Malaysian ‘sect’ sues government

Group accused of reviving deviant Islamic teachings files defamation lawsuit.

Rufaqa commune Rawang Kuala Lumpur
Rufaqa Corporation runs a huge empire with interests ranging from restaurants to schools [Reuters]
It has operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Jordan.
 
Rufaqa filed its defamation case against Mustapha Abdul Rahman, the director of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department; Abdul Rahman Palil, the chairman of Islamic Affairs of Selangor; and Zabidi Shariff, former legal adviser to al-Arqam.
 
Aziz Hashim, the economic and corporate adviser of Rufaqa, told Al Jazeera on Thursday: “Saying Rufaqa is trying to revive [al-Arqam] is simply not true.
 
“As a company we don’t have any belief. We don’t practise religion. We are a company only. We don’t have a religious agenda. If we have religious agenda, we wouldn’t register as a business.”
 
Official stand
 
Fakrul Azam Yahya, a spokesman for the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais), told Al Jazeera that a book written by Ashaari’s wife, Khadijah Aam, titled My Father Ashaari Muhammad Most Miraculous Leader of His Time, contained 36 points that constituted deviant teachings of Islam.
 
Some of those points overlapped with teachings of al-Arqam, he said.
 
Fakrul also said an advertisement for the book had linked Rufaqa to the publication.
 
He expects court proceedings against six members of Rufaqa charged with trying to revive a banned movement and violating a fatwa (Islamic edict) to begin in mid-January.