Malaysia - Al Arqam - Sect With No Name  1 December 1994

[V/O] 0.19: Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing economies, a country where different races and religions not only coexist, they prosper. It’s a matter of pride for Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and his political party, UMNO. The country’s success, he says, is no accident.

[Mahathir Mohamad] 0.43: It cannot be denied that Malaysia's successes in various fields, including the field of economics, are due to the fact that we have been ruled by the same government since our independence.

[V/O] 01.02: Anything therefore which calls into question that rule, is seen as a threat, not only to Dr. Mahathir, but to the very well-being of Malaysia. As such, it’s quashed. 

[V/O] 01.16: Tengku Razaleigh, a prince from the Northern state of Kelantan, is a veteran of the system they call, ‘Money Politics’. One of the latest perceived threats to Dr. Mahathir’s authority, has come from an old foe, via foreign correspondent. Tengku Razaleigh, now am opposition politician, once challenged Dr. Mahathir for UMNO leadership. In August he appeared in this foreign correspondent report, talking about the widespread use of ‘Money politics’ in Malaysia. 

[V/O] 01.46: How did UMNO become so rich?

[Tengku Razaleigh] 01.48: Well I think because umm.. they were granting contracts to themselves. 

[V/O] 01.53: His comments have infuriated Dr. Mahathir. Last week the Prime Minister accused Razaleigh of misconduct and discrediting the country and the ABC of disinformation. Dr. Mahathir has until next October to go to the polls. But analysts predict he’ll go early and is now seeking to neutralize his opponents. Whether they are from the worlds of business, politics or, in the case of this man, religion. Leader of a Muslim movement called Al Arqam, Ashaari Mohammad is known to his followers as ‘Abuya’: father of fathers. According to the government, his was an extremist cult, with suicide squad, sex slaves and indoctrinated children. He was, the government claimed, a potential Jim Jones or David Koresh, a threat to national unity to be stopped at any cost. 

[Mahathir Mohamad] 02.55: The fact is that if you allow small things to flourish, eventually they become big. And once people believe in something, it’s very difficult to turn them around. 

[V/O] 03.06: So the government took action. On August 5^th, Malaysia’s supreme religious council ruled that Al Arqam’s belief went against true Islamic teachings. The movement was banned.

[Religious council member] 3.12: ... it is illegal to receive lessons or accept principles under the Al Arqam sect...

[V/O] 03.27: Then the police swooped. On September 2^nd, will travelling in Thailand, his base in recent years, Ashaari Mohammad was arrested, the event filmed by a sect member. Ashaari was flown to Kuala Lumpur where he was held at a secret location under Malaysia’s draconian ‘Internal Security Act’. 

[V/O] 3.51: Al Arqam’s communes in Malaysia were the next target. Police tore down logos, confiscated equipment and detained scores of members for questioning. It was a masterful operation, but was Al Arqam the dangerous force the government claimed? With the movement supposedly shut down inside Malaysia, we headed for an Al Arqam commune in Thailand to find out. 

[V/O] 04.30: The island of Phukhet in southern Thailand is best known for its beaches. But not everyone here comes to relax. These are the members of Al Arqam. Turbaned and veiled, they’re not hard to identify. The movement claims 100,000 devotees in sixteen countries, including Australia. Add sympathisers, and their numbers swell to 1,000,000. With missionary zeal they throw themselves into community life, running businesses, clinics and restaurants. Good economics, they say, is one of the best ways to uphold and spread Islam. 

[Waseem Ahmed] 05.23: The aim of Al Arqam is to spread the good things in daily life, whether among Muslim or non-Muslim.  

[V/O] 05.30: Waseem Ahmed heads Al Arqam operations in Thailand, northern Malaysia and the Philippines. 

[Waseem Ahmed] 05.38: Our struggle is to educate people to do the good and to avoid the bad. Don’t care what religion they are.

[V/O] 05.56: If that’s the case, why has Dr. Mahathir banned Al Arqam?

[Waseem Ahmed} 05.50: You have to understand that when in business, if two persons selling the same goods, they will [inaudible] each other.

[V/O] 06.00: So you’re a threat?

[Waseem Ahmed] 06.01: [Laughs] Maybe. 

[V/O] 06.16: The Al Arqam members who welcomed me at the Phukhet commune, seemed anything but threatening. Though one could argue, their singing takes its toll. Certainly, they didn’t look like recruits for Al Arqam’s alleged Thai suicide squad. A squad Thai officials say, never existed. In fact the main activity I came across was schooling. More than 10,000 children worldwide attend the movement’s kindergartens and schools. The classroom focus is unashamedly religious. The teacher, Umi Calsom, rejects claims by Malaysia that students aren’t taught secular subjects. 

[Teacher] 07.08; Allash, right? We wouldn’t have this show. We wouldn’t sell things. They talk, but they don’t know. Or even if they do know, they will perhaps blame us. That is the work of the devil. 

[V/O] 07.23: There are lots of kids in Al Arqam, Islamic law allows polygamy and Al Arqam encourages it. According to the Malaysian government, the movement treats females like sex slaves. But even though Al Arqam’s family values differ from ours, Umi says, they follow a strict moral code. 

[Teacher] 07.43: Maybe, it’s their attack on us. It’s their work like I said before. As a matter of fact, Abuya hates wickedness. 

[V/O] 07.56: The most serious of all the Malaysian government’s charges against Al Arqam are religious. 60% of Malaysians are Muslim, hence the importance of questions of faith. Al Arqam members say they share the beliefs of mainstream Muslims, that any differences are minor. But Malaysia says Ashaari’s teachings about the Prophet Muhammad and Doomsday, undermine the very basis of Islam. 

[Mahathir Mohamad] 08.28: This man claims that he has spoken to the prophet. In fact, the prophet came to see him and call him ‘Sir’. 

[V/O] 08.36: This suggestion that the prophet is still alive is heresy according to the government and a potentially explosive issue in Malaysia. But Al Arqam says the real danger it poses to the Malaysian government is not religious, but political. My initial impression in Kuala Lumpur is that Al Arqam has gone underground. They change their phone numbers regularly and exchange them secretly. A rendezvous is arranged. As it turns out, the meeting point is a major hotel in Kuala Lumper. Hardly a secret location. During the course of the evening, I begin to wonder just what the ban really means. Most of Al Arqam’s activities, I’m told, are continuing as usual. 

[V/O] 10.00: Romen drives a taxi. One in a fleet owned and operated by Al Arqam. After a good dose of Al Arqam’s music and message, we arrive at Sungai Pencala, the movement’s main commune. Of the fifty or so Al Arqam communities in Malaysia, this is the most important. It was established in 1972 by Ashaari Mohammad, of what was then a small Islamic study group. The aim was to create a model society, with Islam guiding every aspect of daily life. Sungai Pencala now has 300 residents. The children study in Al Arqam schools, while their parents work for Al Arqam businesses. There are no salaries, just a living allowance, awarded according to need. In fact, Sungai Pencala is a rather quaint, old worldy place. Yet this village and many like it, have been subjected to large-scale police raids and continuing harassment.  

[Sivarasa Rasiah] 11.09: The movement has been subjected to a series of human rights violations…

[V/O] 11.14: One person who didn’t mind going on the record, was lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah, spokesman for an organization called, ‘The People’s Voice’. 

[Sivarasa Rasiah] 11.23: It’s a political move all the way, by the government.

[V/O] 11.28: Why would you say it’s political?

[Sivarasa Rasiah] 11.30: Because if it’s based on religious deviation, as they claim, the government has known all about Al Arqam for twenty years.

[V/O] 11.40: Why do you believe the government has acted now?

[Sivarasa Rasiah] 11.44: Well, a few months ago, Ashaari the leader of the movement, made a remark in passing that if God willed it, he would be prepared to be Prime Minister of Malaysia. He also made very scathing criticisms of corrupt practises amongst the ruling politicians in Malaysia. I think these remarks have, sort of, have created a perception that Arqam could be a threat in the forthcoming elections which are imminent next month or early next year. Arqam as a Muslim movement could influence the Malay population and the Malay population does deliver the bulk of the support to the ruling government. And if Arqam indicated to their movement to vote against UMNO, I think that could have some repercussions. 

[V/O] 12.33: Will you be campaigning against Dr. Mahathir in the coming election?

[Mansor Noor] 12.26: No way, I would be wasting my time. Any form of political campaigning….

[V/O] 12.41: Dr. Mansor Noor is a senior official in Al Arqam.  Do you think that the whole incident involving Al Arqam will actually reduce or increase the vote for UMNO?

[Mansor Noor] 12.57: I wouldn’t be able to give a prediction to that. But I know the question of Arqam is very deep in the mind of the UMNO leaders. They have to settle this case, before they declare any form of election and they have to settle this amicably. 

[V/O] 13.16: And what more amicable way of solving the Al Arqam issue than having its leader confess he was wrong. After seven weeks in detention, Ashaari Mohammad, his beard shaved and Al Arqam dress replaced, appeared on national television to renounce his teachings. 

[Ashaari Mohammad] 13.34: I felt that it was a mistake, and I will no longer hold the same views as I did before. 

[V/O] 13.43: It was a public humiliation, but Ashaari’s followers said it didn’t change their beliefs. 

[Follower] 13.49: I personally don’t regard it as a true fact, because he is in a state of duress, so whatever confession he made doesn’t give us anything. So we will stick to our beliefs as well, what we have learnt from him. 

[V/O] 14.07: Needless to say, the government saw it differently. 

[Hamid Othman] 14.11: Well we are very pleased, very relieved with the statement by Ashaari…

[V/O] 14.15: Dr Hamid Othman is the deputy minister for Islamic affairs in the Prime Minister’s department. 

[V/O] 14.22: How do you respond to claims that the real motive for banning Al Arqam was not religious, but political.

[Hamid Othman] 14.28: No, no. This is nothing to do with political, because Arqam is, we don’t consider Arqam as a political movement, from the beginning.

[V/O] 14.37: If it was religious, rather than political, why did you have to use the Internal Security Act?

[Hamid Othman] 14.43: Malaysia use ISA for its own benefits, because the same God this country, the prosperity of this country is based on the unity of the people. The unity of the people is based on religious understanding – it’s the main factor.

[V/O] 15.02: Yet all of Al Arqam’s teachings are about love and care. Surely that doesn’t present a threat?

[Hamid Othman] 15.08: No. When it is outside, when it grows outside the mainstream, the government has no control, the main body of society has no control.

[V/O] 15:20 What does the whole Al Arqam incident say about the style of government here in Malaysia?

[Sivarasa Rasiah] 15.25: You’ve got a government that’s not going to listen, that is just going to stamp out by authoritarian action any kind of dissent.

[V/O} 15.43: Ashaari Mohammad has now been released on the undertaking that he will bring his followers back to Islamic beliefs that are sanctioned by the state. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has imposed his will. While the businesses and villages remain, minus the name, Al Arqam is officially no more.