The Banning of Darul Arqam - A ‘Sect’ With No Name
The video is available for viewing here : Al Arqam Sect With No Name - Malaysia
———————————————————————
This entry is extracted from the full article : The Banning of Darul Arqam in Malaysia by Dr Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, published in the Journal - Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs - RIMA - ( Volume 39, Number 1 , 2005 ) Click : rima-391-2005-cover1
On 25 October 2004, the Malaysian government made a historic decision by releasing Ustaz Ashaari Muhammad, the former leader of Darul Arqam, the Islamic movement which had been controversially banned nationwide through a ruling issued by the National Fatwa Council on 5 August 1994.
He was freed from restrictions imposed upon him since being arrested under the Internal Security Act on 2 September 1994. The release ended what had arguably been one of the longest, if not the longest, detention orders applied in Malaysia on leaders of independent movements and organisations who had mounted a challenge to the state.
In Ustaz Ashaari’s case, his movement was confined to the Gombak district in Selangor from the end of October 1994 until February 2002, when he was forcibly transported to Labuan, off the coast of Sabah, where he remained until October 2004. Throughout the period, he had to report to the nearest police station once a week and was not allowed to be outside his residence at night. The identity of his visitors and the subject of conversations he had with them were closely monitored.
Having established Darul Arqam, a seemingly innocent religious study group in the lower middle class Dato’ Keramat suburb in Kuala Lumpur in 1968, Ustaz Ashaari rapidly developed the movement by means of intense self-purification and soul-searching activities. Early recruits were generally young, first generation ruralurban migrants who formed the upcoming Malay middle class. Such urban spiritualism laid the foundation for a powerful sense of solidarity and commitment among adherents, who were prepared to sacrifice material comfort in order to create model Islamic villages which sprouted around the country after the founding of Darul Arqam’s pioneering Sungai Penchala settlement in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in 1973.
In the 1980s, Darul Arqam expanded internationally, as shown by Ustaz Ashaari’s decision in 1988 to travel abroad more or less continuously. By the early 1990s, Darul Arqam had burgeoned into a self-styled business empire with an extensive global network whose influence penetrated mainstream socio-political circles.
The clampdown on Darul Arqam in 1994 involved persistent vilification in the mainstream media, raids into Darul Arqam communal villages by the security forces, wanton confiscation of property, job and scholarship suspension, state-incited social boycott, a ban on overseas travel, detentions of Darul Arqam leaders under the Internal Security Act and mass arrests of followers for minor criminal offences such as failing to register marriages and distributing illegal publications. The wholesale proscription of Darul Arqam, by necessitating the closure of its economic activities and institutions, led to its 8,000 strong workforce almost instantly becoming unemployed.
Having had their livelihood disrupted if not destroyed, Darul Arqam’s former followers paid a heavy price for its dissolution. These Malay-Muslims, despite the anti-establishment tag put on them, had in fact contributed to Malay economic development, thus realising a major target of the New Economic Policy (Nagata 1984: 107, 113; 1997: 138). But in the true manner of neo-feudal Malay patronage politics, these achievements were not acknowledged by the state because they took place outside the network of state institutions and parties dominated by ruling elites.
Independent Malays were considered dangerous because their power base and loyalty would be necessarily independent of official corridors of political, economic and social influence (cf. Nidzam Sulaiman 2002).
The demise of Darul Arqam abruptly stopped a bold attempt to create Malay-Muslims who
could develop independently from the state, though the state’s crackdown on Darul Arqam was undertaken in the name of guarding the sanctity of Islam.
The government’s strategy of demonising Darul Arqam relied significantly upon a compliant mainstream media, whose freedom had experienced considerable erosion throughout Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s tempestuous Premiership (1981-2003).
From the moment of the authorities’ declaration in 1986 of Darul Arqam being suspected of
practising deviant teachings, the media played a crucial role in building a negative public image of Darul Arqam through a vicious onslaught of libellous and biased coverage, the intensity of which fluctuated but occasionally reached high points in 1986, 1988, 1991 and ultimately 1994.
Throughout the 1990s, the Malaysian public witnessed a systematic campaign against Darul Arqam launched through the mass media and the distribution of pamphlets, Friday sermons and public lectures in mosques, offices, universities and places of public interest.
While state religious officials and politicians in charge of Islamic affairs tried to justify government actions from a theological point of view, other politicians and bureaucrats from the ruling elite,
in their occasional outbursts, failed to portray the ‘Darul Arqam versus government’ controversy as a strictly non-political affair.
For example, the clampdown of 1994 was triggered by the Islamic Centre’s charge that Darul Arqam had formed a 313-men ‘suicide army’ based in Bangkok in a plan to take over power in Malaysia through militant means.
Belief in Imam al-Mahdi
The fundamental point of dispute on this matter related to Darul Arqam’s conditional belief that Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah Al- Suhaimi was still alive and was being ‘kept’ in a miraculous state by
God to prepare for his reappearance as Imam al-Mahdi, the messiah whose advent was ordained by several hadiths. Based on the prevailing chaos in the contemporary world and the prediction made
by Jalal al-din al-Suyuti that Al-Mahdi would appear around 1407 Hijrah, Darul Arqam believed that Al-Mahdi was the anointed saviour of the fifteenth Islamic century, and the last in the list of celebrated mujaddids mentioned in the hadith, as related by Abu Dawud: ‘Allah will raise, at the head of each century, such people for this Ummah as will revive its Religion for it’ (Ashaari Muhammad 1987a: 6, 48-54; 1988: 257).
This was not surprising since the coming of Al-Mahdi as a ruler who would bring justice and prosperity to the world had always been a favourable topic of discussion and speculation among sufis, who regarded the messiah as the final and greatest wali (saint) (Muhammad Labib Ahmad 1980: 29-31, 42).
But Ustaz Ashaari’s postulation that the founder of the Aurad Muhammadiah was the most plausible
candidate for the Mahdi-ship was based on purely arbitrary suggestions made by his grandson Mohd. Taha Suhaimi (1990: 67, New Sunday Times 13 July 1986), and upon circumstantial evidence such as an ancestral lineage reaching to the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah, and physical features and a name which accorded with the description of Al-Mahdi in hadiths, as testified by his contemporaries still alive (Ashaari Muhammad 1986: 178, 1989: 48-9).
One of them, known only as Kiyai Mahmud, was said to have heard in person Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah Al-Suhaimi’s prediction that the revival of the Aurad Muhammadiah, after a brief decline following his occultation, would occur under the leadership of a man named ‘Ashaari Muhammad’ (1989: 84).
Immediately before the allegation of Darul Arqam’s operating a ‘suicide army’ in Thailand surfaced, Deputy Home Affairs Minister, Megat Junid Megat Ayub, had already declared that stern action would
be taken against a religious group which was so obedient to its leadership that it repudiated the validity of the national leadership and administration.
On the issue of Al-Mahdi, a writer not known to have any connection with Darul Arqam, boldly stated, in close resemblance with Ustaz Ashaari’s views, that:
“Meanwhile, the author has discovered a book entitled Manakib asy-Syeikh as-Saiyid Muhammad bin Abdullah as-Suhaimi, founder of the Suhaimi sufi order famous in the Malay world. In the book, it is
mentioned that Syeikh Suhaimi, said to have ‘died’ or disappeared in1929, will reappear and assume an important position as decided by the Council of Saints. He will be easily recognisable through several distinctive physical features, such as a mole on his right cheek.
Besides that, the Manakib also proves that Syeikh Suhaimi is a descendant of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) … it could therefore be concluded that Syeikh Suhaimi will reappear as the awaited Imam Mahdi.However, before disappearing, he reminded his disciples to sustain
and implement the laws of Allah ” (Muhammad Labib Ahmad)
In the ten years of state-imposed solitary confinement, neither Ustaz Ashaari nor any former Darul Arqam member was formally accused in a syariah court for professing or disseminating heterodox teachings.
Yet, during this period, there were those who were formally charged for subscribing to similarly unorthodox beliefs. The difference appears to be that while other individuals possessed no systematically organised mass following, Ustaz Ashaari did.
Despite the ten-year blanket imposed on him, he has since 1997 regrouped some of his former followers in a bustling business entity formally registered as Rufaqa’ Corporation.
———————————————————————–
Formerly known as Rufaqa Coorporation ( recently dissolved in January 2008 ), the business corporation is now known in Malaysia as Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd. In Indonesia it is registered as PT Global Ikhwan. Watch who came to a mass wedding organized by PT Global Ikhwan on March 2008, in Jakarta, Indonesia in this video. 
Suke tengok wanita Arqam Thailand…
kap kap sawadikap Abuya ..hehe
[...] Name - Malaysia ?????????????????????????????????????????????? This entry?is extracted from the fullhttp://heliconia.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/the-banning-of-darul-arqam-the-sect-with-no-name/Lebanon’s religious pluralism figures to deny firm foothold for Al-Qaeda The Daily Star [...]
Sehingga kini saya tidak pernah dengar pihak Al-Arqam/Rufaqa/Ikhwan berlaku kasar terhadap penguatkuasa, pemerintah dan orang awam. Apatah lagi jika tuduhan Al-Arqam membangunkan sekelompok militan.
Yang saya dengar dan nampak jelas, pihak yang berpolitik ala demokrasi yang berlaku kasar, tidak beradab malah lebih teruk sehingga membunuh musuh politik mereka.
1.Kebenaran hanya dapat dinilai oleh HATI.kalau cuba di akal-akal kan,pasti kesesatan yang menjelma.Nafsu dan syaitan sesekali tidak akan mendorong kearah mempositifkan kebenaran.yang ada hanya keliru,was-was dan akhirnya menyesatkan.
2.Oleh itu untuk nilai kebenaran, keluar kan seluruh khazanah(sumber ilmu) yang +nya dan -nya.kemudian nilailah dengan pertimbangan yang waras.Dan terimalah walaupun pahit.
3.Moga tuhan akan beri jawapan dan petunjuk kepada orang yang benar-benar inginkan kepada KEBENARAN.
Alhamdulillah, ramai seperti saya yang tidak pernah masuk jemaah Al Arqam,mahupun mengamalkan zikir2 dan wiridnya, tetapi rasa2 hati ini tidak pernah percaya segala propaganda jahat para musuh2nya sejak dahulu hinggalah sekarang.
Seingat saya semasa Majlis siaran tertunda ‘Abuya Bertaubat” di RTM1 suatu malam Jumaat pada tahun 1994 dulu, saya ada menontonnya bersama2 kawan2. Mereka tercengang-cengang sebab tak tahu duduk perkara sebenar berkenaan isu ikhtilaf Imam Mahdi.
Saya semasa itu dah baca kebanyakan buku2 berkaitan isu ini, eg buku BERHATI2 MEMBUAT TUDUHAN, juga Manaqib Sheikh Suhaimi, jadi saya faham jugalah isu sebenar.
Saya merasakan pengharaman itu adalah satu ujian kepada jemaah tersebut. Kebenarannya yang dibawa JAUH terlalu mahal dan saya yakin, ia akan bangkit semula.
Saya lihat semasa itu Abuya seperti dipaksa.Beliau seorang yang terlalu bijak untuk menarik balik apa yang diusahakannya sebelum itu.
Mereka2 yang meyakini pengharaman itu atas sebab ajaran sesat adalah kerana mereka mengikut sahaja tanpa mengkaji duduk sebenar isu yang ditimbulkan.
Mungkin inilah mentaliti majoriti masyarakat kita sebenarnya. Mudah terpedaya dengan propaganda.
Tahun ini 40 tahun sudah Abuya ISTIQAMAH berjuang membangunkan sistem jemaah, di atas platform yang beliau yakini itulah kebenaran. Segala ujian kepahitan sudah beliau rasai.
Sepertimana sunnah pejuang2 kebenaran, angka 40 adalah sebuah “critical point”.
- Nabi Adam, diberi ampunan Allah setelah 40 tahun bertaubat.
- Nabi Yunus, diberikan kemenangan setelah 40 hari diuji dan disusahkan dalam perut ikan Nun.
- Nabi Ibrahim, keluar dari api dan dimenangkan terhadap - Namrud setelah 40 malam dibakar.
- Nabi Musa, dimenangkan setelah tersesat 40 tahun di padang Tih.
Dan masih banyak lagi kisah.
Allahu ‘Alam.
Di sebalik semua ini tersembunyi seribu hikmah.Tuhan adalah sebaik-baik perancang dan kepada mereka yang terdidik jiwanya pasti dapat membaca, menilai dan memahami strategi dan peranan Tuhan dalam setiap perkara yang berlaku. Saya menyeru kepada diri saya dan kepada semua yang rindukan munculnya sebuah NEGARA YANG AMAN MAKMUR DAN MENDAPAT KEAMPUNAN TUHAN supaya fokus dan istiqamah dalam perbaiki diri.
Nabi Junjungan kita Muhammad SAW juga dilantik menjadi Rasul (wahyu pertama) pada usia 40 tahun..
Dulu semasa siaran “Abuya bertaubat” di TV, hanya orang yang kenal Abuya sahaja tidak akan terpengaruh dengan propaganda RTM.Saya masa tu cuba mencari yang tersirat disebalik segala kata-kata pengakuan Abuya dan kawan saya masa tu ( bukan ahli jemaah) menangis tak henti-henti melihat Abuya di kaca TV.Dia kata kasihan melihat Abuya.Hati saya masa tu langsung tidak mempercayai apa yang tersurat kerana saya mencari apa yang tersirat.Tabik pada Abuya kerana beliau begitu tabah sekali,anak-anak buah Abuya yang bersama Abuya masa tu semuanya menangis.Sedih kerana apa macam-macam tafsiran dibuat oleh orang awam.Ya Allah bukakanlah rahsia Abuya kepada rakyat Malaysia supaya rakyat Malaysia tahu siapa Abuya.
tulong le tejemoh ke bahasa melayu asli artikel bkenaan arqam n imam mahdi sebab ramai gak yang kat sini tok reti kecek ore putih. blurrr…
khurasan,
segala yang berlaku ada hikmahnya, perancangan Allah maha Bijaksana..
lokman,
Maaf,TAG mahdi dan arqam pun belum up to date atas kelemahan saya juga.
Kebanyakan artikel2 berkenaan dua tajuk tu adalah dalam BM. Sila ke Entries Indeks utk arkib artikel2 yang lepas2.
puteri,
dah lama tak muncul
Menangis? saya dapat bayangkan betapa sedihnya anak2 buah ustaz Ashaari sewaktu itu, sehingga ada yang menangis.
Semasa itu saya bertanggapan berlainan, tidaklah terlalu sedih - kerana saya anggap semua tu seperti pentas lakonan. Lagipula saya bukan pengikut, sekadar peminat jemaah ini semasa itu, menumpang belajar ilmu2 dari Abuya.
Salah seorang tahanan ISA yang turut ‘bertaubat’ juga menangis, dan saya menganggap beliau juga turut berlakon, walau saya tak begitu pasti….
Saya pun tak tahu mengapa saya beranggapan demikian.
Orang jawa sebut : Embuhlah..
Betul tu khurasan, tengok balik sajak Abuya ni
ISA tidak bersalah
Saya diajar oleh Tuhan
agar percaya kepada taqdir Tuhan
takdir itu bukan hanya percaya
atas dasar akal
tetapi mesti dijadikan keyakinan
pegangan, dihayati di dalam
perasaan dan tindakan
Bila takdir datang
tetapi prilaku kita berlainan
dari akidah yg menjadi pegangan
ia satu kesalahan
kecacatan akidah tidak sama
dengan kecacatan syariat Islam
Cacat aqidah merosakkan iman
Cacat syariat sekadar haram
Kerana itu bila jemaah diharamkan
saya ditangkap dan di ISAkan
saya banyak berdiam diri
dan tidak hilang pertimbangan
Takdir itu
untuk dinilai dan dikaji
apa hikmahnya…
1. Untuk menyedar dan menginsafkan di masa kelalaian
2.Sebagai didikan utk peningkatan iman dan taqwa ug diwajibkan
3.Agar kita tersentak bahawa kita hamba Tuhan, lemah dan tidak
mampu melawan taqdir, sentiasa mengharap dan bergantung
kpd Tuhan dlm kehidupan
4. Utk menghapus dosa yg dilakukan
5.Untuk peningkatan pangkat dan darjat di hari pembalasan
6.Dalam jemaah, ia tapisan dan saringan
Jadi semasa jemaah diharamkan
saya di ISAkan
saya tidak hilang pertimbangan
saya tenang
saya tidak melatah
atau kesal..
semua untuk redha Tuhan
saya tidak hasut pengikut buat demonstrasi jalanan
saya tidak mengata
dan menuduh kerajaan zalim
saya tidak marah-marah dengan Tun Dr Mahathir
kerana tangkapan
saya tidak pernah menghina
dan mengata pihak polis
Saya bersyukur
jemaah diharamkan
ia satu nikmat besar dari Tuhan
pada mulanya saya tidak faham…
Di antara kebaikannya
jemaah itu telah dicemar
oleh mereka yg ada kepentingan
Tuhan bersihkan
dengan menggunakan tangan kerajaan
mereka dilemparkan
wibawa jemaah telah dirosakkan
oleh mereka dari dalam
Pengharaman untuk kebaikan
di masa hadapan….
Yg dimaksudkan…
sekarang saya dan
Tun Dr M telah berdamai
tanpa diisytiharkan
Ia satu rahmat dan nikmat dari Tuhan
Tuhan tidak membenarkan dendam
berpanjangan…..
2 Disember 2004
Alangkah bahagianya jika pemimpin Malaysia berwatak seperti Abuya..saya jamin kalau ada pemimpin begitu, sudah pasti umat Islam kat Malaysia ni yg nak perjuangkan Islam akan jadi orang yang tenang, berkhlak mulia & berwibawa. Tak delah terpekik terlolong maki hamun org kat tepi jalan.Betul tak Heliconia..hi..hi
ya memang btl Tp dah takde lg dah pemimpin yg seperti abuya di zaman ini..melainkan HANYA ABUYA SOHIBUZZAMAN sj..jd kt hya perlukan Abuya bg menyelesaikan segala masalah yg tak kunjung padam khasnya di bumi pilihan Tuhan yakni Malaysia. kerana Abuya orang pilihan Tuhan utk akhir zaman. kita tak mampu!!tak Mampu!!ya ALLAH selamatkan Abuya, keluarga dan jemaah Abuya.
Terpekik terlolong dah jadi budaya dalam memperjuangkan Islam. Jika bukan di tepi jalan, di internet menggunakan bahasa2 yang kasar.
Ketenangan itu..kita sudah melihatnya kepada kader-kader pimpinan beliau. Satu contoh adalah para remaja dalam dokumentari ini…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gwWUjihKO_E
kawan-kawan,
Sekadar pandangan, kita tidak perlu hanya bergantung harap semata-mata kepada Abuya atau mana-mana hamba Allah yang soleh. Atau menunggu sehingga hadirnya seorang pemimpin soleh.
Yang lebih penting kita sendiri yang perlu mewujudkan akhlak mulia mencontohi akhlak Rasululullah atas nasihat dari mursyid. Saya rasa itulah yang mana-mana mursyid yang Hak mahukan dari murid mereka.
Heliconia….thanks 4 the video…Indahnya jika remaja 1 MALAYSIA ni jadi spt remaja2 didikan Abuya Ashaari…dan akan bertambah bahgialah jika pemimpin Malaysia ini adalah Abuya Ashaari…
Abuya Ashaari dah byk mengajak kita MEMPERBAIKI DIRI disamping MEMPERJUANGKAN TUHAN & SISTEM-NYA…dan mestilah kita sahut & usahakan
bersungguh2…Kita juga jgn lupa bahwa kita kini berada di akhir zaman…dan di zaman inilah akan byk berlaku tanda2 kiamat spt bencana alam dll. tapi yg jarang masyarakt perbincangkan & serius ttgnya adalah utk berusaha mencari khalifah.Mencari khalifah itu wajib krn sejarah membuktikan Islam ini hanya tertegak & Gemilang apabila Umat Islam ada KHALIFAH…Sejak zaman pemerintahan Rasulullah hingga pemerintahn Empayer Othmaniah, tidak ada pemerintahn yg tidak ada KHALIFAH…Bila barat berjaya padamkan Sistem KHALIFAH yg ada dlm empayer Othmaniah,Islampun jatuh, hancur hingga skrg. Sunnah ini juga berlaku dizaman bila ada para Rasul…Rasul itulah KHALIFAH.
Saya setuju dgn pandangan CARELIPH, JGN HANYA MENUNGGU PEMIMPIN SOLEH ITU MUNCUL TAPI KITA MESTI ADA KESEDARAN UTK MENJADI ORG YG BERIMAN & BERTAQWA…Kitalah yg kena jadi tiang2, batu bata, simen2, paku2, kayu kayan utk bina tapak(KHILAFAH) yg telah diamanahkan oleh Khalifah akhir zaman ini..Method itu ada pada Abuya Ashaari, sbb setakat ini yg saya kaji, drpd beliaulah adanya sistem yg tepat utk membetulkan dunia yg dah rosak ini. Buktinya, apa yg sedang berlaku skrg(sistem Islam sdg bangkit di Malaysia) adalah hasil drpd perjuangan Abuya Ashaari di zmn Arqam.Masyarakt kita blom 100% melaksanakan sistem itu tp sedang menuju kearah itu..(mungkin hasilnya akan dinikmati 100% oleh generasi kita yg akan dtg).
So kita smua baiki diri, usahakan Taqwa, berjuang bina sistem Tuhan(KHILAFAH) & CARI serta USAHAKAN agar KHALIFAH AKHIR ZAMAN itu dpt memimpin umat seluruh dunia.
Trimaksh ats teguran yg membina aku akui kesalahan dan kelemahan diri ini.Semoga dengan berkat karomah Abuya Tuahan akan membuka hijab2 hati ini yg masih terlalu tebal dan tak dapat melihat kebenaran kerana dosa2 yg masih tak dapat ditinggalkan kerana dah jadi kebiasaan sebelum ini. dosa-dosa yg telah mendarah daging itulah menjadikan aku ini kasar dan tak beradab sama ada dengan Tuhan atau sesama manusia..tak tahulah masih ada harapan atau tidak aku ini.kalau mati sekarang tetap masuk neraka kalau Tuhan tak ampunkan.
“High Standard” dalam pengamalan Islam yang Abuya lagangkan di era Arqam merupakan satu kejutan besar (shock therapy) bagi umat Islam di Asia yang tengah “tertidur” saat itu, menjadikan seluruh Asia kenal siapa Ustaz Ashaari Muhammad dan Islam yang diperjuangkannya.
Apabila Abuya terbaring sakit saat ini, namun model Islam yang dibangunkannya tetap hidup bahkan semakin mendunia, maka ini suatu pencapaian yang tidak biasa. Sekali lagi ini akan mengejutkan dunia.