Al Arqam to file suit against Malaysian govt
Al Arqam to file suit against Malaysian govt
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): A Malaysian Islamic group said yesterday it was filing suit against the government over allegations it was training "suicide warriors" in Thailand.
Al Arqam will file the suit against the Islamic Center, the Malaysian government's department for Islamic affairs, today, said Shaharuddin, a lawyer for the group.
The Islamic Center has said it will announce a sweeping ban on Al Arqam activities today for teaching "deviationist" Islamic doctrine.
Al Arqam legal adviser Zabidi Mohammed told reporters at the High Court that the suit was "a preliminary measure before embarking on other serious actions in demanding our rights through this same channel". He did not elaborate.
Shaharuddin said the suit would seek damages on behalf of unnamed members of the group, but he gave no further details.
The head of the Islamic Center's research division, Abdullah Fahim, told Reuters last week the charge that Al Arqam was training an army in Thailand was mostly "a propaganda exercise" to prepare the public for a comprehensive ban on the sect.
Al Arqam, founded in 1968, describes itself as a movement of "technological Sufis", who live the way the Prophet Muhammad lived in seventh century Arabia but who use modern technology to propagate their mission.
Boasting 100,000 followers in Malaysia and many more elsewhere, the sect has members who are easily identifiable by the long robes and turbans that the men wear and the head-to-toe purdah cloaks worn by the women.
The government will use the Secret Society Act, the Education Act, Society Act, Printing Presses and Publication Act, Trade Description Act and National Film Development Act against the group, it said.
Al Arqam says it has 300 schools in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Pakistan. It has established 48 "Islamic villages" in Malaysia where members live communally.
The Al Arqam Group of Companies claims assets of US$115 million, including a food processing factory, an oil services company, book stores, restaurants, mini-markets and farms.