I’m so happy that Singapore’s Muslim community is making a vocal and visual stand for morality and Family. I fully support the ‘wear white’ campaign. FCBC, together with the LoveSingapore network of churches, will follow suit on the weekend of 28 and 29 June, island-wide. I look forward to celebrating the Family with the Muslim community and I am pleased to partner with them in championing virtue and purity for the good of our nation!
LoveSingapore will also be supporting an online Family campaign called FamFest Singapore (www.facebook.com/FamFestSingapore ). This is a unique FaceBook page by TOUCH Family Services. It promotes the right Family values. It celebrates the contributions of the Family in Singapore.
The family unit is the lifeblood of our nation. The time to stand and defend what is right is NOW.
AN ISLAMIC religious teacher has launched an online campaign asking Muslims to wear white next Saturday evening to protest against homosexuality and defend traditional family values.
Ustaz Noor Deros, 28, is behind the Wear White Facebook page and website and is asking Muslims to “return to fitrah” – the Arabic word for “natural” – and support “what is good and pure”.
The Muslim month of Ramadan starts on Sunday next week and the first evening prayer to mark the fasting month will be held on Saturday evening.
That Saturday is also when the Pink Dot picnic – an annual event promoting “the freedom to love” regardless of sexual orientation – will be held. It is organised by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Mr Noor, who teaches religious classes at Hajar Consultancy Services in Joo Chiat, writing on the campaign website, said: “The natural state of human relationships is now under sustained attack by LGBT activists.” He said that holding the Pink Dot event on the eve of Ramadan showed their “disdain for Islam and the family”.
He urged Muslims to “stand up and defend the sanctity of family” and wear white to the first terawih prayers that day.
His is not the first group to attempt a protest against the Pink Dot event this year. Christian group Touch Family Services wanted to hold a family picnic on the same day but cancelled the event after the Urban Redevelopment Authority rejected its application to hold it at the Padang.
According to the Facebook pages of the Wear White community and Mr Noor, the campaign was launched two weeks ago and discussions took place at the Hasanah Mosque in Jurong East.
The campaign symbol is a white droplet against a black background, which some supporters are now using as their Facebook profile picture.
Zulfikar Mohd Shariff
NUS Professor Syed Khairudin Aljunied
They include National University of Singapore Malay Studies professor Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, who drew flak earlier this year for describing lesbianism as “cancers”; and Mr Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, who in 2002 helped four Muslim parents mount a legal challenge against the Government’s decision to suspend their daughters for wearing the Islamic headscarf to national schools.
The Wear White campaign video, presented in English, features several Muslim men and women dressed in white and describing what is sunnah, or according to Prophetic tradition. These include, for example, playing with children; caring for the elderly; tending to the poor, travellers, orphans and widows; and being fair in business dealings.
https://www.facebook.com/muhammad.soiman
Mr Noor appears holding a baby, and says: “It is sunnah to marry and raise families.”
The video was changed yesterday after theatre actor Najib Soiman, 36, asked to be removed from it, saying he had been misled about its purpose.
He told The Straits Times that when Mr Noor invited him to be featured, he thought it was meant to celebrate Ramadan. He had agreed because the community is trying to encourage young people to return to the mosques.
It was only on Wednesday that he discovered it was for the Wear White campaign, with its clear anti-homosexuality stance. He said people began calling him and he was shocked to see how it was being used.
He called Mr Noor, who said there had been a miscommunication. The video was then edited to leave out Mr Najib.
Mr Noor did not reply to questions from The Straits Times except to say he would release a press statement today.
The Pink Dot event has been held on the last Saturday of June for the past three years. A spokesman for the organisers said they went ahead with this year’s event on June 28 after checking with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) website that Ramadan begins on June 29.
They also checked with “friends from the Muslim community” before proceeding with the event to be held at Hong Lim Park, the spokesman said.
Ustaz Khair Rahmat from Sultan Mosque, who is not involved in the Wear White campaign but learnt about it from his daughter, told The Straits Times: “My impression is that it is trying to rebut some of the things gay activists and Pink Dot have put out.
“I thought this was achieved in a non-accusatory manner. I don’t know if it’s the correct way to do it but it’s a gentle way to remind Muslims that family is between a man and a woman.”
I wrote this to defend the #wearwhite movement from the so-called “Muslims” who are attacking it. Please emphasize on the fact that those who promote LGBT can be charged under the law (Administration of Muslim Law Act Section 139) for promoting false doctrine!
Terima kasih,
Hazrul
—–
Muslims in Singapore are making history because they are unite together to #wearwhite to fight against the LGBT agenda, especially as they lack respect for Islam by holding Pink Dot on the first night of our holy month of Ramadan. Since they are holding Pink Dot on the first Ramadan night where devouts Muslims are doing their terawih prayers, it is a provocation by the LGBTs that shows their disdain and disrespect for Islam. It is clear that #wearwhite is not a political campaign, but the result of Muslim resentment and anger at the provocative and disrespectful tactics by the LGBTs to threaten the sanctity of the natural family and trample on Islamic teachings.
Ustaz Noor Deros, one of our most important traditional learned Al-Azhari local scholar, explains very clearly that “In living our lives according to Allah’s commands and guidance, we reconnect with our family and community. Let the coming of Ramadan remind us of the importance of the family.Let it remind us to return to the natural state of life. Let it remind us to Return to fitrah.
There are groups that are trying to destroy the sanctity of the family. The natural state of human relationships is now under sustained attack by lgbt activists. For the lgbt movement, the natural family is no longer sacred.To underline their disdain for Islam and the family, lgbt activists are organising an event on the very evening of 1st Ramadan. They expect this event to be the biggest ever in their history.”
Our Ustaz has been working tirelessly to ensure that the Muslim community as well as all other Singaporeans are protected from the LGBT activists who are trying to trample on the sanctity of the family.
Alfian Sa’at
But there are so-called “Muslims” like Alfian Sa’at who are attacking the #wearwhite movement. (See this post by him, for example, where he falsely accuses #wearwhite of being incendiary: https://www.facebook.com/alfiansaat/posts/10152071066302371) People like him have so little Islamic knowledge but they try to spread confusion and discord to disunite among the Malay-Muslim community. His actions are a betrayal of Malay and Muslim values, which he should uphold as a Malay-Muslim.
These militant LGBT activists must know that #wearwhite is a strong movement that enjoys the support of the entire Malay-Muslim community. Important organisations like PERGAS, FMSA and Muhammadiyah have condemned the LGBTs and their Pink Dot activities. There is strong support for the #wearwhite movement.
The supporters of the anal-sex-lovers should be charged for spreading False Doctrine under the Administration of Muslim Law Act. Section 139 of AMLA states that “Whoever shall teach or publicly expound any doctrine or perform any ceremony or act relating to the Muslim religion in any manner contrary to the Muslim law shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.”
Those people encouraging Muslims to attack the #wearwhite movement and to support Pink Dot are clearly teaching a false doctrine that is contrary to Muslim law. They should thus be punished with the maximum fine of $2000 and a prison term of 12 months to send a clear message to fellow Muslims that they must respect Islam and not attack our pro-natural family message.
Good upright Muslims must take heed and join the #wearwhite movement, as it is sunnah to wear white as well. Our ustaz and his friends have done so much good work to start this #wearwhite campaign and Muslims all over Singapore should follow his moral guidance. If they refuse, the stubborn “Muslims” should be warned that they can be charged under the law for spreading false doctrine of Islam.
Baru-baru ni, ada pergerakan memakai putih untuk kembali ke fitrah, pada 28 June ini. Ada juga yg tidak memberi sokongan atas alasan, ‘kalau nak kembali ke fitrah, tidak perlu memakai putih. Sembarang warna pun boleh.’
Di sini masalah orang Islam. Berpecahan. Kalau kita beri sokongan, apakah menjadi dosa? Jatuh miskin ke kita di dunia dan hari kemudian apabila memberi sokongan?
Masalah sekecil inipun dibantah, dicela, dikritik.
Dalam soal ini, saya neutral. Tapi memandangkan ianya tidak mendatangkan dosa untuk saya kalau saya menyokong, saya rasa paling sedikit saya boleh buat adalah dengan sokongan moral dan lisan.
Kita tahu ada banyak cara untuk kembali ke fitrah. Tapi yang mengaturkan acara ini, memilih supaya kita memakai serba putih untuk menunjukkan kesatuan. Bagaimana kita hendak bersatu jikalau perkara sekecil ini yang tidak melanggar peraturan Islam pun dibangkang? Berat ke untuk kita menyatakan sokongan kita supaya pergerakan ini dapat sokongan orang ramai dan sekaligus, dapat eratkan perpaduan?
Dari segi kelebihan dan kelemahan, saya tidak dapat terfikir akan kelemahan yg ada pada pergerakan tersebut. Malahan, ia banyak kelebihannya dari sudut perpaduan. Jadi mengapa susah untuk orang kita menolak tepi perbezaan pendapat untuk sesuatu yang baik? Saya mahu bertanya mereka-mereka yang membangkang sepenuhnya. Mengapa tidak setuju dgn cara ini? Dari segi haram, adakah ia merosakkan akidah? Ataupun mendatangkan dosa kepada yg menyertai?
Kalau kedua-duanya tidak, dengan segala hormat dan merendah diri saya usulkan supaya kita berhentikan membantah hanya kerana tidak sesuai dengan citarasa masing-masing. Mari kita lihat kepada kebaikkan dalam masa panjang. Dan kalau tidak dapat melihat akan kabaikkannya dalam masa panjang, atau kelemahan pergerakkan tersebut, jgn pula lancang atau memperkecilkan usaha mereka2 ini. Mereka bergiat untuk ummah walaupun tidak sehaluan dgn cita rasa kita. Mungkinpun saya tidak akan memakai putih pada hari tersebut, tetapi niat baik org2 ini, tidak harus dicela. Malahan, kita harus beri semangat untuk mereka meneruskan hajat baik mereka itu.
Maaf kalau pendapat saya ini kurang menyenangkan pihak-pihak tertentu. Tidak bermaksud untuk bertelaga. Cuma sebagai kaum muslim di singapura, saya mahukan yang terbaik untuk semua. Bersatu kita teguh, bercerai kita roboh.
SINGAPORE — Religion is important to their identity, and Muslims and Protestant Christians are the two religious groups that are most affected by and most disapproving when friends or family members of the same faith give up their religious beliefs.
They also feel more strongly than their Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic and other counterparts about moral issues such as homosexual sex, sex before marriage, adoption of children by gay couples and gambling.
These were among the findings in a study on religiosity and management of religious harmony released yesterday by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).
The study’s authors said: “Considering that for many Muslims, Protestants and Catholics, a mark of the good person includes the teaching of one’s morals, it is important that they temper this with a respect for those who do not share such values.”
About two-thirds of Muslims and 44 per cent of Protestants said religion was very important to their sense of identity — significantly higher numbers than those of other faiths. About 69 per cent of Muslims and half the Protestants said they disapproved of family members of their faith giving up their religious beliefs, compared with 20 per cent of Buddhists and 31 per cent of Hindus, for example.
The study’s authors noted that giving up religious beliefs is more disconcerting among religious groups where there are higher levels of religious participation and identity.
Lead author, IPS senior research fellow Mathew Mathews, said greater religiosity among Muslims here was observed a few decades ago and coincided with increased global Muslim piety. Many Muslims in Malaysia and the region also take their religion very seriously and this is increasingly so, he noted. As for Protestants, the dominant form of Protestant Christianity here is of a “conservative variety where there is an emphasis on doing the right thing”.
Many Singaporean Protestants are first-generation Christians and “you expect converts to be a lot more fervent about their faith, especially since they made a choice to embrace the religion”, Dr Mathew said.
Mr Noor Mohamed Marican, president of Inter-Religious Organisation, said it is important that Muslim and Protestant leaders have strong ties and communication with different religious leaders, as inter-faith dialogues based on goodwill will prevent misunderstandings. “We must learn to respectfully agree to disagree and see above and beyond our disagreements,” he said.
Speaking in his capacity as Bishop of the Lutheran Church, Reverend Terry Kee said: “If you look at the survey, it’s not just Muslim and Christians … almost all the faiths had similar conviction in terms of the importance of good strong morals. With the increase of non-religious influence … (and) in the face of eroding moral fabric of our society, this actually brings the religious community closer together … on how we can work together to preserve and protect the moral value of our nation.”
Rev Kee, who is also a vice-president of the National Council of Churches of Singapore, added: “So this would not be a problem between different religions but, rather, it may become a problem between a more united religious community versus the non-religious.”
Literary and cultural critic Nazry Bahrawi of the Singapore University of Technology and Design also felt Singapore’s biggest challenge with regard to harmony is not inter-religious. “Rather, our developing ‘culture war’ really has to do with how Protestants and Muslims react to changing views of sexuality,” he said, urging both religious groups to consider theology from multiple traditions and perspectives.
Singapore could consider ethics instead of moral education modules in schools to promote more empathy and less judgment of others, he suggested.
The study’s authors also warned that vibrant religious centres elsewhere are likely to have some influence on believers in Singapore through constant exchanges and the Internet. With immigrant flows, there is the possibility of intra-religious conflicts over theology, religious practice and other issues.
Established religious structures here should also be open to incorporating “splinter groups” with their own interpretation of religion and “steer them clear from tendencies that may destabilise religious harmony”, they wrote. Additional reporting by Laura Philomin
Kebanyakan rakyat Singapura agak senang dengan keadaan sekarang apabila membincangkan soal ruang bersama bagi amalan keagamaan.
Hanya suku yang mengatakan kumpulan-kumpulan agama patut diberi lebih banyak hak daripada yang sedia ada.
Demikian menurut dapatan terbaru mengenai kehidupan beragama di sini, yang dikeluarkan Institut Pengajian Dasar, IPS.
Dan masyarakat Muslim ternyata masih mencatat kadar tertinggi mempertahankan nilai-nilai agama, berbanding penganut agama lain.
Dapatan tertinggi – 94% Muslim menganggap hubungan sejenis adalah salah.
