Kedah Mufti Department Ready To Assist GISBH Members In Repentance Process

ALOR SETAR, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- The Kedah State Mufti Department is ready to assist in the process of istitabah (repentance) for members of GISBH Holdings (GISBH) to help them return to the right path.

Kedah State Mufti Datuk Syeikh Fadzil Awang said this follows the decision of the Malaysian National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs’ (MKI) Muzakarah Committee, which ruled that the teachings, beliefs, and practices of GISBH members were deviant and strayed from Islamic teachings.

“We are prepared, and the mufti department has always taken responsibility for conducting istitabah. We have experience in this area, and if asked to assist, we are ready,” he told reporters after the Islamic Religious Teaching Credentials Award Ceremony here today.

Earlier, MKI Muzakarah Committee chairman Datuk Dr Nooh Gadut informed that the committee which met from Sept 24 to 26 was confident and satisfied with the arguments and evidence presented by researchers before deciding that the teachings, beliefs, and practices of GISBH members deviated from Islam.

Nooh said that the teachings brought by Nasiruddin Mohd Ali of GISBH and his followers, or any individual associated with the company, firm, organisation, association, or group with similar characteristics of deviation, were deviant and strayed from Islamic teachings.

When asked about GISBH’s position in Kedah, Syeikh Fadzil said that while the state had not issued a specific fatwa regarding GISBH, the decision made at the MKI level was sufficient to allow any necessary actions to be taken.

“In Kedah, it is not as serious as in other states; when it was confirmed that GISBH was deviant, they decided to close their educational centres here on their own.

“However, we will issue a fatwa regarding GISBH, bring it to a meeting, and announce it later,” he said.

Previously, the states of Sabah, Selangor, Melaka, Penang, Perlis, and Pahang had declared GISBH’s practices as deviant.

Meanwhile, in SEREMBAN, Negeri Sembilan Mufti Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Faudzinaim Badarudin said the state’s Fatwa Committee would decide whether a specific fatwa on GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISBH) was necessary by the end of this month.

He said that so far, the committee was still considering the relevance of the 2016 al-Arqam fatwa in addressing GISBH issues.

"The decision of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs Malaysia (MKI) Muzakarah Committee has not been officially received yet. This decision will be brought to the State Fatwa Committee Muzakarah at the end of the month to assess the need for a specific GISBH fatwa.

"Negeri Sembilan still refers to the 2016 al-Arqam fatwa for enforcement against GISBH followers. Enforcement and court prosecution are also based on that gazette," he told reporters here today.

The media previously reported Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun as saying that the state government remained steadfast in its stance of referring to and using the 2016 al-Arqam fatwa to address the teachings and beliefs of GISBH followers in the state.

-- BERNAMA