Tag: Islam

Khan Osman Sulaiman: Mengapa AP Melayu Islam Dan MUIS Membisu Dalam Isu Online Gambling?

Apabila polisi membina 2 casino dibahaskan dalam parliament dan diletakkan pada undian, tidak seorang pun AP Melayu/Islam menentang hasrat pemerintah. Malahan mereka setuju dgn hala tujuan pemerintah untuk membangunkan negara dgn hasil perjudian.

Sebaliknya, yg menentang ialah AP2 bukan Islam.

Baru2 ini, pemerintah meluluskan permohonan dari Singapore Pools dan Singapore Turf Club untuk menyediakan perkhidmatan ‘Online Gambling.’

Langkah itu menimbulkan kebimbangan daripada pihak Majlis Kebangsaan Gereja-Gereja yang menekankan bahawa perjudian akan meninggalkan kesan buruk terhadap masyarakat.

Yg peliknya, bantahan dari MUIS dan AP2 Melayu kita tidak langsung kedengaran. Walaupun Singapura adalah negara sekular, ini tidak bermakna nilai2 murni yg diajarkan kepada kita melalui agama Islam tidak boleh diluahkan.

Kita dapat melihat bagaimana Majlis Kebangsaan Gereja-Gereja memainkan peranannya terhadap masyarakat umum dengan mengambil pendirian tegas terhadap polisi2 pemerintah yg tidak sehaluan dgn ajaran agama mereka.

MUIS selaku kuasa tertinggi yg menyeliakan hal ehwal umat Islam di Singapura, seringkali didapati membisu apabila pemerintah menggubal rang undang2 yg bercanggah dgn ajaran Islam.

Pucuk kepimpinan MUIS yg lemah setelah beberapa dekat ini menjadikan organisasinya mandul. Tidak dapat memainkan peranan nya seperti yg diharapkan oleh masyarakat.

Pada masa jangkau yg panjang, kelemahan MUIS untuk membuat pendiriannya terhadap isu2 genting yg berkaitan dgn polisi2 negara, akan menghilangkan pengaruh masyarakat Islam Singapura.

Source: Khan Osman Sulaiman

October 13, 2016
No Further Action To Be Taken Over Former NMP Calvin Cheng’s Online Comments, Say Police

The police have decided not to take any further action against former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng, who was being investigated after a report was made over controversial comments he made online.

The decision was made after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the police said in a letter to Mr Cheng dated Oct 5.

They added that all investigations and enquiries into the matter would stop, and the case will be closed.

A police report was made against Mr Cheng last December (2015) by People’s Power Party (PPP) organising secretary Augustin Lee Tze Shih, over Mr Cheng’s comments online about killing the children of terrorists.

In a four-line Facebook comment in last November, Mr Cheng had seemed to advocate killing the children of terrorists “in case they grow up to take revenge”, which drew sharp criticism from netizens.

Mr Lee had said in his police report that the comments contravened the Sedition Act.

Following the controversy, the Media Literacy Council, which advises the Government on developments pertaining to the Internet and media, and which Mr Cheng was a member of, issued a statement saying that his words were insensitive but did not amount to hate speech.

Mr Cheng also apologised to his fellow council members, the Media Development Authority and his supporters in a Facebook post.

Source: The Straits Times

October 11, 2016
Myanmar Sends Troops Into Muslim-Majority Region After Deadly Attacks

Myanmar has stepped up security in a Muslim-majority region near its border with Bangladesh, officials said on Monday (Oct 10), as authorities hunt for attackers who killed at least nine police officers.

Officials believe that members of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority launched three separate attacks in the early hours of Sunday, in which dozens of weapons and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were seized from border police.

Nine policemen were killed, one was missing and five were wounded. Eight attackers were killed and two captured, police said.

The Rohingya, who are mostly stateless and are subject to severe restrictions on their movements, make up the majority of the population in the northern part of Rakhine State.

Authorities in the township of Maungdaw on Sunday announced the extension of an existing order banning gatherings of five or more people and imposing a 7pm to 6am curfew.

State media said the military – known as the Tatmadaw – had moved troops into the area by helicopter. Photographs on social media showed trucks full of infantry purportedly being deployed in the area.

No detailed information has been released about the operation in the area near a border guard office at Kyiganbyin village, where as many as 90 assailants seized weapons and fled into the hills.

“The Tatmadaw, the police force and the Ministry of Border Affairs are working together to ensure security and restore law and order,” said Min Aung, a minister in the Rakhine State government, who declined to disclose the size of the force sent to the area.

Human rights advocates raised concerns that civilians may be caught up in the sweep. Unverified reports posted online by advocates for the Rohingya suggested that a violent crackdown may be underway.

Ye Htut, administrator for Maungdaw, said he was not aware of the situation around Kyiganbyin village, which is under the control of security forces.

Muslim residents of Maungdaw town closed their shops amid the heightened security presence, he said.

“All of the security forces are deployed in Maungdaw, so we are not worried about security. Everything is fine,” Ye Htut said.

BANGLADESH DEPLOYS BORDER GUARDS

Matthew Smith, founder of campaign group Fortify Rights, said restrictions on the Muslim population already in place made northern Rakhine State “a police state, an apartheid state”.

“Human rights violations in the context of counterinsurgency in northern Rakhine State are not new,” Smith said.

“The authorities routinely accuse average Rohingya of involvement with armed extremists.”

Authorities routinely dismiss accusations of rights abuses.

Sunday was the bloodiest day in the state since 2012, when more than 100 people were killed in clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Some 125,000 people, the majority Rohingya, remain displaced.

Myanmar’s state counsellor and foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi – who in August appointed former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to head an advisory commission into the situation in Rakhine State – discussed the attacks with security officials in an emergency meeting on Sunday, said foreign ministry official Kyaw Tin.

“The state counsellor instructed us to handle this issue cautiously in accordance with the law,” Kyaw Tin told reporters.

Officials in Bangladesh said Myanmar had closed the border after the attacks.

Bangladesh deployed additional border guards, said Mohammad Tanvir Alam Khan, a Border Guard Bangladesh commander.

Myanmar police chief Zaw Win has said his force was investigating possible links between the attackers and rebel groups.

Zaw Win also mentioned big drugs busts by police in the area – some 6 million methamphetamine pills were seized in September – as a possible trigger for the attacks.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

October 11, 2016
A Chinese-Muslim Convert’s Experience With Ignorance In Singapore

I need to get this off my chest.

I was seeing a new doctor yesterday (4th time this month, don’t ask) and she expressed surprise that my name sounded ‘Chinese’ when I’m wearing a hijab (and therefore look like a Muslim aka. Malay in Singapore). So I said I’m Chinese Muslim, yes, my family is Chinese, yes, I’m the only Muslim in my family, yes, I’m a convert to Islam, yes.

Then she asked me why I converted. Usual question.
Me: “I researched.” (Shortest answer, I’ve figured, that prevents unnecessary questions and only engages those who really want to know more, because, what bores people more than research?! hahaa)

And then she says this.
“Huh. You researched? Don’t research until become ISIS ah!”

WELL.
I’m not offended, no don’t get me wrong. I’ve had this said to me a few times before. But today I feel so strongly about it and am just appalled to know that it has come to the stage whereby learning and gaining knowledge in Islam can be viewed as a route to becoming ‘brainwashed to terrorism’.

Ever since my reversion close to 3 years ago (I turn 3 in 10 days time, yay!), I’ve met countless Muslims and Muslim converts in Singapore week after week, class after class. Muslims who are so knowledgeable in their field of work, AND in Islamic knowledge. Scientists, mathematicians, historians- and what they all have in common is the knowledge in Islam which sets the strongest foundation in whatever they do. And I’m learning from an ustaz who has no professional certification to his name, yet embodies the humility and disposition of people who have spent years of their lives gaining more and more knowledge. Such people are overflowing with wisdom, but they don’t ever stop learning. As my ustaz would say, “The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know.”

To all my friends out there, you’ve got nothing to be afraid of, because the epitome of a Muslim lies in gaining knowledge. And the more knowledge we gain, the less we ‘become ISIS’ (I cringe even writing this sentence). What they do/ claim to do in the name of Islam, they are no more than a bunch of terrorists. Got that? Just Terrorists. No “Islamic extremists” or “fundamentalists” or “Islamists”- just terms that the media has coined to make you believe that we Muslims have got anything to do with that bunch- when in fact we are as much related to them as you are.

Now let me go back to my jihad of trying to be as patient as I can and not have a sarcastic comeback everytime someone tries to link me to ISIS. Ugh.

—
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ- peace be upon him) said: “A servant of God will remain standing on the Day of Judgment until he is questioned about his time on earth and how he used it; about his knowledge and how he utilized it; about his wealth and from where he acquired it and in what activities he spent it; and about his body and how he used it.” (Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 148)

Source: Maryem Chin

October 9, 2016
Singaporean Asrul Alias Issued Restriction Order For Terrorism-Related

A Singaporean, Asrul Alias, was issued with a two-year Restriction Order in August after he was found engaging in terrorism-related activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Thursday (Oct 6).

The 33-year-old was arrested in August under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for investigation into his involvement in terrorism-related activities. He is a supporter of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), MHA said.

Starting in 2014, Asrul watched online religious sermons by radical preachers, as well as videos that featured ISIS fighters in combat. MHA said he had actively looked up pro-ISIS materials and shared them on social media with the intention of spreading the group’s radical ideology.

Asrul also showed his support for ISIS by countering criticisms of the group he came across online, the ministry added.

However, after warnings from a family member and a close friend to stop posting pro-ISIS and pro-militant materials, the technician stopped doing so from late 2015/early 2016. He remained supportive of ISIS though, and continued to consume ISIS-related materials online.

MHA said that while its investigation showed that he had become radicalised, he was given a Restriction Order instead of being detained as he was “not an imminent security threat”.

He will undergo religious counselling while on the Restriction Order, the Ministry added.

In August, MHA announced that four other Singaporeans had been dealt with under the ISA for supporting ISIS. Two were detained under the ISA after they made plans to travel to Syria to fight for the terrorist group, while the other two were issued Restriction Orders.

In their comments to the media on Thursday, the authorities also stressed the role of the community in countering terrorism. “It is a challenge to detect self-radicalised individuals who have not previously attracted security attention and who are not part of a structured organisation, such as Asrul,” they said in the statement.

“This is why it is those who are close to the individual – family, friends and colleagues – who are usually better placed to detect signs that the individual has become radicalised. It is critical that they alert the authorities early of such individuals to save them from getting involved in violent activities that could harm themselves and others.”

SINGAPOREAN WHO FOUGHT IN YEMEN RELEASED FROM DETENTION

MHA added that Singaporean Mohammad Razif Yahya, who was detained in August 2015 for voluntarily taking up arms in the sectarian conflict in Yemen, has been released from detention this month, and issued with a Suspension Direction (SD).

Razif’s Order of Detention was suspended after it was assessed that he no longer posed a security threat that required him to be placed in preventive detention, MHA said. Among the conditions of the SD include being prohibited from associating with any militant or terrorist groups or individuals, and he is not allowed to leave the country without the prior written approval of the ISD Director.

MHA also announced on Thursday that the eight Bangladeshi nationals who were detained for their involvement in the group called the Islamic State in Bangladesh have had their Orders of Detention cancelled.

Six of them had contributed funds towards the purchase of firearms for the group’s plans in Bangladesh, and were convicted of terrorism financing. They have been sentenced to between two and five years’ jail, and as such, their Orders of Detention have been cancelled, the ministry said.

The remaining two members, Sohag Ibrahim and Islam Shariful, were repatriated to Bangladesh last month after investigations were completed, it said, adding that Bangladeshi security authorities were apprised of their repatriation.

MORE THAN 80 DETAINED FOR TERROR-RELATED ACTIVITIES SINCE 2002

Since 2002, over 80 people have been detained for terrorism-related activities, with 17 currently placed on Orders of Detention, two on Suspension Directions and 25 on Restriction Orders under the ISA, said MHA.

The Home Affairs Ministry said that it bases what action to take against individuals investigated by the Internal Security Department (ISD) on evidence obtained through investigations and an assessment of the level of the threat.

“Detention is a last resort to be used only when the threat is imminent,” it said.

Once an individual is detained, however, he or she will have to go through a “thorough and stringent” process before being released. This factors in progress in the rehabilitation programme as well as the assessments of psychologists, ISD case officers, detention centre wardens and religious counsellors from the Religious Rehabilitation Group, MHA said, adding that those who “no longer pose an imminent threat” will be released.

“The Government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in any activity in support of terrorism,” it said in the statement.

“Every member of the public has a responsibility not to engage in such activity, and not support others who do so.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

October 7, 2016