Tag: Muslim

Mufti: Credibillity Of Religious Authority Need To Be Earned, Open And Engaging Discussions Necessary

Counter-messaging must be a key weapon in the fight against terrorism, yet it can be a difficult one to wield due to the myriad of factors fuelling the rise of extremism today, said speakers at a symposium yesterday.

Speaking on the second day of the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Singapore’s mufti, Dr Fatris Bakaram, questioned if acts of terror could simply be attributed to a misinterpretation of religious texts.

He also asked if radicalisation could be caused by a sense of disenchantment with the state, a rejection of the secular culture or a political agenda.

“One could certainly add on to the list of questions, and I suspect the reasons are as multi-various as they are interlinked,” he added.

Retired General John Allen from the United States noted that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is an “offshoot” of a series of socio-economic and political circumstances.

“And unless we solve those underlying causes, Daesh (an acronym of ISIS’ Arabic name) will simply be … a symptom … ultimately, the coalition’s activity will not be cured,” said Gen Allen. He was appointed last September as the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, a term by which the ISIS is also known.

Gen Allen noted that the Internet has aided extremist operations in their global expansion, resulting in an “unprecedented generational challenge”, with young men and women able to fight for the cause from even their home countries.

To fight terrorism, he said, we must “dominate the information environment” across different platforms and languages, with messages that contest ISIS’ “propaganda machine”.

“(We must) take back the information sphere from Daesh and eliminate its pre-eminence.”

Gen Allen added that a multi-pronged approach against terrorism must also involve efforts to clamp down on the movement of foreign fighters as well as the financial resources of extremist outfits.

However, Dr Fatris stressed that messages must be crafted and conveyed by credible leaders, and noted that credibility had to be earned over time. “Our credibility as a religious authority is not a right … we (cannot) implicitly assume that people will listen to us … we are essentially partaking in a battle for the heart and soul of Islam.”

He added that religious leaders cannot shy away from addressing “dark and difficult episodes of warfare and persecution”. Educating the young today is not simply about telling them what is right or wrong, he said. “It is engaging their learning process, hearing them … engaging them on ideas and letting them speak their minds.”

Dr Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said there were more than 10,000 terrorist-related Facebook accounts, 47,000 Twitter accounts and more than 9,800 websites. “We need a point-by-point rebuttal of (ISIS’) justifications for using violence … you specifically question, show me in the Koran that this is permitted,” he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 18, 2015
Hypocrisy In Dealing With Muslims Must Be Addressed

Our Mufti questions whether terrorism can solely be attributed to misinterpretation of texts. He then suggests that the reasons could be multi-faceted, and include disenchantment towards the state.

Thanks to our Mufti for saying something that has been ignored for far too long, by far too many people (‘experts’).

If i may add: the hypocrisy in dealing with Muslims must also be addressed. When a Muslim commits a terrorist act, everyone rushes to condemn – Muslim ‘spokesmen’ and leaders included – and words such as ‘lone wolf terrorist’ are used. When Muslims are the victim of such attacks – as in the case of the Chapel Hill shootings – not only do these spokesmen disappear, but the perpetrators are described as people with ‘mental issues’.

There can be no peace without justice.

Source: Walid J Abdullah

April 18, 2015
10 Things Madrasah Students Can Relate To

For as long as I can remember, I was born a Madrasah student. I spent my entire school years as a young girl in a system that revolved around the etiquette of Islam.

In this country, Madrasah students spark controversy. Previously known to the locals a a ‘dump’ for those who were unable to grasp academic studies (which I find is BS), Madrasah students wear distinct uniforms, highlighting the significance of Islam in our attire. On average, each Madrasah student will juggle at least 8 subjects: the conventional academic subjects and our religious studies.

Needless to say, we are ought to be a lot different than most government funded institutions. And there are a few slightly humourous things almost all Madrasah students can relate to:

1) Exam season is the pimple-inducing, binge-eating, amok-driving season for all of us.

IT IS THE WORST. Want to spot a Madrasah student? When exams are going on, try looking out for the girl or guy who’s death gripping a book written with weird foreign alphabets (It’s Arabic) on the MRT. Is he/she half crying half mouthing words you cannot even begin to decipher? Does she look like she could use an entire year of sleep? Does she look like she needs a big fat hug and bucket of cookies to drown in? Does he look WHOLEHEARTEDLYmiserable?

Most definitely a madrasah student.

2) Selective public transport partners

I don’t know what this is about, but you will never see a male madrasah student sitting next to a female madrasah student, or vice versa. This most probably relates back to how we are the constant reminder to the public of Islam. So since Islam doesn’t encourage the whole opposite sex intimacy thing, maybe we think sitting next to a madrasah girl is on a whole other level of intimacy. Sure.

The irony is, most of us don’t even care if it’s an nose-digging apek who sits next to us. It doesn’t make sense.

3) Knowing everyone from other madrasahs

Because the community is way too small, everyone knows everyone. It’s horrible most of the time because I, for one, am not one to socialise. I barely know the people from my own school, let alone the cute boy from the other Madrasah or the girl with the annoyingly ostetentatious shiny backpack that goes on the 6. 15 am Joo Koon MRT every morning. I even have a classmate who knows every person who has ever studied in a madrasah. No kidding, give her a name and she’ll drop you information you weren’t sure you wanted to know. I’m talking what his/her favourite socks are or if he/she had myspace. She is seriously creepy. And knowing that it is possible to know that much about practically everyone in a Madrasah, proves to show how tiny our little Madrasah World is.

4) Condescending looks from the public

I cannot begin to describe the amount of times I’ve been spoken to as if I were the most stupid person on earth. Once, a woman stopped me and asked for directions. I am normally buried in a book when I’m outside, so when she approached me, I was in a daze and was diligently trying to bring my brain back to the present. So instead of courteously letting me think of how I should answer her question without accidentally blurting out why I want to kill the antagonist of the story, she began flailing her arms in sign language and switching from English to Malay. Because you know, apparently I’m English illiterate and can only speak in my mother tongue.

No, dear woman, I didn’t spend an entire semester dedicated to Shakespeare while being illiterate.

5) Accused of being part of a secret society (and other ludicrous things)

I was in the debate team in school, so a lot of opportunities were offered to me whilst I was a debator. I was invited to inter-school camps, public speaking courses and finales of international debates. And I’ve been asked a lot of weird questions when I tell them I’m from a Madrasah.

“What do you study? Do you even… study?”

“Is it true you learn how to be part of Al-Qaeda in Madrasah?

“Do you know what exams are?”

And of course, the female favourite, the ever so ridiculous, “Do you shower with that on? *prods my hijaab ominously*”

To answer your very humourous though very ignorant questions: I do not shower with my headscarf on, I study about 14 subjects, No I don’t know anyone who’s from Al-Qaeda and I am highly judicious when it comes to studying and reading because I HAVE to. (see no.1). Please for the Love of God, do the same.

Sidenote: I also take the same national exams and no, my papers aren’t of lower standard than the foundation paper. God bless.

6) Most of us do not possess the typical accent

Instead of speaking with additional suffixes that have been dubbed the national slang of the country, we speak full on proper English. Well, most of the time. The odd ‘lah’ or ‘ya’ is quite a normality, though other infamous curse words are not very regularly used in Madrasah.

7) We have tiny schools

Seriously though, this one has been a hot topic for as long as I can remember. We have the tiniest schools. It’s fairly ridiculous to see a Madrasah student’s reaction to a normal government school. I bet you, 99 percent of the time I step in to a public school, I admire the place like it’s the inside of Hagia Sophia. My school doesn’t have it’s own hall for crying out loud. We have our morning assembly in front of the teachers’ room. But if there’s one thing this limited space has taught us Madrasah students is that simplicity, moderation, and gratefulness breeds success like no other. Alhamdulillah.

8) Our school is our pride

I am not one with attachment issues. I move on inconveniently quick. But the one thing I know I will feel attached to ~~till the day I die~~ is my school. The amount of genuinely redundant and (most of the time) ineffective rules I have endured in a Madrasah isboundless. But the love I have for the people in it is infinite. There are my teachers, my asatizah, who never fail to show up day after day to see my disinterested face and tell me to study hard in order to help the community. My seniors who send us cute motivational texts before our exams, and my principal who almost every week tells us that boys are toxic and to never. fall. in. love.

9) FAQ from relatives who find out we’re in a Madrasah

Say I’m at a relative’s house, and the next thing I know I’m interrogated by a curious makcik/pakcik with questions that start with “Which Madrasah are you in?” and end with “Oh, so you want to be a religious teacher when you grow up!”

Nice one Pakcik.

Now not only am I going to mentally decapitate you, but my Biology finals will be clouded with the vision of you and your ‘self assumed aspiring ustazah’ comment.

Listen up folks, being in a Madrasah means my parents wanted me to excel in both worlds, they wanted me to have the widest array of choices possible. I don’t bury myself in an Add Math textbook while memorising my Tafseer to be left with one career path.

So you see Pakcik, I could be your Doctor, your Textile Designer, your local Museum Curator but you know, maybe I’ll think about being a religious educator since people like you still exist.

10) We are normal

The most common testimony you hear the public saying is that Madrasah students are angels and are immune to mistakes because Islam is what they carry in their hearts and the Quran is the content of their soul. Don’t get me wrong, I know a lot of Madrasah peers who try very hard to be this. To be the perfect example of a good muslim/muslimah. But that’s it, we are all trying. Not just us madrasah students, but I believe every believer struggles with their Imaan. Iman An-Naas Yazid wa Yanqus. Every man’s imaan increases and decreases.

So next time you see a Madrasah student doing something that doesn’t live up to your vision of a perfect muslim, be kind. He is struggling just as much as you are. We all are diamonds in the rough.

Salaam, peace,

A.N

Source: https://epithetforthefernweh.wordpress.com

April 17, 2015
5 Drivers Causing Singaporeans To Become Extremist

Psychological studies of Singaporeans who support the Islamic State (IS) have revealed five drivers behind their radicalisation.

In a presentation during the East Asia Summit, a symposium on religious rehabilitation and social reintegration, Ministry of Home Affairs psychologist Hu Weiying said the Islamic State’s exploitation of social media to recruit foreign fighters in large numbers has resonated with a handful of Singaporeans, resulting in them being radicalised by the online propaganda.

Hu, who interviewed several radicals during her study, said there are five psychological drivers contributing to the adoption of the Islamic State’s agenda by locals.

The first is justifying violence, such as when Islamic State fighters or sympathisers attributed the responsibility for violence to external factors and developed a binary worldview — that is, a world of good guys versus bad guys. One example of this was when the Islamic State’s violence was justified based on the actions of the Assad regime in Syria.

The second driver is the romanticised view of the Islamic caliphate. Hu said this was driven by the view that many Muslim nations are ruled by corrupt and inefficient regimes subservient to Western powers. The desire to restore the Islamic caliphate comes from the romantic idea of reigniting the glory and influence of the Ottoman empire.

The third driver, according to Hu, is the desire to be a ‘good Muslim’. The Islamic State, she said, offered both a transcendental-future time perspective as well as a present-hedonistic time perspective.

In the transcendental-future time perspective, the IS focuses on life after death, giving its followers attractive notions on what happens to them after death. This redemption through jihad, according to IS, redeems not just the fighters, but also their families.

The present-hedonistic time perspective, meanwhile, gives IS fighters a sense of excitement in the here and now. The actions of the group arouse feelings of novelty, pleasure and stimulation, while also transcending the individuality of its followers. It also romanticised the idea of the being part of the ‘real action’.

The fourth and fifth factors are the need to escape the ‘unbearable present’ and the existential anxiety in relation to End Times prophecies. End Times prophecies, Hu said, motivates people to increase their levels of religiosity by engaging in ‘worthy causes’. The fear of missing the final opportunity, she added, drove misplaced activism.

While most radicalised individuals driven to misplaced activism aren’t ready to go and fight for the IS in places like Syria, many resort to ‘negative activism’, such as buying jihadi-themed paraphernalia or ‘clicktivism — using social media to help promote or spread the ideology.

In a later discussion, Indonesia’s national counter-terrorism agency (BNPT) international co-operation deputy head, Inspector General Dr Petrus Reinhard Golose said many of the same psychological factors were seen in Indonesian radicals and extremists.

Hu said that in order to wean these people off the IS, the group’s ideology and legitimacy had to be undermined. She also said radicalised IS followers needed psychological counseling and cognitive reframing in order to change their radical worldview and to help them find alternative perspectives.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

April 17, 2015
Holistic Approach Needed To Fight Religious Extremism

Identifying weak religious grounding as a common trait among radicalised individuals here, national leaders yesterday reiterated the need for a holistic approach to counter the threat of terrorism.

Speaking at the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said: “One common characteristic that has been observed among radicalised individuals that we have investigated in Singapore is that they possess weak religious grounding.”

He added that this made the individuals “more susceptible to believing wholesale the radical exhortations that distort religious concepts to give their message of violence an aura of divine sanction”.

Since the first arrest of alleged Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members here, religious scholars and teachers have embarked on a counselling programme to debunk radical ideas, said Mr Teo, who is also Home Affairs Minister.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said that a holistic approach cannot only involve “kinetic power or arresting people”.

Stressing the importance of showing radicalised individuals “the right approach to religion”, Mr Shanmugam said: “When you radicalise a person you are creating a human bomb … you can arrest and put him in prison, you can also try to de-radicalise by getting him to see the real aspects of religion.”

While religious leaders here have been reviewing the curriculum and enhancing training of Islamic teachers, challenges abound, said Singapore’s mufti, Dr Fatris Bakaram.

For instance, some preachers and leaders are reluctant to correct popular misconceptions “because they have this worry of being unpopular”, he said. He added: “Preachers and teachers have to stand up, have to develop their self-confidence, that they are part of the whole responsibility to guide youths.”

Dr Fatris said that the young today exhibit an increased sense of “restlessness to fight injustices”. They should be given the right platforms to further their desire for social justice, he said. “The younger generation has the energy and drive to change the world, and that has to be acknowledged.”

For instance, Islamic studies graduates have been employed as youth development officers in local mosques to assure young Muslims here that they have important and active roles to play in the religious community, he said. “When (the youths) feel they are appreciated, that they are given the trust and confidence to contribute, I think that will provide effective safeguarding them from being deceived by the extremists.”

Dr Fatris added that while terrorism cannot be isolated as a “Muslim problem”, Muslims must not shy away from it. “We have to acknowledge that this is the issue of the day affecting global communities … extremist groups have been using, or abusing, the name of Islam … It is not to say that Islam itself is the source of the problem, but the misunderstanding of Muslims and their religion is the thing we have to address,” he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 17, 2015