KOTA BARU: Kelantan will gazette Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISB) as deviant if its members followed the teachings of the banned Al-Arqam group.
Kelantan Mufti Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad said he believed there was no need for a new fatwa proscribing GISB as there was an edict against Al-Arqam.
"I believe GISB members are (followers of the teachings of) Al-Arqam and Malaysia had declared the group deviant in 1994.
"If GISB members have the same attributes as Al-Arqam, l believe the existing fatwa would apply for them.
"Unless, GISB has diferrent attributes, then we can consider issuing a new fatwa," he said when contacted.
For a new fatwa to be issued, Shukri said the Kelantan Mufti Department would need to gather more information from the state Islamic Religious Affairs Department.
Yesterday, Perlis was the first state to declare the organisation as deviant.
Perlis mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said the Perlis Fatwa Committee had found the beliefs and teachings of GISB to be deviant and unIslamic.
Al-Arqam was banned by the government in 1994 due to religious deviations.
At its height, the group reportedly attracted more than 60,000 members, mostly from low-income and middle-class Malays, but also had a sizeable following among professionals and university students.
Its founder, Ashaari Mohammad, was arrested in Thailand in 1994 and handed to Malaysian authorities.
He was under house arrest in Rawang and Labuan under the Internal Security Act until 2004.
Ashaari died in 2010 from a lung infection.
GISB is believed to have been founded by former Al-Arqam members.