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SINGAPORE – The Muslim community should be careful in seeking religious guidance and verifying that the asatizah is qualified under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), a database of religious teachers registered here.
In a statement on Tuesday (November 10), Muslim Affairs Minister Masagos Zulkifli said that if community members are unsure or find questionable teachings, they should contact the Singapore Islamic Religious Council (Muis) to verify. .
“Let us be on guard against the deviant and extreme teachings of Islam. We must work together to protect our families and community against negative influences that will harm them,” said Masagos, who is also Minister of Social and Family Development.
He was responding to a Straits Times report, “Self-Proclaimed Prophet Said to Have Five Spiritual Wives,” published Monday about the alleged cult leader and his group.
Among other things, it was claimed that during the teaching sessions, the man had proclaimed himself a prophet.
He also allegedly said that gambling is allowed to help those in need. Gambling is forbidden in Islam.
Several men also blamed the alleged cult leader for ending their marriages, saying that the married man had taken his ex-partners as spiritual wives.
In his statement, Masagos said that many in the community had expressed concern after reading the article.
“Muis was alerted to the case in 2018 and had issued a formal warning that the person, who is not a qualified or registered religious teacher under the Asatizah Recognition System, cease his religious activities immediately to avoid causing confusion not only to himself. himself, but also his family and followers.
“However, the article in The Straits Times raised new claims and allegations that Muis and the relevant authorities must further investigate.”
Muis, who also released a statement on Tuesday, said the alleged sect leader is not qualified or registered as a religious teacher under the ARS.
He added that his Fatwa Committee had interviewed the individual shortly after Muis was alerted to the case in 2018, “as the nature of his activities in the allegations appeared to be religious.”
“He had denied doing anything wrong at the time and only admitted to offering spiritual healing.
“Subsequently, the committee had given him formal notice to cease those activities immediately, as he was not qualified to do so.”
There was an overwhelming response from the Malay Muslim community and the general public to ST’s report on the deviant religious group.
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, a video story about the group has been viewed more than 304,000 times. Additionally, the clip has been shared about 3,700 times and currently hosts about 1,000 comments.
While some had expressed feelings of outrage, others said the alleged leader, a businessman in his 50s, and his all-female group of supporters should not be judged harshly.
The man, a former massage therapist, is said to have led the group for the past 15 years.
It took ST three months to get the story out, interviewing several former fans and scanning stacks of documents said to be notes from the teaching sessions.
Muis said the report made “alarming new claims” about the man’s activities.
“While Muis cannot independently verify whether they actually took place, practices such as having ‘spiritual wives’, gambling to help others and describing himself as a prophet are clearly deviant and a distortion of the Islamic faith.
“It is also a crime to run a religious school without being registered with Muis,” added the council, which is Singapore’s highest Islamic authority.
Muis said he will work with the relevant authorities to further investigate the matter and take appropriate action.
He also asked members of the public for help with relevant information.
“We would like to remind the community to protect ourselves and our families by seeking religious instruction only from those who are qualified and registered to do so,” Muis said.
“If there are people who make dubious claims or spread dubious teachings, check with Muis or the Asatizah Recognition Scheme Office at [email protected].”
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