How Sabrina Bolivar's grandmother saved her from Al-Arqam, she's now urging everyone to stop supporting GISB
It was her grandmother who, observing the neglect and abuse that permeated her grandchildren’s life, stepped in to rescue her from the clutches of a group that had trapped her family.
SHAH ALAM - Daughter of a former top management of Al-Arqam, now known as GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISB), shares the story of how she and her siblings managed to leave the cult and the impact it has left in her life.
Sharing her experience in a series of TikTok videos at @sabbybolivar, Sabrina Bolivar described her journey as deeply intertwined with her grandmother Christine Rohani Longuet, a French matriarch whose unwavering instincts and love for her family shone brightly amidst the darkness.
Sabrina said it was her grandmother who, observing the neglect and abuse that permeated her grandchildren’s life, stepped in to rescue her from the clutches of a group that had trapped her family.
"My dad had passed away and I am lucky because my grandmother was educated and she could see the abuse that was happening.
"She saw the abandonment to me, my siblings and my mother," she said in the video.
The influencer, currently based in Paris, France, revealed that her mother was a former medical student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) prior to joining the cult.
She said her mother had been influenced by the group, especially by Ummu Jah (Khadijah Aam), who was one of the wives of cult leader Ashaari Muhammad.
Sabrina said her mother, who was only 22 then, was influenced to join Al-Arqam as she was "lurus" (naive) when it came to issues related to religion and marrying a member of the group.
"They told my mother that 22 is a good age to get married, the ustazah told my mother and forced her to marry an ustaz (male religious teacher) from the group.
"My naive mother told my grandmother, and she thought it was something positive because marriage is always something good... and that is how my mother married her first husband," she said, revealing the unethical marriage practices within the group.
Sabrina said her mother’s first marriage did not last more than six months.
After the marriage ended, Sabrina's mother was married off to her late father, who was already married to three women, but her mother only found out after the wedding that she was the fourth wife to her second husband.
"That's two traumas there; first, her first marriage only lasted for about six months and second trauma, not knowing that she was getting into a polygamous marriage and being bullied by the older wives.
"The third trauma followed after she gave birth to me. My mother suffered from postpartum depression and still struggles with it to this day," she said adding that her mother's "duties" in the marriage and within the group included being forced to care for all the children in the house.
Sabrina said her grandmother fought for her, her three siblings and her mother to leave the cult.
She said the trauma her mother suffered from her time in the cult caused her to be on medication up to this day.
Sabrina also revealed the "trick" the cult used on her mother, which was to trap her within the group, thus, when her mother was "passed" on to her next husband, she did not need her family’s consent, as a divorced woman no longer required it for remarriage.
"Pray that our mother becomes strong and recovers," she said ending her second TikTok video, speaking on the cult and convincing the public not to express further support for the group since evidence of neglect and abuse had been shown.
As Sabrina shares her story with the world, she urged others not to support GISB that caused her family so much pain.
Her grandmother's fight is not just a personal battle; it resonates as a universal call for awareness about the dangers of such cults and the profound impact they can have on families.
Today, she stands towards healing, empowerment and advocacy.
Her grandmother’s love saved her from a life of turmoil and now Sabrina seeks to honour that love by speaking out against the injustices she faced.
