Rilek1Corner

Tag: asatizah

  • Azam Ahmad: Muslims To Blame For Current Attack On Islam

    Azam Ahmad: Muslims To Blame For Current Attack On Islam

    Islam is under attack on all fronts and we Muslims have to take the blame. Really.

    Starting from our local scholars and religious teachers, to the elders in the community, and then the leaders of each family.

    Take care of our own flock, ensure that they get proper Islamic education. Then, the community needs to reach out to every person out there who needs support and help.

    Until we learn to practice Islam as what it truly is, and by that I mean to start caring and loving others next to us more than we do ourselves, how can we expect others to treat us the same?

    To every single “asatizah” out there, my brotherly plead to you: Please start executing your real dakwah work. Beyond preaching on social media and at the mosques or organizations, start going out there to the streets and make more friends (not customers)! Your work is already cut out for you.

    Let us be duly reminded that our own salvation depends on the flock that we have inherited or been entrusted with. But have we asked us ourselves who they really are?

     

    Source: Azam Ahmad

  • ARS is not good for Singaporean Muslims

    ARS is not good for Singaporean Muslims

    Three simple reasons:

    1. The aim has been all along about control. The need to control the asatizahs or religious teachers in Singapore and regulate their teachings and numbers. especially now when there are more and more “bad” representation of Muslims around the world. To be fair, shouldn’t this regulation be implemented for the other religions in Singapore too?

    2. For example, there is an asatizah who has years of experience teaching children how to read the Quran on a  daily basis (her livelihood). Problem is that she does not meet the requirement to register for the ARS. And due to health issues and old age, there really is not a chance that she is going to consider getting certified. So will this mean that she will lose her source of income because she is not ARS-certified? True recognition does not come from the government but from us attaining the ijazah and our sincerity to teach.

    3. Like it or not, radical or misguided teaching can still happen in singapore. An asatizah who is qualified and ARS-certified can still teach you the wrong things! So what measures are MUIS putting in place to tackle such “legitimate” asatizahs?

     

    Kak Sham

    Reader’s contribution

  • Compulsory Asatizah Recognition Scheme-Accreditation For Asatizahs To Begin From 1 Jan

    Compulsory Asatizah Recognition Scheme-Accreditation For Asatizahs To Begin From 1 Jan

    With the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) to be made compulsory on Sunday (Jan 1), religious teachers, or asatizah, who are not registered under the scheme would have a three-month grace period to do so, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said on Thursday (Dec 29).

    Announcing details to ease religious teachers and organisations into the scheme, Muis said that a grace period of up to three years would also be granted to those who do not meet the academic qualification requirement now.

    In the interim, these teachers could be granted provisional recognition under the scheme that allows them to teach basic subjects such as Quranic literacy and basic Islamic rituals.

    Islamic education centres and providers will have to register with Muis and employ only asatizah recognised under the scheme. Those that do not meet the requirements will be given a one-year grace period to make the necessary adjustments, including hiring new asatizah under the scheme, or acquire provisional ARS licences for asatizah not registered with it, or tweaking their curriculum. Islamic education centres and providers refer to those who provide religious instruction to non-family members regularly on their own premises or otherwise. These include running classes at mosques, private Islamic education centres, and residences.

    The move towards mandatory ARS — first announced on the sidelines of this year’s National Day Rally by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim — comes at a time when there is “growing religious consciousness” among the Muslim community here, Muis said.

    Mr Abdul Razak Hassan Maricar, chief executive officer of Muis, said that the scheme has particular importance in today’s context. “There is a need to present contextualised teaching and guard against extreme and exclusive teachings, and of course, problematic teachers.”

    “It gives some assurance to the community that they will get reliable and appropriate religious guidance, only from recognised asatizah,” he added.

    The ARS is voluntary for now, with 2,500 asatizah — or the majority of all Islamic teachers in the Islamic education sector.

    The scheme, which started in 2005, is administered by Muis and the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association (Pergas). It recognises teachers and scholars who meet the minimum standards of qualification to preach and teach Islamic religious knowledge.

    Under these standards — split into two tiers, one for asatizah and another for Quranic teachers — asatizah will need to undergo at least 30 credit hours of continuous professional education (CPE) modules in three years. These include skills-based courses such as counselling, as well as content-based modules such as sociology of religion. Quranic teachers will need to undergo at least 10 credit hours of CPE over the same period of time.

    The ARS also contains a code of ethics, for registered asatizah to follow. These include what not to teach — advocating political ideas that may encourage extremism, for example — as well as a code of conduct.

    Any asatizah and/or Islamic education centres and providers flouting the rules may have their recognition status suspended or cancelled by Muis. Nevertheless, the council stressed that remedial measures, including counselling, will be the first resort.

    On the matter of enforcing the scheme, particularly on home-based teachers, Mr Abdul Razak said that “residents and neighbours are encouraged to approach their mosques to find out which are the asatizah approved to teach”.

    He added: “We do think that those who are teaching at home are (mostly) under the scheme.”

    ARS will not apply to foreign religious speakers as they are regulated under the Manpower Ministry’s Miscellaneous Work Pass scheme. Singapore sponsors of these speakers have to ensure that the speakers possess formal religious training before applying for the work pass.

    Muis said: “We have to ensure that the standards we apply to local teachers also have to apply to foreign teachers, just by a different mechanism.”

    At the National Day Rally this year, Dr Yaacob told reporters that some 20 per cent of asatizah in Singapore are not under the ARS. Since that announcement, Muis has said that “more than 100” asatizah not under the scheme have registered with it.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • ARS Diwajibkan Bagi Semua Asatizah Mulai 1 Januari

    ARS Diwajibkan Bagi Semua Asatizah Mulai 1 Januari

    Di rapat umum Hari Kebangsaan semalam, Perdana Menteri Lee Hsien Loong turut menyentuh tentang langkah mewajibkan Sistem Pengiktirafan Asatizah (ARS).

    Mengulas, beberapa pemimpin berkata langkah itu penting bagi mengelak sebarang percanggahan atau kekeliruan di kalangan para asatizah serta masyarakat Islam tempatan.

    Dalam ucapannya di rapat umum semalam (21 Ogos), PM Lee mengalu-alukan langkah mewajibkan ARS, sambil memuji masyarakat Melayu/Islam kerana mengambil langkah dalam menangani masalah fahaman radikal.

    Ini berikutan penahanan beberapa rakyat tempatan baru-baru ini yang dikatakan menjadi radikal setelah dipengaruhi ideologi-ideologi ekstrimis dari luar.

    Maka itu, Encik Lee menekankan penting bagi semua asatizah memahami konteks Singapura yang berbilang kaum dan agama dan aspek itu akan diterapkan dalam skim ARS yang dipertingkat.

    “Saya rasa ini menunjukkan yang masyarakat kita juga prihatin tentang isu-isu yang dihadapi masyarakat kita dan negara kita dan mahu sama-sama berganding bahu dengan pemerintah untuk menangani masalah ini supaya kita dapat teruskan hidup dengan sejahtera dan kuatkan lagi perpaduan antara masyarakat,” Setiausaha Parlimen Ehwal Dalam Negeri Amrin Amin memberitahu BERITAMediacorp.

    Skim Pengiktirafan Asatizah mula diperkenalkan pada 2005.

    Penyertaannya tidak diwajibkan dan setakat ini, sekitar 80 peratus asatizah menerima pentauliahan di bawah ARS.

    Namun mulai 1 Januari tahun depan, skim pengiktirafan itu akan diwajibkan ke atas semua asatizah tempatan.

    Mereka akan diberi tempoh selama setahun untuk mendapatkan sebarang pensijilan yang diperlukan. Ini termasuk diploma dalam pengajian Islam dari mana-mana institusi yang diiktiraf.

    Menurut Mufti negara, Muis akan bekerjasama dengan pihak-pihak tertentu seperti PERGAS serta Lembaga Pengiktirafan Asatizah (ARB) untuk memastikan sistem itu tidak dipergunakan oleh golongan yang mahu mengambil kesempatan.

    “Dalam suasana dunia pada hari ini, pastinya kita tidak mahu mereka yang tidak mempunyai kelayakan, kemahiran, latihan, pengetahuan yang sewajarnya untuk sewenang-wenangnya memberikan jawapan kepada persoalan-persoalan agama sehingga akhirnya menyebabkan salah faham, kekeliruan dan ini memberi risiko yang sangat besar kepada kehidupan kita sebagai sebuah masyarakat majmuk berbilang bangsa dan agama,” kata Mufti Negara Ustaz Dr Fatris Bakaram.

    Pengerusi Bersama Kumpulan Pemulihan Keagamaan (RRG) pula berkata mewajibkan ARS ke atas semua asatizah penting agar percanggahan tidak timbul di kalangan mereka.

    “Kita punya guru-guru agama itu, belajar dari beberapa negara, banyak negara. Bila mereka kembali ke sini, mereka membawa ilmu-ilmu yang ingin disampaikan. Tapi masalah yang kita perhati, dalam konteks Singapura, bagaimana kita hendak menyampaikan? Mungkin kalau kita sama sendiri tak mengatur sesuatu, maka kita sama sendiri akan bercanggah dan bila bercanggah, fahaman kita, pemikiran kita, mazhab kita, kita tak dapat membimbing masyarakat kita ke jalan yang sepatutnya. Begitu juga kita kena faham dalam hidup masyarakat majmuk, masyarakat plural, negara yang sekular. Jadi kita perlu pandang dari semua aspek dan kita tidak mahu, akhirnya nanti mereka menyalahkan ajaran Islam,” menurut Pengerusi Bersama RRG Ustaz Ali Mohamed.

    Tambahnya lagi, guru-guru agama di sini perlu menerima perubahan itu dengan fikiran yang terbuka kerana ia bukanlah suatu perkara yang merugikan.

    Bahkan langkah itu mampu membawa lebih kebaikan kerana para asatizah akan dilihat lebih berwibawa, dinamik dan dapat memberi bimbingan agama yang lebih baik.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • RRG, MUIS Mahu Setiap Asatizah Ikuti Modul Cara Tangkis Fahaman Pelampau

    Kumpulan Pemulihan Keagamaan (RRG) dan MUIS bermatlamat mendapatkan setiap asatizah mengikuti modul utama kumpulan itu mengenai cara menangkis fahaman pelampau.

    Demikian menurut Menteri Bertanggungjawab bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.

    Modul itu adalah sebahagian daripada program Pendidikan Profesional Berterusan yang wajib disertai mereka yang berdaftar di bawah Skim Pengiktirafan Asatizah.

    Dr Yaacob menjelaskan demikian sebagai menjawab pertanyaan dari AP Dr Fatimah Lateef.

    Beliau berkata 80 peratus asatizah sekarang termasuk dalam skim itu.

    Usaha giat sedang dijalankan bagi menggalakkan baki 20 peratus asatizah yang belum berbuat demikian supaya turut serta.

    Menerusi modul itu, RRG berkongsi dengan asatizah tentang pengalamannya membantu bekas para anggota kumpulan pengganas Jemaah Islamiyah kembali ke pangkal jalan dan ke pangkuan masyarakat.

    Menurut Dr Yaacob, MUIS dan RRG akan terus mengemaskini modul itu bagi memastikan ia kekal relevan.

    Dr Yaacob menambah, MUIS juga akan terus memperkukuh kurikulum madrasah dengan bahan relevan yang dibangunkan RRG.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg