Nine books promoting extremist religious views by an unregistered religious teacher, have been banned under the Undesirable Publications Act.
This means it is an offence to distribute and own the books, and people who have copies must hand them over to the police. Those found guilty can be fined, imprisoned or both.
The publications by Singaporean Rasul Dahri contain “extremist religious views which include denigrating remarks of other religious groups,” the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said on Tuesday (June 20).
In some of them, Mr Rasul “rejects the idea of a secular state and calls on Muslims to establish an Islamic State”, added the MCI in its statement.
The ministry reiterated Singapore’s stance of “zero tolerance for individuals or publications which aim to promote hostility or violence among different religious groups”, adding this is why the books have been banned.
“Rasul Dahri is a Singaporean who has, through his radical teachings, betrayed the values that Singapore has held so close to us as a mutli-cultural and multi-racial society,” said Minister for Information and Communications Yaacob Ibrahim in the statement.
Dr Yaacob, who is also Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs added: “We will not allow his radical teachings and his extremist ideology to take root in Singapore. We will do whatever we can, with security agencies as well as community organisations such as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore to safeguard our community against extremism.”
In a separate statement, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said Mr Rasul’s application to the Asatizah Recognition Scheme to be endorsed as a qualified Islamic teacher in Singapore was rejected.
Since the start of this year, all Islamic teachers who want to each in Singapore must be endorsed by the scheme.
Muis said Mr Rasul has been known to “maintain exclusivist, hardline and extreme positions in Islam”.
For example, he opposes democracy claiming it is not part of Islam, said Muis noting that democracy is one of Singapore’s fundamental governing principles.
He also denigrates Jews by “labelling them as people who accept terrorism as part of their culture”.
Muis said Mr Rasul “also persistently denounced established religious rituals practised by Muslim scholars worldwide and declared those who practise it as deviating from his own mistaken view of what is ‘the real Islam'”.
The Singapore leader of terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah, Mas Selamat Kastari, was reported to have attended Mr Rasul’s classes in Johor between 1987 and 1989.
Malay-language daily Berita Harian reported that Mr Rasul was arrested last year -for the third time – in Malaysia.
He was said to be active in the Klang Valley and Johor for several years, although Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council and the Pahang Islamic Religious Department banned seven of his books.
Muis said such ” problematic teachings” do not in any way represent the views of Muslims in Singapore.
It urged Muslims to avoid the teachings, which are “totally unsuited for Singapore’s multi-cultural society and may lead to extremism in religious thought and practice”.
It also reminded Muslims to seek religious education from accredited teachers.
Those who encounter individuals teaching and preaching ideas like Mr Rasul’s should report them to Muis at 6359 1199 or the Asatizah Recognition Board at 6604 8568.
The list of banned books by Mr Rasul are:
1. Setiap Bid’ah Menyesatkan
Publisher: Perniagaan Jahabersa, Taman Kempas, Johor Bahru, 1997
2. Hukum Mengenai Rokok & Mencukur Janggut
Publisher: Perniagaan Jahabersa, Taman Kempas, Johor Bahru, 1997
3. Salah Faham Dr. Harun Din Dalam Persoalan: Bid’ah & Percanggahannya (Edisi
Baru)
Publisher: Perniagaan Jahabersa, Taman Kempas, Johor Bahru, 1998
4. Siri 1: Bahaya Tariqat Sufi / Tasawuf Terhadap Masyarakat
Publisher: Perniagaan Jahabersa, Taman Kempas, Johor Bahru, 1998
5. Siri 2: Imam Syafie (Rahimahullah) Mengharamkan Kenduri Arwah, Tahlilan,
Yasinan dan Selamatan
Publisher: Perniagaan Jahabersa, Taman Kempas, Johor Bahru, 2001
6. Siri 5: Kebatilan dan Kemungkaran Berzanji & Perayaan Maulid Nabi (Sallallahu
‘Alaihi Wa-Sallam)
Publisher: Perniagaan Jahabersa, Taman Kempas, Johor Bahru, 2001
7. Siri 7: Amalan-amalan Bid’ah Pada Bulan Sya’ban
Publisher: Perniagaan Jahabersa, Taman Kempas, Johor Bahru, 2002
8. Tauhid Hakimiyah & Khawarij: Punca Demonstrasi, Pemberontakan, Pecah-belah
dan Pengkafiran
Publisher: Syarikat Ummul Qura Enterprise, Majidi Baru, Johor Bahru, 2012
9. Demokrasi, Pilihanraya & Mengundi: Satu Kajian Menurut Al-Quran & AsSunnah
Publisher: Syarikat Ummul Qura Enterprise, Majidi Baru, Johor Bahru, 2013
Source: www.straitstimes.com
