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.