Rilek1Corner

Tag: Religious Rehabilitation Group

  • Youth Radicalisation: Where Does It Stem From?

    Youth Radicalisation: Where Does It Stem From?

    Youth radicalisation. The subject is once against in the news, especially after the arrest of two Singaporean teenagers.

    It is worrying, to say the least. And what’s more distressing are the comments that accompany some of these reports. As a young Muslim, it is unsettling to read comments that condemned the religion as a whole. Even though they were few and far between, there were comments that hinted at Islamic education being one of the catalysts for the radicalisation of youths.

    As someone who has spent most of her formative years studying at an Islamic Institute in Pakistan, this hit a nerve.
    Let me elaborate. I gained admission to an Islamic Institute when I was just thirteen. I left for Pakistan after a year as a secondary school student in Singapore. The main reason why I decided to pursue my education in that particular institute was because I wanted to learn more about my culture and embrace a sense of spirituality. And this was with my parents’ blessing and support.

    The next four years were a whirlwind of adventure.

    Everything seemed so new and unique compared to what I was accustomed to in urban Singapore. The sights, sounds and smells were a positive assault on my senses. Well, mostly positive. (I found out quite quickly that I couldn’t get my fix of fast food as often as I would have liked.)
    Adapting to a totally different culture and environment was definitely challenging but I was relieved to discover that one aspect of life remained the same. Here I mean the people and their company.

    I had a preconceived notion that the biggest difficulty for me would be making friends with my classmates, as they would come from different walks of life. What a misconception that turned out to be. We mostly got along like a house on fire. The fact that we came from various backgrounds and cultures did not make a difference at all.

    Throughout the four years that I spent there, I forged many friendships that last till this day. My friends have all moved on after graduating and some of them have even started families of their own. I guess the point I am trying to make here is that from my experience, studying at an Islamic institution or having an Islamic education does not automatically or invariably lead to radicalisation.

    However, it would be an act of denial to say that youth radicalisation is not becoming a pressing issue. The recent case of two Singaporean youths who were radicalised by ISIS and arrested, with one detained for planning terrorist attacks and only recently released, proves that this is indeed a case for national security concern. The primary question on people’s minds is this: How do young people get radicalised?

    The first avenue is through the Internet. Youths are increasingly exposed to various forms of online platforms such as social media, blogs, forums, YouTube videos and websites in general. Terrorist groups reach out to impressionable minds by seducing them into believing that their brand of ideology is right, and violence for the cause is therefore justified. Moreover, cyberspace also exposes young people to like-minded communities, as was the case with one of the teenagers who was arrested. Also, the promise of salvation may strike a chord with certain youths who are not familiar with the actual teachings of Islam.

    So how do we combat youth radicalisation?

    The Ministry of Home Affairs has articulated the following: “Religious institutions and teachers have an important role to play in engaging young Singaporeans when they have questions on religious matters, and steering them in the right direction.”

    I agree with this wholeheartedly as young people should be taught to tell the difference between the actual teachings of Islam and the false promises that terrorist groups make.

    Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG), formed in April 2013, is an example of such a group whose primary aim is “countering the ideological misunderstanding of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members through counselling.

    Their centre has five zones. Each zone elaborates on a different point like how extremists have distorted the meaning of Islam to advocate violence and the ways the RRG counters that. It also talks about how Singapore has been affected and the importance of promoting a vigilant society and expressing our commitment to peace.

    Support and supervision from family and close friends make a huge difference as well in protecting these youths from the dangers of radicalisation.

    Finally, I would like to say that when harrowing issues such as youth radicalisation are brought to the fore, the first course of action should be to protect the youths from further entrapment and provide them with all the assistance they need to free themselves from the web of radicalisation — instead of making assumptions about the religion itself.

     

    Source: http://inconvenientquestions.sg

  • Helpline Launched To Fight Radicalisation Threat

    Helpline Launched To Fight Radicalisation Threat

    As terrorist group ISIS’ prolific reach becomes more apparent by the day, the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) has come up with three measures to counter the growing threat of self-radicalisation in Singapore, including a new helpline that will be available from early next month.

    The helpline (1800-774-7747) is for members of the public who wish to raise the alert on those whom they feel are in danger of being self-radicalised. It is also meant to serve as an easily-accessible legitimate reference point for those who have questions about extremist ideology or are seeking advice on aspects of Islam.

    The initiative follows reports last month that a self-radicalised 19-year-old student here had plans to join ISIS in Syria, failing which he plotted attacks to be carried out locally. He was detained under the Internal Security Act in April, while another 17-year-old was arrested last month for further investigations.

    In its statement on the detention and arrest then, the Ministry of Home Affairs had highlighted the importance of family members, friends, colleagues and members of the public turning in those they suspect are at threat of radicalisation early.

    Speaking on the sidelines of the 11th RRG Retreat today (June 8), where the helpline was announced, RRG member Ustaz Ahmad Saiful Rijal Hassan said the community often does not know where to go for help for such matters. “So this is a platform other than Facebook or a website, where they can just call directly and talk to us,” he said.

    On whether the helpline, which will be manned by RRG members, will operate round the clock, RRG vice-chairman Mohamed Ali said it depends on the “availability of our own councillors”, and details are being finalised. RRG has 38 members.

    Asked how the group is addressing people’s fear in reporting their loved ones for possible self-radicalisation, Ustaz Ahmad said he thinks the Malay community “is mature enough to know what is right and what is wrong”. On their part they have been promoting co-existence and peace, and they also urge their community to play a part in the national security and national cohesion.

    “If you dont report it early, you might be sending them off to the gallows,” he added.

    The other counter-measure rolled out by the RRG is short religious talks before weekly Friday Prayers where they can raise awareness on the threat of radicalisation. This started last week.

    Meanwhile, a new manual for RRG counsellors on refuting ISIS’ ideology was also launched today. It focuses on the terrorist group’s evolution, its propaganda and ways to debunk their ideology. Topics include challenges for Muslims living in secular environments, the need for critical thinking to evaluate religious sources and debunking the allegation of the Islamic State caliphate, said RRG co-chairman Ustaz Ali Haji Mohamed.

    Speaking at the Retreat today, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean said there is an urgent need to deal with the threat posed by ISIS. Security agencies and the community need to work together to develop a counter ideology against the terrorist group’s extremist ideology that is tailored to Singapore’s context so it is more relevant for Muslim Singaporeans, he added.

    RRG and community groups also need to reach out to youths through the Internet and social media in interesting, appealing and engaging ways, Mr Teo, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, said in Malay. Just as ISIS has used social media to provide religious justifications for its various actions, Singapore’s responses have to be equally, if not more, dynamic, he said.

    Agreeing, Ustaz Ahmad said youths spend a lot of time on the Internet, and “the problem with that is that whatever is (online) are information, not knowledge”.

    So, they are encouraging more Muslim youths to attend religious classes by accredited scholars, he added, citing that at least 60 per cent of Muslim youths here are not in any formal religious classes.

    Ustaz Ali added that public education efforts are important because youths rely heavily on the Internet for religious guidance but without a strong foundation in religious knowledge, they are unable to discern correct Islamic teachings from those of ISIS.

    DPM Teo also said there is a need to go beyond countering radical and distorted ideology, to put forward a positive agenda for all communities to live in harmony.

    “We need to work together to protect our young people from this danger of self-radicalisation through the Internet, so that they do not do harm to themselves, their family, the community and to Singapore,” he said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • RRG Terbit Buku Panduan Tangani Fahaman Ideologi ISIS

    RRG Terbit Buku Panduan Tangani Fahaman Ideologi ISIS

    Kumpulan Pemulihan Agama (RRG) telah mengambil beberapa langkah demi mempergiat usaha menangani ideologi pelampau menyusuli kes belia radikal sendiri baru-baru ini.

    Ini termasuk menghasilkan buku panduan kaunseling ketiganya, mengadakan lebih banyak ceramah di masjid dan memperkenalkan satu talian bagi membolehkan orang ramai mendapat nasihat daripada RRG tentang fahaman radikal.

    Ini diumumkan di Rahat ke-11 RRG di Orchid Country Club tadi.

    Rahat tersebut turut dihadiri Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Encik Teo Chee Hean, yang juga Menteri Ehwal Dalam Negeri.

    RRG telah menghasilkan manual kaunseling ketiga bagi membimbing kaunselor untuk menyangkal naratif pengganasan kumpulan pengganas ISIS.

    Buku panduan itu akan membidas konsep seperti khalifah Islam ISIS, kewajipan jihad, serta membincangkan topik seperti kehidupan Muslim dalam sekitaran sekular.

     

    Source: http://beritaharian.sg

  • Female Volunteers Play Key Role In Religious Rehabilitation Of Radicals

    Female Volunteers Play Key Role In Religious Rehabilitation Of Radicals

    When the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) was officially formed in April 2003, it had only 11 members. All of its volunteers were male asatizah (religious teachers, advisers and counsellors), as the rehabilitation work at that nascent stage was concentrated on understanding and countering the radical ideology of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) detainees.

    As religious counselling for the detainees and those under Restriction Order (RO) progressed, there was a realisation that their wives should be offered religious counselling as well. Acknowledging the religious and cultural sensitivities — as counselling is usually conducted one-to-one in a private setting — female religious advisers were invited to join the RRG in 2005.

    Despite the lack of religious counselling for the wives in the early years, the welfare of the detainees’ families was not neglected. Understanding that these families might experience emotional trauma and financial difficulties, the Aftercare Group (ACG) was swiftly formed in February 2002, shortly after the first wave of the arrests of JI members. The ACG comprised voluntary non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that provided a range of services including counselling, financial assistance, job assistance for detainees’ spouses and educational assistance for schoolgoing children.

    The assistance began from the period of detention and, if necessary, would continue even after the detainees are released. While the ACG provides material welfare support, the RRG focuses on the religious aspect of the rehabilitation programme.

    In February 2005, five ustazaat (ustazaat is the Arabic plural term for female religious advisers, teachers and counsellors; the singular noun is ustazah) joined the RRG. Their role is to provide emotional support and religious counselling to the wives of both JI detainees and former JI detainees under RO. Four more ustazaat have since joined the RRG, which currently has a total of 36 religious clerics among its members.

    Although the JI members’ wives were not detained, they should be equipped with a rightful understanding of the religion, as they might have been influenced ideologically by their husbands. With religious guidance, they will then impart the right teachings to their children and help to minimise the latter’s resentment.

    Engaging the families by effectively challenging the radical ideology and replacing it with the true understanding of Islam that teaches peace and moderation will also undermine their sympathy towards and support for extremism. The counselling process has yielded positive results over the years. Some of the wives have themselves requested religious counselling from the RRG.

    The religious rehabilitation and aftercare programmes offered are evidence that the community embraces the families as part of their own, neither discriminating against them nor stigmatising them. Most importantly, it is an effort to prevent a regeneration of extremists.

    The role of the ustazaat of the RRG is not confined to giving counselling. As part and parcel of the RRG’s effort in countering radicalisation, they are also involved in giving talks at seminars, forums and various other platforms on the work of the RRG and the threat of radical ideology. The RRG ustazaat play a crucial role in fostering social cohesion in Singapore’s multiracial and multi-religious society.

    CHALLENGES FACING RRG

    There are three key challenges confronting the RRG. First, the group needs to keep abreast of the changing terrorism landscape. After the two waves of arrests in 2001 and 2002, the JI network in Singapore was dismantled. Out of the 66 that have been detained since 2001, more than four-fifths have been released.

    As years go by, the threat of terrorism has changed from being Al Qaeda/JI-centric to one focused on the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).

    In Singapore, two families had travelled to Syria to join the conflict. Several Singaporeans had also intended to travel to Syria or expressed interest in joining the fight. The RRG has been observing the ISIS phenomenon and studying its ideology so as to be able to counter it effectively.

    The RRG has, in fact, produced two public education pamphlets — The Syrian Conflict and The Fallacies of ISIS Islamic Caliphate — to raise awareness of the Islamic State threat and to debunk its self-proclaimed caliphate. The second pamphlet comes in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil versions and these have been distributed to mosques. Several educational institutions have also requested them. In addition, the RRG has produced short video clips and posted them online to counter the ISIS narratives.

    Second, it is important to recruit young ustazaat as the RRG prepares for the next generation of clerics to continue counselling people radicalised by narratives such as that of Islamic State. Third, a small segment of the community remains sceptical of the RRG. To address this, it tirelessly conducts community outreach programmes to raise awareness of its work.

    In spite of the challenges, the RRG has not allowed the spirit of altruism of the group to wane. On the contrary, members have been even more motivated to carry on the voluntary work. The ustazaat find the counselling sessions rewarding, especially when they witness a positive change in the behaviour and thinking of the ladies they have counselled.

    They perceive their work with the RRG fulfilling on both the spiritual and patriotic levels. Spiritually, it is a form of da’wah (missionary work) and ibadah (act of worship). They are also aware that the RRG’s voluntary service contributes to preserving Singapore’s national harmony, stability and security. The inclusion of the ustazaat has strengthened the role and contribution of the RRG.

    Today, as the world faces the threat from ISIS, the RRG feels that it must continue its efforts to help counter its extremist narrative and inoculate Singaporean society, just as the RRG has done in the wake of JI.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

    Nur Irfani Saripi is an associate research fellow of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and also a volunteer of the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG). This commentary first appeared in RSIS Commentaries.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Islamophobia Driving Expectation On The Need For Muslims To Openly Deplore Terrorist Acts?

    Islamophobia Driving Expectation On The Need For Muslims To Openly Deplore Terrorist Acts?

    There’s a certain ritual that each and every one of the world’s billion-plus Muslims, especially those living in Western countries, is expected to go through immediately following any incident of violence involving a Muslim perpetrator. It’s a ritual that is continuing now with the Sydney hostage crisis, in which a deranged self-styled sheikh named Man Haron Monis took several people hostage in a downtown café.

    Here is what Muslims and Muslim organizations are expected to say: “As a Muslim, I condemn this attack and terrorism in any form.”

    This expectation we place on Muslims, to be absolutely clear, is Islamophobic and bigoted. The denunciation is a form of apology: an apology for Islam and for Muslims. The implication is that every Muslim is under suspicion of being sympathetic to terrorism unless he or she explicitly says otherwise.

    The implication is also that any crime committed by a Muslim is the responsibility of all Muslims simply by virtue of their shared religion. This sort of thinking — blaming an entire group for the actions of a few individuals, assuming the worst about a person just because of their identity — is the very definition of bigotry.

    It is time for that ritual to end: non-Muslims in all countries, and today especially those in Australia, should finally take on the correct assumption that Muslims hate terrorism just as much as they do, and cease expecting Muslims to prove their innocence just because of their faith.

    Bigoted assumptions are the only plausible reason for this ritual to exist, which means that maintaining the ritual is maintaining bigotry. Otherwise, we wouldn’t expect Muslims to condemn Haron Monis — who is clearly a crazy person who has no affiliations with formal religious groups — any more than we would expect Christians to condemn Timothy McVeigh. Similarly, if someone blames all Jews for the act of, say, extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank, we immediately and correctly reject that position as prejudiced. We understand that such an accusation is hateful and wrong — but not when it is applied to Muslims.

    This is, quite literally, a different set of standards that we apply only to Muslims. Hend Amry, who is Libyan-American, brilliantly satirized this expectation with this tweet, highlighting the arbitrary expectations about what Muslims are and are not expected to condemn:

    This ritual began shortly after September 2001. American Muslims, as well as Muslims in other Western countries, feared that they could be victims to a public backlash against people of their religion. President George W. Bush feared this as well and gave a speech imploring Americans to embrace Muslim-Americans as fellow citizens. But while the short-term need to guard against a backlash was real, that moment has passed, and the ritual’s persistence is perpetuating Islamophobia rather than reducing it, by constantly reminding us of our assumption that Muslims are guilty until proven innocent.

    The media has played a significant role in maintaining this ritual and thus the prejudiced ideas behind it. Yes, that includes openly Islamophobic cable news hosts like those in the US. But it also includes even well-intentioned media outlets and reporters who broadcast Muslims’ and Muslim organizations’ condemnation of acts of extremist violence, like the hostage crisis in Sydney.

    There is no question that this coverage is explicitly and earnestly designed to combat Islamophobia and promote equal treatment of Muslims. No question. All the same, this coverage ends up cementing the ritual condemnation as a necessary act, and thus cementing as well the racist implications of that ritual. By treating it as news every time, the media is reminding its readers and viewers that Muslims are held to a different standard; it is implicitly if unintentionally reiterating the idea that they are guilty until proven innocent, that maybe there is something to the idea of collective Muslim responsibility for lone criminals who happen to share their religion.

    Instead, we should treat the assumptions that compel this ritual — that Muslims bear collective responsibility, that they are presumed terrorist-sympathizers until proven otherwise — as flatly bigoted ideas with no place in our society. There is no legitimate reason for Muslim groups to need to condemn Haron Monis, nor is there any legitimate reason to treat those condemnations as news. So we should stop.

    We should treat people Haron Monis as what he is: a deranged lunatic. And we should treat Muslims as what they: normal people who of course reject terrorism, rather than as a lesser form of humanity that is expected to reject violence every time it happens.

     

    Source: www.vox.com