For decades, PAS, Umno-Baru and Bersatu claimed that they were the only parties that could defend the rights of the Malays and protect Islam.

This rhetoric is also supported by Muslims who claim to uphold Islamic values, such as the Terengganu-born Ustaz Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, the former president of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA).

He once labeled the Chinese community as “intruders” and was subsequently found guilty of sedition.

However, in the final analysis, it is not the Chinese, nor the DAP, the Christians or the foreigners that have betrayed the Malays.

Sadly, it is the Malays themselves, or rather the Muslims, who  have betrayed their own brethren.

Conmen easily exploit our generosity and defraud us, because we allow them to take advantage of us.

Among the Malay community, we need only mention Islam or that we are defending Muslims, be it in Malaysia or Muslims over 7,000 miles away, and the gullible Malays will believe you.

On February 15, Aman Palestin Chairman Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman and Chief Executive Officer Awang Sufian Awang Piut, were slapped with 164 charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust (CBT), and money laundering totaling over RM29 million of the company’s funds.

According to Sinar Daily, the charges took over two hours to read, and covered the period from March 2018 to November 2023.

In addition, Abdullah Zaik and Awang Sufian were individually accused of 52 counts of CBT and misappropriation of funds totaling about RM21 million.

They also face joint charges of deceitfully procuring cash from Aman Palestin for purchasing gold, by inflating the actual purchase price of the gold to over RM39 million.

These two men, who were also directors of their own company, Samudra Champa Sdn Bhd, were also charged with money laundering totaling around RM13 million, for allegedly purchasing luxury vehicles, shop lots, factory warehouses and parcels of land nationwide.

Abdullah Zaik and Awang Sufian are not the first nor last Malays to use Islam and the Palestinian cause to justify their alleged misdeeds.

Tabung Haji (the Pilgrimage Fund) and Zakat alms to be disbursed to the poor, are two other cases of misappropriation of funds.

Aman Palestin is an NGO formed in 2004 to provide essential aid, medical assistance, and educational support to Palestinians affected by conflict and hardship.

Aman Palestin receives support from Malaysian citizens and organizations sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Abdullah Zaik and Awang Sufian claim to help the Palestinians, and some Malaysian probably hail them as heroes for helping war-torn people in the Gaza Strip.

However, several questions remained unanswered.

Abdullah Zaik failed to justify his reasons for not using the Palestinian Embassy to disburse aid to the Palestinians. So how did the Aman Palestin Gaza office receive local funds?

Malaysians are urged to dig deep into their pockets to donate money towards the Palestinian cause. They give generously, but many did not realize that these two men had allegedly made other plans with the donations.

There is no smoke without fire. So, why did MACC freeze all 41 accounts belonging to Aman Palestin? Why was it necessary for the NGO to have 41 bank accounts?

It is alleged that Aman Palestin is a tax-free organization. So, why did the chairman and CEO buy 131 kilograms of gold that was endorsed by the trustees?

If trustees had carried out their duties and responsibilities required of them under the Trustees Act, it would have been impossible for public funds to have been diverted.

Who were these trustees and how many were there? What did the board of trustees do all this while?

Did they close one eye rather than ask questions of the chairman and CEO?

It appears that the board of trustees were not aware of their duties. It is their responsibility to ensure the NGO carries out its purposes for the public benefit.

Somehow, the act of purchasing gold does not appear to be acting in the NGO’s best interests.

Did the trustees oversee any audits for this NGO?

Public money is involved, audits are crucial. Did the trustees ensure the NGO is accountable?

Can we trust these trustees? From what can be gauged at this early stage, the trustees’ actions are no better than the CEO and chairman.

So, did the trustees abrogate their responsibilities?  Or was too much power invested in both the chairman and CEO, that they were given the freedom to do whatever took their fancy?

The investigations into Aman Palestin and its chairman and CEO must be thorough and forensic.

The public must be kept informed as millions of ringgits were collected from them.

If the trustees did their jobs, the MACC operation to uncover the truth would have been unnecessary.

The trusting Muslim public’s money funded the CEO, the chairman and their illicit capers.

Malaysians must start to question what happens to their donations. It does not matter if your donation is just a few ringgit or a few million ringgit.

We must not be easily hoodwinked by unscrupulous people who claim to uphold Malay rights and values and protect Islam.

Decades worth of brainwashing or Islamic indoctrination have limited our critical thinking and ability to speak out.

The Aman Palestin scandal has shown that the threat to Muslims comes from within the Muslim community, not from outside!

Sources:

1. Malay Mail: Isma chief guilty of sedition, fined RM2,000
2. Sinar Daily: Everything you need to know about Aman Palestin’s controversy
3. Malaysiakini: Abdullah Zaik, CEO didakwa curang beli 131kg emas untuk Aman Palestin
4. Malaysiakini: Pengerusi, CEO Aman Palestin hadapi 52 pertuduhan pecah amanah
5. Malaysiakini: Akaun dibeku: Aman Palestin heret SPRM ke mahkamah
6. Malaysiakini: Aman Palestin hauls MACC to court over frozen accounts
7. Malaysiakini: Aman Palestin: Siasatan SPRM tumpu perbelanjaan, pelaburan emas

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)