KUALA LUMPUR: Eight individuals, suspected to be terrorists, linked to a religious centre advocating Salafi jihadism in Perlis, were arrested on Sept 24 for disrupting public order.
The suspects – five Europeans; one American; one Middle-Easterner and one Malaysian - aged between 24 and 38, are made up of students, former teachers and former students of the centre.
They were arrested by the Bukit Aman Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division in simultaneous raids in Perlis, Kuala Lumpur and Johor.
Among the suspects was the brother-in-law of a prominent terrorist in the Asean region that is linked to the Syeikh Muqbil madrasah (school) in Yemen.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, in a statement today, said the arrests were made after obtaining intelligence on the efforts of a terrorist group upholding Salafi jihadism to set up religious centres in the region.
“Initial investigation and intelligence sharing with other intelligence agencies disclosed that foreign teachers and foreign students at the religious centre are linked to a madrasah in Dammaj, Yemen, that was founded by Syeikh Muqbil Hadi Al Wadi’l, an extreme Salafi jihadist.
“That madrasah in Yemen strongly upholds the ideology of Salafi jihadism that permits the slaughtering of non-Muslims and Muslims that are not in line with their ideology.
“They consider these people as kafir (unbelievers) and labelled the democracy system as toghut (not following Allah's punishment),” he said.
Fuzi said preliminary questioning session with the suspects also revealed that they rejected democracy and have been indoctrinated with extreme thinking such as men and women are not allowed to wear pants.
“They also claimed that secular education at public and private higher education institutions is haram (forbidden).
“They are not allowed to work as there are men and women (at workplaces) and labelled Muslims that practiced such behaviour as bida'ah (unacceptable religious practices),” he said.
He explained that the arrests made by the Counter-Terrorism Division was to stop the dissemination of Salafi jihadism ideology that has been a catalyst for terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Sayyaf, Boko Haram and others.
“This is not the first time that foreign Salafi jihadism elements have used Malaysia as a base to promote their ideology and to recruit.
“The same modus operandi was used by Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir, Jemaah Islamiah leaders that entered Malaysia in 1985 and set up religious centres in Negri Sembilan and Johor to advocate Salafi jihadism and recruit new members,” he pointed out.
The first arrest was made in Perlis where six men – five Europeans from the same country and an American, aged between 24 and 38, were nabbed.
“Intelligence revealed the six suspects are either a member of IS or other terrorist cells in their home country.”
The second arrest involved a 33-year-old man from the Middle-East. He was a former teacher of the religious centre and has been actively organising uncertified religious classes to propagandise Salafi jihadism among Malaysians in the Klang Valley.
The third arrest was made in Muar, Johor that involved a 32-year-old Malaysian businessman, a former student of the religious centre in 2014.
He was found to have rejected the democracy system and supports for the implementation of the caliphate system in Malaysia.