In a shocking scandal that has rocked Malaysia recently, a nationwide police crackdown against a self-proclaimed ‘business conglomerate’ has revealed that it was, in fact an Islamic deviant cult masquerading as a business organisation. Hundreds of minor children, aged between 1 and 17 years old, have been rescued from the ‘children’s homes’ that the Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) has been running in the country.
As per reports, the current scandal was first unearthed when teams of Malaysian police started raiding the children’s homes run by GISB after multiple complaints. After repeated complaints and concerns, the king of Malaysia ordered law enforcement to take swift action against the GISB. They raided 20 of these children’s homes and rescued nearly 400 children in the firs few days. In a wide-scale law enforcement operation involving multiple departments, the Royal Malaysian Police started ‘Operation Global’ on 11 September against the GISB.
Till Monday, 23 September, a total of 572 children have been rescued from the various children’s homes run by GISB. 59 of these children are under the age of 5. Among the rescued kids is a boy who was seen in a video being canned and another child who was seen being stepped on.
Malaysia’s national police chief Razaruddin Hussain has informed the media that the investigation and medical screenings have found so far that at least 172 children have suffered physical and mental abuse, and at least 13 were sodomised at the children’s homes run by GISB. Hussain further updated that so far the police have arrested over 355 individuals in the case.
Rescued children are not orphans, but children of ’employees’ used by GISB to get donations
In another shocking revelation, the Malaysian police has informed that the rescued children are not orphans, but the children of ’employees’ of the radical cult GISB. They have been separated from their parents and placed in the GISB children’s homes from a very early age. In the GISB children’s homes, the children were raised to remain loyal to the cult and were indoctrinated throughout.
‘No parents have come forward to claim the rescued children’
Authorities have revealed that even though the children are the offspring of GISB employees and followers, none of them have come forward to claim them. The children do not know their parents as they have been raised away from them from a very early age. The parents are fearing exposure and arrests, mostly due to their complicity in the scandal. GISB is said to have used the children as ‘orphans’ and claimed the children’s homes as ‘orphanages’ to solicit donations. Under Malaysian law, the crime is punishable under cheating and fraud. Many of the parents are among the arrested GISB staffers and they have denied any links to their own children.
Currently, the Malaysian government is taking care of the rescued children by placing them in government-run shelter homes. The Department of education has initiated a special teaching module to teach the children. Medical examination, treatment and counselling of the rescued children are underway.
GISB and the banned Al Arqam cult
The Al Arqam sect was started by an Islamic leader named Ashaari Mohamad. The government of Malaysia had banned the group back in 1994 calling them a heretical and deviant cult. However, the former members of the Al Arqam soon got together again and started the GISB. The GISB masquerades as a business conglomerate and runs multiple business ventures including mini-markets, bakeries, restaurants, and pharmacies across Malaysia. GISB, like its parent Al Arqam cult, promotes a certain ‘Islamic lifestyle’.
Speaking to the media, police chief Razaruddin Hussain informed that even though Al Arqam got banned, GISB flourished and at present there are over 10,000 active members, called ’employees’ or followers, practising the banned Al Arqam teachings and lifestyle in Malaysia.
The authorities have seized pamphlets and documents from GISB premises and handed them over to the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia for further action.
Over 153 bank accounts of GISB, totaling around 882,795 RM have been frozen across the country. 38 vehicles owned by the GISB, totaling around 3.9 million RMB, and 14 properties have been seized by the government too.
GISB is currently facing charges under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).
Among the 355 persons arrested in the case are ‘teachers’ of religious studies, the leader of GISB Nasiruddin Ali and his family members, including his multiple wives, and the family members of the deceased Al Arqam leader Ashaari Mohamad.
