Muslims in Singapore

by

Dr. Malika.B. Mistry

Recently while I was living in Singapore, I had the good fortune of interacting with Singaporeans in general and Muslims in particular. We Indians as citizens and as administrators need to learn a lot from them to make our lives organized and rich. I would like to share my insights and experiences as follows.

Singaporeans in general

In general people are polite. They have a penchant for cleanliness and greenery. Houses, housing societies and the roads are clean and green. The metro and the buses are clean. Public transport is fully Air Conditioned. There are no conductors in the buses. Silence is maintained. The driver brings the bus to the side of the bus-stop and stops and waits patiently till everybody gets down and gets in.

There is good governance everywhere. Since Singapore is part of the tropics, it rains through out the year. However, water does not collect on the roads. I came to know that once in a particular area, water was collected. The Corporator was dismissed with immediate effect. (I hope it happens in my country too) . When on a particular line, metro develops technical snag, the travelers in the next two hours will be offered free ride to clear the backlog fast. Otherwise the company running it would be heavily fined by the Government. In another incident where a Minister in the Government who had a secret affair with his colleague. When it was found out, he was compelled to resign from his job with immediate effect. It is strict about its law and order. For example, for the 3rd or subsequent conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol - “A fine up to Singapore $30000/- and imprisonment for up to 3 years, caning of up to 6 strokes should death or serious injury be caused” ( Basic Theory of Driving : The Official Handbook issued by Traffic Police, Singapore). ( It is said that the ruler of Singapore Mr. Lee has Gulf Shaikhs as his friends and incorporated caning in Singapore law from their law.) Today one Singapore dollar costs around Rs.50.

Muslims in Singapore

Singapore is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. It has four official languages – English, Chinese, Tamil and Malaya. In the buses the instructions are given in all four languages. In 2010, in the total Singaporean population, 74% were Chinese, 13.4 % were Malay, 9.2% were Indians and 3.3% constituted others. 

By religious group, 15% of Singapore population is Muslim. Among them, seventeen per cent are of Indian origin. There are 72 mosques in Singapore. There are 6 full time Madarasas. Some part-time Madarasas also exist. Muslims in Singapore are mostly Shafi. Some Hanafis also exist. Singapore government strongly discourages missionaries from attempts to convert the local Malay population. It is done so as not to cause racial and religious tensions in the predominantly Muslim community. 

Status of Malay Muslims is good in Singapore. Malay are considered as the original people of Singapore and hence enjoy some constitutional rights. They are politically, economically, socially and culturally active. The first president of Singapore was Mr. Yusof Ishak. We see his picture on the currency notes of Singapore. (In Bukit Batok area of Singapore, I saw a secondary school named after him. ) Mr. Ishak’s younger brother is presently a minister. Madam Halimah Yacob is the Speaker in the Parliament of Singapore.

Even though rich and poor divide is increasing in Singapore, most Muslims are doing well economically because it is easier to do business in Singapore. With US$200 , one can start a business. Malay Chamber of Commerce exists and subsidies are given to promote Malay entrepreneurship.

Singapore is an ageing society. Singapore government takes good care of its elderly by having different schemes for elderly. Chinese elderly usually live in old age homes. Among Muslims, the families take care of their elderly.

Singapore has some poor people but the government takes care of them. They are provided with small one-room houses and some monthly maintenance allowance is given to them. 

Masjid is a Multi-functional Institution 

I had the good fortune of visiting a mosque in Singapore viz. Masjid Ar-Raudhah (which happens to be a Malay mosque). It seems to be recently constructed. It does not have regular design of a masjid. The lady K.G. teacher at the mosque explained to me that this was done to make the masjid more energy efficient and more ventilated. I was happy to learn that in Singapore, mosques do not serve just as religious places of worship but they are multi-functional community centers. For example, in Ar-Raudhah, there are two floors, ground is for worship by men and the first floor is for women-worshippers. Here Worship is regularly conducted as any where. Religious lectures are organized. Recently a lecture on ‘ Yawm-al-Hasrah ‘ (Day of Remorse) by Sheikh Dawood Butt was organized. Zakat is compulsorily collected. I picked here pamphlets titled “Zakat on Business” and “Zakat on Shares “. The masjid has a youth group by the name Al Fateh. It conducts a number of programs like religious workshops , family meetings, youth seminars, foot-ball matches, nature tours, etc. through out the year, to make Muslim youth religious, family-oriented, modern, competitive and dynamic.

What is striking to an Indian Muslim is, besides conducting madarasa classes, the masjid has a KG school with in it. All the teachers are women and the principal is also a woman. They are all hejab clad but the faces were open. They were moving around in the masjid freely and prayed regularly in the upper floor of the masjid. Women had regular functions of Quran-recitation and also meetings on community issues. In the Board of Management of the Masjid, women-members are there. 

Another striking feature is that in the masjid, there were pamphlets on different schemes of Singapore government meant for benefit of the common people. At the Masjid, dissemination is given to Muslims about these schemes and they are enabled to apply f or them. For example, pamphlets “Community Health Assisst Scheme is a health scheme “Know Your BMI” and “Healthy Bones Begin with You” for general health were explained to the worshippers. I also saw here pamphlets on the UN Convention on the Rights of Children ( issued by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore) to educate the parent-worshippers. To empower the vulnerable women and transform them into small entrepreneurs, the NGO ‘PPIS Family Service Centre’, in collaboration with the Singapore Government , organizes a program HOME (Help, Outreach, Motivate and Educate). Muslim women are also educated at the masjid about the economic opportunities to empower themselves. So at the masjid, amazing development work to benefit the Ummah - men, women, youth and children is being done!

Status of Muslim women in Singapore

They are well educated and like other women, are employed in banks, universities and in the ministries. They drive all around. Wearing hejab does not hinder their careers. Women are also in the Parliament, as we noted earlier. For Muslims polygamy is allowed, but it is controlled. Women too can take divorce. Premarital counseling is done.

In Singapore, MUIS (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore) is a constitutional body. It funds all the mosques and guides religious life of Muslims in Singapore. The Imams and Qazis are government employees. If a Muslim man wants to marry again, he will have to approach MUIS. He also has to take permission from the first wife. When MUIS is satisfied that he has taken approval of his wife and has enough income to marry again land support another wife, then only he would be allowed to marry again. Otherwise, it would be a crime. All Muslim marriages are registered with the MUIS. Women are given Mehr at the time of marriage itself. There is no dowry given by the bride’s family. Also among Malays, the husband gives substantial gifts to the bride after marriage. This ceremony is called ‘Hantaran’. Women can approach MUIS to take divorce. MUIS will issue a divorce certificate. On that basis, she can marry again. If she has become a destitute after the divorce, she would be awarded maintenance from the husband and the government will help too.

In Singapore, there is one Dar-ul-Arkan where those who want to convert to Islam visit. It is said that a number of non-Muslims come here to know about Islam and some embrace Islam. After 9/11, this Centre started having more visitors.

Communal Harmony in Singapore

Singapore is often quoted as the model of peaceful and prosperous inter-ethnic and inter-religious coexistence. In 1960, on the day of Idd-e-Milad, when the procession was being taken, there were riots between Muslims and Chinese merchants. After this, the government became very strict and enacted the Racial Harmony Act which bans racial slur whether religious or secular. Ahmed Deedat was banned from speaking in Signapore. Zakir Naik is allowed to visit Singapore but banned from speaking. A Singaporean Mr. Hussein Saynuddin informed that no processions are allowed though it is a democracy. It believes in the philosophy “agree to disagree” At the same time, it is a highly policed state with good intelligence. Juma kutba is the same all over Singapore though it is in different languages. Because of government control, there are no salafi, sufi or tabliqi mosques. An old Mufti Saeed Isa Sameiti had written a famous book “Moderation in Islam”. Most corporates allow their Muslim employees to attend Juma namaz.

In Singapore nobody is above the law. Corruption is not tolerated. Transparent and good governance exists. Government is conscious of opportunity cost of conflict among the communities. So the politicians and the government sincerely and actively promote communally harmony. The government is also conscious of its public image and image with the foreign investors (The international trade of Singapore is 3 times more than its GDP). For communal amity, different measures are implemented. Children are taught tolerance right form childhood. Inter-ethnic youth programs are organized. For example, foot ball matches actively have members from all communities. Festivals are celebrated together. The Singapore Housing Board Societies have quota for different communities with in each society. Only when the quotas are full, the registration of the society would be done.

The Terrorism Part

After 9/11, Internal Security Act was enacted. Any miscreant can be arrested any time under this Act. When some Muslims became emotional and started creating problems for public peace, they were arrested. Singapore government is compassionate. It does not leave its jail-mates to their fate. It reforms them. So these boys were given counseling, reformed and rehabilitated. Other jail-mates are treated similarly.

No wonder that Singapore has become world-renowned and prosperous and an ideal society to emulate.