SINGAPORE – A former massage therapist is claiming trial to one count of teaching a doctrine relating to the Muslim religion in a manner contrary to its laws.
Mohd Razif Radi, 66, who has never been an Islamic teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme, allegedly taught his followers that gambling could be made permissible and that a man and a woman could be validly married through a “spiritual marriage”.
The Singaporean is also accused of claiming to be able to summon the spirit of one “Mbah”, who was purportedly Prophet Muhammad or from the Prophet’s lineage.
On June 24, a man, who cannot be named due to a gag order, told District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan that he had attended two of Razif’s lessons held at another person’s home in Teck Whye in either 2004 or 2005.
The man testified that according to Razif, gambling proceeds from 4-D and Toto could be “cleansed” and used as capital for businesses. The witness did not disclose how this alleged cleansing would be done.
Gambling is permissible, according to Razif’s alleged doctrine.
The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), however, states on its website that gambling is prohibited in Islam.
Muis also says on its website that a spiritual marriage is one that occurs without several elements, such as witnesses, a formal solemnisation and dowry. It adds: “In most cases, there are no limitations on the number of women ‘married’ to a man through such deviant spiritual marriages. Such acts occur either between followers of a particular teaching, or between the teacher and his students.”
When examined by Deputy Public Prosecutor Hidayat Amir, the man told the court about how numbers were selected for betting during a lesson in Teck Whye.
He said that the numbers one to 10 were written on bits of paper before they were thrown onto the floor. Someone would pick them up and hand them to Razif, who then wrote down a number that would be bet on. The man testified that cash contributed by members of the group would be used to make bets at a gambling outlet. This was carried out by one of Razif’s male followers.
The witness added that there were occasions when they collected winnings, albeit “not big amounts”. He did not state if they had taken part in 4-D or Toto, and could not recall if Razif chipped in any cash for these bets.
But when defence lawyer Simon Tan later asked him if Razif was indeed the one who suggested this method to earn cash, the man replied that he could not recall.
The man told the court: “(Razif) would guarantee that followers would go to heaven in the afterlife.”
The case first made the headlines in November 2020 when The Straits Times reported about Razif’s alleged activities.
According to court documents, in or around 2017, he and a woman set up an eatery known as Lina’s Cafe in Jalan Pisang near Arab Street. The documents did not disclose how she was linked to him at the time.
Razif later appeared in court in August 2023 and was handed two charges under the Administration of Muslim Law Act.
Besides the proceeded charge, he is also accused of operating a Muslim religious school that was not registered by Muis at Lina’s Cafe, from around 2017 to around 2020.
This charge has been stood down for now and will be addressed at a later date.
