Religious school FR Quran Centre under police probe, unaccredited teacher fined for 2018 illegal assembly

• A religious centre was not registered with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore 
• Its founder, Fahrorazi Sohai, had also taught without accreditation
• In a separate incident, the prominent Islamic preacher was fined on Jan 27 for organising an illegal religious event in 2018
• He was previously charged for his involvement in a Haj tour scam

SINGAPORE — A Muslim religious school is being investigated for operating without registration and for having an unaccredited teacher give lessons at the school, the police said on Thursday (Jan 28). 

Fahrorazi Sohoi, 49, had allegedly taught at the unregistered FR Quran Centre on Onan Road near Joo Chiat. He is not registered under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme, which is mandatory for all Islamic religious teachers here. 

The prominent Islamic preacher, also known as Ustaz Fahrurazi Kiayi Kassim, is also the school’s founder. 

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), which oversees the registration of asatizahs and their teachers, said in a separate statement on Thursday that it had filed a police report on the matter.

Muis had ordered the school to close in April 2019 after it found that the school had not complied with registration requirements.

Although Fahrorazi has run the centre for the past decade, the closure order was served against Mr Osman Sarkam, 64, who is listed as the centre’s owner.

The Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), mandatory since 2017, requires Islamic religious teachers to abide by a code of ethics that includes not encouraging extremism or violence, denigrating other racial and religious groups, committing ethical misconduct and promoting segregationist practices.

The police said they are investigating the alleged offences under the Administration of Muslim Law (Muslim Religious School) Rules 2016 and will be seeking advice from Muis on the religious aspects of the case.

In its statement, Muis urged the Muslim community to only seek religious instruction and guidance from teachers registered under the ARS, and from Muslim religious schools registered under the Administration of Muslim Law Act.

ILLEGAL ASSEMBLY

In a separate development on Wednesday, Fahrorazi was fined S$2,000 for organising a religious gathering in 2018 without a permit.

He had pleaded guilty to one count of organising a public assembly without permit under the Public Order Act.

The three-hour event titled Maulidur Rasul was to commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammad and it attracted about 400 people on Nov 11, 2018.

It was held in a hall at Pu Tian Building in Geylang.

Court documents showed that Fahrorazi had gone ahead with the event despite the police rejecting his application to hold the public assembly.

He had applied for a police permit on Oct 17 that year for the event to be held at the Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation in Bedok. 

About three weeks later, he was informed via email that his application had been rejected. The police officer warned him that it would be an offence to go ahead with the event without a permit.

On Nov 7, he wrote in to appeal against the rejection, stating that the people slated to speak and recite religious verses at the event had clean records and that arrangements had already been finalised.

His appeal was rejected on Nov 9. 

Later that afternoon, he cancelled the booking at the Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation and leased an auditorium at the Pu Tian Building 

He then announced the change of venue on Facebook.

The next day, on the eve of the event, he placed an advertisement for the event in the Berita Harian Malay newspaper.

The police were alerted to the event after a member of the public called to report the large crowd.

Two other individuals have been “dealt with separately” in relation to this incident, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Zhi Hao said. 

They are: Ustaz Mohamad Yazid Yunos, who received S$500 for giving a talk at the event; and Mr Osman, the owner of FR Quran Centre. 

Court documents did not state what punishment they received.

For organising a public assembly without a permit, Fahrorazi could have been fined up to S$5,000. 

HAJ TOUR SCAM

Earlier that same year in August, Fahrorazi was accused of cheating 80 pilgrims of nearly S$100,000 in a Haj tour scam.

He was reported to have managed a tour agency at that time.

The pilgrims, who were due to fly to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for a Haj tour, did not receive their flight confirmation and visa details even though they allegedly paid Fahrorazi a total of S$98,250.

He was charged with cheating one of the pilgrims, Mohammad Farehan Mohammad Hussein, into giving him S$1,550 for a VIP Haj tour by invitation of the Saudi embassy.

For the cheating charge, Fahrorazi was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in October 2019. 

Should there be any further developments in the case, such as the emergence of new evidence, he may still be prosecuted for the offence.