#masagos The Sultans in Malaysia issued a statement, expressing their concerns over divisive practices and mindsets that may jeopardise Malaysia’s multi-racial and religious harmony.
The statement urged Malaysians to abide by the Constitution, and that Muslims should not unwittingly tarnish the religion by their actions which can be divisive.
Like Malaysia, Singapore is constantly cautious and concerned about racial and religious harmony. While we have enjoyed decades of relative peace, global and local developments may unravel what we have built over the years. The Government needs to continuously be nimble in adapting to changes, and to carefully manage racial and religious relations. It has put in place policies like the Ethnic Integration Policy, GRC and recently, reserved President Election for each community.
The Muslim community and MUIS too have worked hard to preserve their moderate practices in Singapore, and to prevent external influences from making the community an exclusive and extreme one.
I wish citizens from both sides of the causeway will continue to maintain their strong inter-racial and religious harmony.
A photo posted on Facebook by Bali United FC on Monday (Jun 5) has netted widespread praise for its message of religious harmony.
The photo, which has been shared close to 12,000 times, shows players Ngurah Nanak, Yabes Roni and Miftahul Hamdi in prayer positions of different faiths in celebration of Yabes’ goal.
Defender Ngurah Nanak, who is Hindu, was pictured standing with his palms raised to his forehead, while Christian forward Yabes, who had just scored Bali United’s second goal against Borneo FC, kneels on the grass. Beside him, Muslim Miftahul is seen praying prostrate.
The photo, shot by Miftahuddin Halim, was captioned: “Because differing beliefs will not stop us from achieving the same goal.”
The post attracted hundreds of comments with people lauding Bali United for attempting to unite Indonesia. The country recently saw racial and religious tensions come to the fore after ex-Jakarta governor Ahok – a Chinese Christian, was sentenced to prison for blasphemy over comments on the Quran. Islamic fundamentalists had agitated for him to be punished, mobilising mass protests against him, though he had apologised.
“FOOTBALL CAN UNITE A NATION”
“It’s beautiful to see that differences have united us as one Indonesia. Save NKRI (Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia) … Best for Bali United, hope you become the Liga 1 champion,” said one Facebook user.
Another said: “This is why I support Bali United. Even though they are of different faiths, they respect each other.”
Yet another praised Bali, an Indonesian island popular with tourists: “This is the strength of Bali – tolerance which is key to Indonesia’s harmony.”
Speaking to Kompas after the match on May 14, Yabes said the move was meant to promote unity within Indonesia, despite its citizens practising different faiths and cultures.
“Protect our brotherhood and stay as one,” said the 22-year-old.
His teammate Miftahul said he would be happy if the brief celebration was made an example.
“Football can help unite a nation,” he said to Kompas.
Singapore indeed comprises a multiracial and multireligious society.
Because it is multiracial, it has places called Chinatown, Little India, Geylang Serai and Kampung Glam
. Prevously, there was even Kampung Melayu.
Bazaar Ramadhan all over Singapore have been organised in conjunction with the month of Ramadhan where Muslims fast. It’s link to fasting cannot be understated. And as the name implies, Bazaar Ramadhan, when sellers sell food, should be targetted at Muslims in the first place. If it’s not targetted at Muslims to patronise, then it should not be called Bazaar Ramadhan.
When Bazaar Ramadhan are meant for Muslims to patronise, they should also cater to the dietery needs of Muslims. The foods sold must be halalan toiyyiban.
The most basic is that the stalls should be MUIS halal-certified or Muslim-owned. Placing tudung-clad women alone does not make a non-Muslim-owned stall become halal. Neither does using halal-certified food products makes a non-Muslim-owned stall ‘automatically’ halal.
However, as Bazaar Ramadhan all over Singapore are mainly commercially driven, it would be a challenge to really make every stall to fulfill the basic halal toiyyiban criteria. Understandably, profit-making is the major driving force.
Some members here have expressed their views of how the basic character of Bazaar Ramadhan in Geylang has changed over time. Fundamentally, they see an erosion of the basic Malay character of the Bazaar Ramadhan in Geylang Serai area. This is similar to views on how the historical character of Kampung Glam area has suffered from the presence of many watering holes or eateries selling liqour or alcohol (see https://www.facebook.com/kgglamalcoholfree/).
Traditionally and historically, Geylang Serai has been closely associated with the Malay ethnic group. Previously, Kampung Melayu shopping area was even placed at the Geylang Serai area. Now an even more sophisticated version of that Kampung Melayu is being developed in Geylang Serai.
When views expressing the eroding Malay identity of the foods sold and of the profile of sellers in the Bazaar Ramadhan are being shared, they should not at be seen as being racist. Even the Government has previously expressed views of the eroding Chinese identity within the Chinese ethnic group in Singapore. The SAP schools have since been established in Singapore to address that concern.
And some have dismissed such expression of eroding Malay identity in Bazaar Ramadhan at Geylang Serai area as alienating other non-Malay Muslims. Historically, Malays have been, by and large, Muslims. Expressing views on the erosion of the Malay identity in those Bazaar Ramadhan is by no means alienating other non-Malay Muslims. Traditionally, there were more Malays, who were Muslims, who ran stalls selling foodstuffs during Ramadhan in the Geylang Serai area. And the foodstuff that they sold were all meant for Muslim consumption in the month of Ramadhan and also during Hari Raya. But when the profile of sellers changed, what more when the status of halalan toiyyiban of such stalls was also unclear or ambiguous, raising concerns should not be seen as alienating non-Malay Muslims. It is in fact addressing the concerns of all Muslims with regards to the halal status of foodstalls at such Bazaar Ramadhan.
It is a valid and legitimate concern for all Muslims if the halal status of foodstalls in Bazaar Ramadhan cannot be clearly ascertained, when such stalls are neither MUIS Halal-Certified nor Muslim-owned.
Yes, we need to be mindful of the multiracial and multireligious character of our nation and the importance of upholding the principles of racial and religious harmony. However, that does not mean and entail the suppression of views on the importance of preserving and conserving the ethnicity and religiosity of each group. We also need to recognise the need to help ethnic and religious groups maintain the respective core characteristics and celebrate the ensuing diversity that each group brings and contributes to Singapore’s heritage and overall development.
Otherwise, no point having Chinatown, Little India, Kampung Glam and Geylang Serai.
Otherwise, no point calling the bazaar in the month of Ramadhan as Bazaar Ramadhan if they are no different from any other bazaar in any other months of the year, and no different from bazaar set up in Chinatown for Chinese New Year and in Little India for Deepavali.
Let’s maintain and celebrate the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity by bringing out the true character of each group rather than making them all the same. Only then would Singapore be a truly vibrant world-class city able to showcase the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that it manage to hold together in harmony.
In February, a video of Imam Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel reciting a prayer in Arabic that said “God help us against Jews and Christians”, among other things, was circulated online.
He was charged in court and pleaded guilty last week to promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, and committing an act prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.
He also apologised to Christian and Jewish religious leaders for his remarks. He was fined $4,000 and has been repatriated back to India.
The issue has come to a closure in a “uniquely Singapore” way. It judiciously combined the application of law via the courts, lots of community engagement efforts by Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim’s dialogue, and with religious leaders of different faiths. Mr Shanmugam also met the imam for a cordial breakfast.
Few countries in the world have the opportunity to adopt this balanced approach to resolve a sensitive issue, because it needs the existence of social peace and religious harmony, which Singapore works very hard to preserve.
With this closure, it is useful now to deal with the “elephant in the room”, which is Islam’s doctrinal position on the “religious other”.
This discussion is important to make clear to non-Muslim Singaporeans that enmity towards non-Muslims was never a part of Islamic doctrine.
ISLAM AND NON-MUSLIMS: A HISTORY
Islam’s position on non-Muslims was first shaped by historical conditions. This early position evolved over time so that it remained appropriate to the context of the day as the dynamics in the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims changed.
The Quran spoke warmly of Christians because they were more receptive to the message of monotheism, compared with local idol-worshipping tribes in Mecca, when Islam first came.
Furthermore, it was the Christians of Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) who gave refuge to Muslims who fled Mecca to escape persecution.
Similarly, Muslim-Jewish relations in the early Islamic era were positive as they were shaped by an agreement that manifested the congenial dynamics between the two faith communities.
More importantly, early Muslims conceptualised the community of believers to be originally independent of confessional identities.
They regarded Christians and Jews to be members of their community.
It was only later that membership in the community of believers came to be seen as a confessional identity in itself, and this had a lot to do with the prophethood of Muhammad.
Tensions, therefore, occurred in Muslim-Christian as well as Muslim-Jewish relations and due to sharp differences in a number of other doctrinal matters.
Notwithstanding these fundamental differences, the special relationship among the three religions as part of the Abrahamic family of religions was preserved.
The divisive issue of Prophet Muhammad’s prophethood was played down and, instead, the focus was on what bound the three faith communities together.
These are the belief in monotheism, the Last Day and the importance of doing good deeds on this earth.
The attitude of early Muslims was to preserve unity of the community of believers so that they could be assured of Jewish and Christian support to defend their city, Medina, against the common enemy in Mecca, who were not monotheists.
This explained why Muslims did not force Jews and Christians to accept the status of Prophet Muhammad as their prophet, too, but chose instead to focus on teachings that could be accepted by all three faith communities.
But the bigger cause of conflict and division was less religious and more political. It was the violations of parties of the agreement to honour it and fulfil their obligations. These violations were seen as tantamount to treason.
Violators were severely dealt with as traitors and put to death – a punishment that was the norm during wartime.
Despite challenges in keeping alliances and violations of the agreement, Jews and Christians were not regarded by Muslims as enemies.
Who, then, were singled out by early Muslims in their supplication?
THE REAL ENEMY
The supplication by Muslims was for divine help in their war against the disbelievers in Mecca, who were superior both in numbers and strength.
They were the enemies of the early Muslims only because they wanted to kill the Prophet, annihilate Muslims and extinguish Islam from the face of Arabia. It was, therefore, a matter of life and death for the Muslims.
The Prophet’s mission spanned over 23 years, out of which 16 years were spent in a state of heightened tension and war with the disbelievers of Mecca.
Twenty such wars were fought and the Prophet was pained when about 1,000 of his companions were martyred.
The Prophet supplicated to seek God’s help against disbelievers using verses from the Quran that specifically mention them (kafirun and mushrikun).
There is an important qualification, though.
The supplication was not targeted at all disbelievers. It was specifically aimed at disbelievers whose plan was to kill Muslims, drive them out of their homes and destroy Islam.
Disbelieving people who were not engaged in such sinister plans were not the ones Muslims supplicated against.
INCLUSIVE CATEGORISATION
Another pertinent fact is that, besides Christians and Jews who occupy a special relationship with Muslims as People of the Book, there are also a number of other religious communities who enjoy this special status in the eyes of Muslims.
The Quran has categorised Sabians as People of the Book, while there are scholars who also included Zoroastrians.
There are other less known facts.
For example, there was a religious ruling issued in AD710 by Islamic scholars in Kufa, Iraq, to accord Buddhists the same status as monotheists.
This ruling was in response to a query by a young general of the Muslim army, Muhammad Qasim, who upon conquering Sindh province in India was petitioned by the local Buddhist community to allow them to continue to practise Buddhism and preserve their temples. The ruling accorded the Buddhists in question the same status as monotheists (like Jews and Christians) and provided privileges to them, considering them People of the Book, but they were obliged to pay taxes.
Similarly, from an early period, when Muslims arrived in India, Hindus were designated People of the Book, a practical solution that allowed Muslim rulers to permit Hindus to live in peace within the Muslim empire as long as they paid taxes. This also explained why some Muslim mystics consider the Hindu scripture, the Vedas, as a revealed Book and believed that Lords Rama and Krishna could be prophets of God.
As for Taoism, the former grand mufti of Egypt (Sheikh Ali Gomaa) was asked at an inter-faith dinner during his visit to Singapore in June 2014 whether Taoists are People of the Book. He turned to Taoist leaders and asked if their teachings were based on a sacred text, to which an affirmative reply was given. The former Egyptian mufti stated his position that Taoists are People of the Book.
A word of caution is needed here.
It is never claimed that all religions are the same and that religious pluralism is advocated here. All religions are different, although they share the same roots. Religions are like the Banyan tree – they have shared roots, appear to have many trunks (although there is only one trunk) and have many branches that sprawl in different directions as they reach for the sky.
The Prophet of Islam respected all religions; he never denigrated any religion or prayed for the destruction of any religious community. Muslims supplicate for divine help against those, regardless of religion, who wish to harm them in any way.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) has suspended the academic who had openly criticised another man who made public an imam’s comments.
The university told The Straits Times on Wednesday (Mar 8) that it had suspended Associate Professor Khairudin Aljunied from his duties on Monday (March 6).
This “follows from (his) purported comments made in relation to insensitive remarks about Christians and Jews allegedly made by a religious leader”, a spokesman for the university said.
During this time, the university will internally investigate Dr Khairudin’s involvement in the matter, though he will still receive his pay, the spokesman added.
“As part of due process, NUS will launch an internal investigation into Assoc Prof Khairudin’s involvement in this incident. Assoc Prof Khairudin will continue to be paid his full salary during his suspension,” the university said.
When contacted, Dr Khairudin said he was unable to comment due to the ongoing investigations.
Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam told Parliament last week that the police are looking into the conduct of everyone involved in the case.
Last month, investment associate Terence Nunis posted a video online of an imam at Jamae Mosque who, after a sermon, reportedly recited a prayer in Arabic that said “God grant us victory over Jews and Christians”, among other things.
The video gained traction online and offline and, as part of due process, the imam has been placed on leave while investigations, which the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) is assisting in, are ongoing.
The case sparked a storm in the community, and many felt the postings could be used to cast aspersions on Islam and religious leaders. Some also felt the imam’s recitation had been taken out of context.
Dr Khairudin, a tenured academic at NUS’ Malay Studies department, had posted on his Facebook page a fictional conversation between an imam and a “silly convert”.
In the post, Dr Khairudin described the convert as being stupid for getting upset over the verses.
Mr Shanmugam had said that Dr Khairudin “encouraged vilification” of the whistleblowing individual. He said: “Mr Khairudin’s position and actions are quite unacceptable… He supports a position that is quite contrary to the norms, values and laws in Singapore.”
On Saturday, the minister added that police will investigate the case thoroughly and interview all parties involved, including those who filmed and publicised the video.
“Whether there is a case for further action against any of the parties, will depend on the outcome of investigations,” he added.
“The Government does not take sides in this issue – if anyone is found to have committed an offence, action will be taken.”
NUS added on Wednesday that it “takes a serious view of any actions or speech that condone the promotion of hatred, ill-will and enmity that targets specific faith communities”.
“Members of the NUS community must observe standards and policies on staff conduct, which include respecting different views and communicating responsibly,” it said.
