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The Singapore Islamic Religious Council (Muis) is investigating a self-styled prophet again following a Straits Times report on his activities that raised the concern of many in the Muslim community.
The council said yesterday it was alerted to the case in 2018 and had issued a formal warning to the man, who is not a qualified or registered religious teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Plan (ARS), to cease his religious activities immediately.
However, the ST article titled “Self-proclaimed Prophet Who Claims to Have Five Spiritual Wives” published Monday had raised “new and alarming claims” about his activities, the council said.
“While Muis is unable to 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 conduct a religious school without being registered with Muis,” he added.
ST had reported that the man had proclaimed himself a prophet during his teaching sessions. He also allegedly said that gambling is allowed to help those in need. Gambling is prohibited 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.
The Minister in Charge of Muslim Affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, noted in a statement on Facebook yesterday that many had expressed concern over these alleged misguided teachings, and said that these new claims and allegations needed to be further investigated by Muis and the authorities. relevant.
“Members of the public with information should come forward to assist in this investigation.
“We should only take adequate legal remedies for any violation of our laws. Witnesses (who) will take a stand in court when necessary are vital,” he added.
Masagos, who is also a minister for Social and Family Development, also said the Muslim community should be careful in seeking religious guidance and verifying that the teacher is qualified under the ARS, a database of religious teachers registered here.
He added that if community members are unsure or come across questionable teachings, they should check with Muis.
“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,” he added.
In his statement, Muis said that the Fatwa Committee, a panel of leading Islamic scholars here, interviewed the individual shortly after he was alerted to the case in 2018, “as the nature of his activities in the complaints appeared to be religious. “.
“He had denied wrongdoing at the time and only admitted to offering spiritual healing. Subsequently, the committee had given him a formal notice to stop these activities immediately, as he was not qualified to do so,” he said.
ST’s video of the group had been viewed more than 310,000 times as of 8pm yesterday. Additionally, the clip has been shared about 3,700 times and currently hosts over 1,000 comments.
While some have expressed feelings of outrage, others said the alleged leader, a businessman in his 50s, and his 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.
Yesterday, Muis said that anyone who knows of people who make dubious claims or spread dubious teachings should verify such information with Muis or the ARS Office via [email protected]
“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,” the council added.
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