‘Mental torture’: Malaysia’s ex-GISB members share their experiences of years in controversial conglomerate

KUALA LUMPUR: Mr Razali Rahmat and Mrs Dalilah Diyana are from different backgrounds and different regions, but they have one thing in common. 
Both found themselves entwined in the folds of Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holdings (GISB), a Malaysian conglomerate that has made international headlines recently.  
Though their paths to the group differed, the two shared a common disillusionment, particularly with what they described as the group’s emphasis on leader worship as a prerequisite for salvation.
Despite overlapping stays in the group for only a few years, their experiences were remarkably similar where they witnessed and even participated in practices they described as not normal. 
Both left the group empty-handed a few years apart, desperate to escape from a life of “mental torture” under the conglomerate that has come under recent fire for its links to care homes where hundreds of children were allegedly exploited and abused. 
The experiences of Mr Razali Rahmat and Mrs Dalilah tallied with what the authorities have been saying about the group and its alleged misconducts. These include sexual abuse, human trafficking, and deviant Islamic teachings among others.
Mr Razali and Mrs Dalilah were both part of a press conference on Friday (Oct 18), where activists and lawyers banded together with several ex-members of GISB to find a platform for their voices to be heard in a bid to seek legal redress for alleged wrongdoings of the group.
These include alleged humanitarian and labour infringements, such as work without pay, and being separated from wives and children.  
“We ask for more victims to come forward because even without documentary evidence, more voices will make our case stronger,” said lawyer Muhamad Akmal Arif Shamsul Kahar, adding that legal services would be provided on a pro-bono basis. 
CNA has reached out to GISB’s lawyer for comments. 
Last month, police raided at least 20 welfare homes under GISBH all over the country and rescued more than 600 children who were believed to have been exploited, some of whom were allegedly sexually abused.
More than 400 people linked to the group have been arrested, including 58 who have been detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) law that allows for detention for up to 28 days without trial. 
Police believe that the group has about 10,000 followers around the country. 
GISB – a Muslim conglomerate that owns bakeries, minimarts and other businesses in Malaysia and elsewhere – was established in 2010 and has assets totalling around RM325 million (US$75.6 million) globally.
GISB has been linked to Al-Arqam, a religious sect banned by the Malaysian government in 1994. The firm has acknowledged the link but now describes itself as an Islamic conglomerate based on Muslim principles.
 
Mr Razali, 40, recalls being told that the Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad who is also known as Abuya was not dead but was living in a supernatural realm. Abuya died in 2010.
“I didn’t want to really focus on that aspect and put it aside because I thought it was weird. My main focus was to better myself,” the graphic designer told CNA in an interview, days before the packed press conference on Friday to recount his experiences.   
He said that in their prayers, they were told to mention the name of Abuya who was said to be an intermediary to God. 
He was also similarly told that 70 of their family members could follow them to heaven during judgement day.    
“For many that was a good deal. We were always told to never question our leaders and to always be obedient to them,” he said, adding that he had, however, been sent on “quarantine” several times at the group’s properties for questioning the leaders openly. 
Mrs Dalilah, who did not want to disclose her age, told CNA after the press conference that she herself was indoctrinated to believe in the teachings of Abuya.
She admitted that it was only recently that she managed to break free from this belief.  
“From young it was drilled into us that we would be one of the chosen people who were fighting for Islam. Although I had left the group a while back because I didn’t agree with some of the things practised by the group, I still believed in some of the teachings,” said Dalilah, who runs her own business.      
She said that her parents and several family members were still part of the group, and they often fought about this. 
“They are very angry with me because they are still obsessed with the teachings of the group and I had spoken out against it,” she said.     
During the press conference, Mrs Dalilah also recounted her experience of her siblings being allegedly sexually abused and tortured. She said she made several police reports on the matter.
She claimed that she had been threatened by a man in the group to withdraw the police reports. 
The man has since been charged with criminal intimidation, according to a report by Free Malaysia Today.
Another ex-member who wanted to be known as Mr Kamal and who did not attend the press conference told CNA he grew up in Sungai Penchala, Kuala Lumpur where Al-Arqam was initially based before the group was forced to move to Rawang, a town in Selangor. 
His father was a top-ranking member of the group and had even been arrested under the country’s Internal Security Act  before.
Mr Kamal said that an important belief in the group was loyalty to its leaders no matter what, as they held the key to members’ afterlife.
“The followers were continually told that Abuya was the only one which could save them in the afterlife,” he said, adding that Abuya was considered to be a divine figure when he was alive.  
“I was born into this and I saw it from Al-Arqam to Rufaqa and then to GISB. (It) was the same all the time,” Mr Kamal told CNA.
He added that followers were given work but not given wages, with the leaders telling them that they were working for God and Islam.   
Both Mr Razali and Mr Kamal told CNA that they had never been paid a single cent for all the work they did for the group.  
Mr Razali worked as a warden and caretaker while Mr Kamal was working in the secretariat during their time in the group. 
GISB supported them and other members, providing food and accommodation in hostels. 
Mr Kamal said that many of the members of his age already had at least three wives by the time they were 25, with 15-20 children being a normality. 
He claimed that wives were “gifted” to members of the group who showed loyalty to the leaders.
“For some, it would be glamorous to live that kind of life,” said Mr Kamal, who himself was married once and has two children.
The group was publicly known for encouraging polygamy with its Obedient Wives Club making headlines all over the world back in 2011.
Its then vice-president Dr Rohaya Mohamad was quoted as saying that sexual prowess took a front seat in marriage, beyond that of the traditional “good mother or good cook” roles.
Mr Razali, who had his first child in 2013, said that he and his wife were assigned to a hostel where he would be the warden of 15 children who were not theirs.
He said there were several hostels, which were later called charity homes for children. He claimed that most of the children had parents but were labelled as orphans. 
He also claimed that the group got most of their money from donations for the “orphans” and that if people gave rice for example, it would be sold off to restaurants.
“The group would use the children to get money, but the money went to the leaders. Except for a few exceptions, their businesses were a failure even without paying their workers. 
“Their main way of making money was through the children,” he said, adding that he had been placed under “quarantine” several times for speaking up on the conditions of the children who were malnourished among other things.    
Mr Kamal said that children born into the system were not able to see the reality of the world as they did not go to school and did not have any certificates. 
“They were indoctrinated into the system from young and taught not to trust anyone except their leaders,” he said.  
“What they were doing was a very big sin in Islam.”
Mrs Dalilah, who is from the Selangor town of Kajang, said during the press conference on Friday that she was one of the children that was always asked to go out to collect donations from the public for orphans.
“When we went out, we were able to see the outside world,” she said.
 
Disillusioned with the group, some members attempted to leave. But the chance for a normal life sometimes came with a struggle.
Mrs Dalilah said that she ran away from the group a few years ago and went to live with her grandfather in Sabah.  
Both Mr Kamal and Mr Razali said that they left the group when they couldn’t take the rules that were being imposed on them anymore. It was a struggle as both did not have any money or place to live by themselves.   
Mr Kamal said he left the group in 2015 as he was fed up with not being able to live a normal life where he could live in his own house or go for holidays.
 
He said that he was fortunate enough to know someone in Saudi Arabia and managed to work there for five years before coming back and opening up his own catering business. 
Mr Razali said that he decided to leave in 2021 when the rules under the current leadership of the group became much tighter for everything, from going out to meeting their children.
He said that he had wanted to leave the group for a long time, but was afraid that his wife would not agree to it and would want to divorce him. He had seen several instances of families breaking up when the men wanted to leave the group.
“One day I had decided enough was enough and told my wife. She had been wanting to leave all the time as well,” he said.  
He said that he left without a single cent and had to depend on his friends who helped him by lending him money and giving him various jobs. 
He said that his eldest child was confused and would even ask her mother if anyone who looked “different” was Muslim or otherwise.
“I eventually left her with an aunt who was a school teacher. She had learnt the wrong things in the hostel. I didn’t send her to a government school because she would have been a target for bullies,” said Mr Razali.
Mrs Dalilah said she now has her own medical supply business but that there are many others in the group who are not able to leave because they are so well indoctrinated.
“Running away from them was the best ever decision for me,” she said.  
On Tuesday (Oct 15), Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution told the parliament that GISB members were still practising banned Aurad Muhammadiyah teachings despite their public claims to the contrary.
A day before, Ms Khaulah Ashaari, one of the daughters of Ashaari Muhammad, denied claims that GISB practised deviant Islamic teachings and that the group wanted to only focus on their business.
“At GISBH, we are consistent not to practise any teachings that have been declared as religiously deviant or wrong. Some may know that we have gone through courses set by the authorities including the religious department,” Ms Khaulah was quoted as saying by Malay Mail. 
 
Criminologist  Geshina Ayu Mat Saat of Universiti Sains Malaysia told CNA that people might have unwittingly become part of criminal syndicates or victims due to their ignorance, social or family grooming, or lack of understanding. 
“The thing with cults is the nature and scope of grooming that works to develop blind belief and trust despite irrefutable evidence that are denied, disbelieved, or ignored by members. Central to many cults is the belief in a divine element in certain individuals, like the cult leaders,” said Dr Geshina who is also a psychologist. 
She added that the blind belief and devoutness associated with such groups may continue to cause harm to members even after they leave the groups. 
“As the development of devoutness involves an entire psychosocial, language, and economic grooming process, the change into a healthier sense of self and being will need a lot of time and effort,” she said.
“In the meantime, trauma-related and problematic actions and interactions will still be part of daily life experiences. This very real situation that survivors face makes it even more vital that action be taken as early as possible instead of allowing unacceptable practices and rituals become a habit or a norm for people.” 
Additional reporting by Aqil Haziq Mahmud