Selangor to crack down on Tahfiz centres exploiting children, vows tough measures

SHAH ALAM, Sept 13 — The Selangor government will not hesitate to revoke operating licenses and take strict measures against tahfiz centres or religious schools involved in exploitative practices, said Fahmi Ngah, state councillor for Islamic Affairs.

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that the state government remains committed to protecting tahfiz centres and religious schools from being used as platforms for the exploitation of children or the dissemination of teachings that deviate from Islamic principles.

“The state government will not hesitate to take strict enforcement action against establishments found to be involved in unsanitary practices,” he is reported to have said.

Fahmi added that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) has been directed to conduct thorough checks, inspections and screening of both registered and unregistered tahfiz centres and religious schools across the state.

Yesterday, Jais director Shahzihan Ahmad announced that two of the nursing homes recently raided by police have been registered with the department.

He noted that one of the institutions, SR Islam Integrasi Miftahul Hikmah, has been registered with the Jais since 2015 and follows the department’s curriculum.

“No irregularities were found during inspections carried out at the school on January 13, March 23, 2023 and July 23, 2024,” Shahzihan said, adding that the other school, Maahad Tahfiz Wal Ulum Al-Ghazaly, follows its own tahfiz curriculum and was registered with Jais in 2014.

Fahmi also said that Jais has formed a task force to investigate allegations regarding religious schools and tahfiz centres that may be involved in spreading deviant teachings.

The statement follows an ongoing police investigation into Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH), after police searched 20 care homes and rescued 402 victims of alleged physical and sexual abuse and abandonment.

On Wednesday, police inspector Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said some of the rescued victims had been sodomised and taught to sexually assault others.

“So far, we have identified 13 children who were allegedly sodomised. Four men are currently being investigated under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act,” he said.

A total of 171 suspects were arrested during the raids, but only 159 were remanded in custody. The remaining individuals were released because they were minors or not relevant to the investigation.

Of the 402 rescued victims, 49 children under the age of five have been placed in shelters in Bukit Beruntung, Cheras and Seremban.

Meanwhile, GISBH denies that it runs any of the nursing homes raided by authorities and that children in its care were sodomized or forced to sexually assault others.