two-month training with Ashaari to become a heroic and angelic wife.

And she revealed her late husband could perform sex simultaneously with his wives, spiritually.

“Intimacy is much more pleasurable and ‘lighter’ through spiritual sex compared with physical sex,” she wrote.

Hatijah writes about seks seren­­-tak (simultaneous sex) but she does not reveal how to do it spiritually.

Perhaps, as she said in the press conference, what was taught in Seks Islam was just the tip of the iceberg (20%) of her sex knowledge.

So what has the book – as its title suggests – got to do with Jews?

From what I gather Jews have been propagating “extremely pornographic” illicit sex.

Am I missing something in life?

I’m not sure what I was expecting from the book. Techniques on how to please a Uranus chick with eight breasts?

For all its hype, reading the hyped book was an anti-climax.

Related articles

• Malaysia: The Obedient Wife Club... from the makers of the Polygamy Club (telegraph.co.uk)
• Malaysian Obedient Wives Club Launches Sex Guide to Fight Judaism (blogs.wsj.com)
• Obedient Wives Club revealed that wives could only satisfy 10 percent of what their husbands wanted (drkokogyi.wordpress.com)
• OBEDIENT (Muslim) WIVES CLUB publishes explicit sex book (barenakedislam.wordpress.com)
• Explicit Islamic sex manual encourages group sex (telegraph.co.uk)
• Niceties of Obedient Wives Club (OWC), Obedient ...
• Obdedient Wives Club (OWC) to offer sex lessons
• Signing off for the niceties of colonial masters, obedient ... 
• A matter of opinion