Conflating Muslim “Conservatism” with “Extremism”: Examining the “Merry Christmas” Saga in Singapore

Abstract

In late 2015, there was a controversy with regard to a foreign Muslim preacher being “barred” from delivering a speech in Singapore. While the government did not comment directly on the incident, it subsequently expressed concern about the growing trend of Singaporean Muslims refusing to greet “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Deepavali” to their non-Muslim friends, and stated unequivocally that it would not hesitate to ban foreign preachers who promote disharmony from entering the country. This essay seeks to critically analyse this incident, not in its specificity but with regard to the broader implications. I contend that there has been a conflation of religious conservatism with religious extremism in this episode. This conflation is not unique to Singapore, as similar expressions of wariness towards conservative Islamic positions have been articulated throughout the world, especially in Western analyses of the “Islamic problem”. This paper calls for the problematization of this conflation. It seeks to comprehend the concepts of “conservatism” and “extremism” properly. I further postulate that the act of mistaking conservatism for extremism may not only be due to misunderstandings of what the two concepts entail, but it may also has its roots in the idea of “Orientalism” as described by Edward Said.

Notes

1 Nurul Azliah Aripin, “Banned? Well-known Islamic Cleric's Absence from Conference Leads to Speculation”, Yahoo News, 4 December 2015. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/banned--well-known-islamic-cleric-s-absence-from-singapore-conference-leads-to-speculation-101926407.html (accessed 3 April 2016).

2 Ibid.

3 “Singapore Must Do More to Safeguard Racial, Religious Harmony”, Channel NewsAsia, 19 January 2016. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-must-do-more-to/2438094.html (accessed 3 April 2016).

4 “Religion Must Be Practised Based on Local Context”, Channel NewsAsia, 11 February 2016. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/religion-must-be/2504298.html (accessed 3 April 2016).

5 Robert D. Woodberry and Christian S. Smith, “Fundamentalist et al.: Conservative Protestants in America”, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 24, 1998, pp. 25–56.

6 Talal Asad, Genealogies of Reason: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 23.

7 Woodberry and Smith, “Fundamentalism et al.”, op. cit.

8 See Rahimin Affandi Abd. Rahim, “Traditionalism and Reformism Polemic in Malay-Muslim Religious Literature”, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2006, pp. 93–104.

9 See Jonathan A. C. Brown, Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy, London: Oneworld, 2014.

10 Ibid., pp. 200–206.

11 Malcolm H. Kerr, Islamic Reform: The Political and Legal Theories of Muhammad ‘Abduh and Rashid Rida, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.

12 Irshad Manji, Allah, Liberty and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom, New York: Free Press, 2012.

13 Interview with Professor Tariq Ramadan, 9 February 2016.

14 Gilles Kepel, Muslim Extremism in Egypt: The Prophet and Pharaoh, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.

15 Quintan Wiktorowicz, Radical Islam Rising: Muslim Extremism in the West, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

16 See for instance, Sami E. Baroudi, “Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi on International Relations: The Discourse of a Leading Islamist Scholar”, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 50, No. 1, 2014, pp. 2–26; David H. Warren and Christine Gilmore, “One Nation Under God? Yusuf al-Qaradawi's Changing Fiqh of Citizenship in the Light of the Islamic Legal Tradition”, Contemporary Islam, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2014, pp. 217–237.

17 Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Islamic Awakening: Between Rejection and Extremism, London: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2006.

18 Ibid., 21.

19 See Muhammad Qassim Zaman, The Ulama in Contemporary Islam: Custodians of Change, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002; Wael B. Hallaq, Shari’a: Theory, Practice, Transformations, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

20 Ibid., p. 31.

21 Tariq Modood and Fauzia Ahmad, “British Muslim Perspectives on Multiculturalism”, Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2007, pp. 191.

22 This is the opinion of many of the jurists of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence, and some scholars from the Shafi’i school too. However, this is a minority opinion amongst the ulama.

23 Julie Bindel, “Why Are My Fellow Feminists Shamefully Silent Over the Tyranny of the Veil”, The Daily Mail, 17 September 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2424073/Why-fellow-feminists-shamefully-silent-tyranny-veil-asks-JULIE-BINDEL.html (accessed 5 April 2016).

24 For example, see Rosie Waterhouse, “Universities Must Take Action on Muslim Extremism”, The Independent, 18 March 2010. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/rosie-waterhouse-universities-must-take-action-on-muslim-extremism-1922730.html (accessed 6 April 2016).

25 Peter Dominiczak and Steven Swinford, “David Cameron Backs Ban on Muslim Veils as Tories Plan Crackdown on Gender Segregation”, The Telegraph, 18 January 2016. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12106833/David-Cameron-I-will-back-schools-and-courts-which-ban-face-veils.html (accessed 6 April 2016).

26 “Burqa a ‘Garment of Extremism, Backwardness’: Chinese Official,” The Indian Express, 25 September 2015. http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/burqa-a-garment-of-extremism-backwardness-chinese-official/ (accessed 6 April 2016).

27 Qaradawi, Islamic Awakening, op. cit., p. 19.

28 “Egypt Curb on Niqab Backed by Top Muslim Clerics,” Al-Arabiya News, 22 December 2009. https://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/12/22/94992.html (accessed 6 April 2016).

29 Modood and Ahmad, “British Muslim Perspectives on Multiculturalism,” op. cit., p. 191.

30 Shamit Saggar, “The One Per Cent World: Managing the Myth of Muslim Religious Extremism”, The Political Quarterly, Vol. 77, No. 3, 2006, pp. 314–327.

31 Abdullah F. Ansary, “Combating Extremism: A Brief Overview of Saudi Arabia's Approach,” Middle East Policy, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2008, pp. 111–142.

32 See Darul Ifta, http://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=4835&text=shaking%20hands%20with%20women and http://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=8373&text=homosexuality (accessed 6 April 2016).

33 Wong Siew Ying, “2 Singaporean Youths Radicalised by ISIS Arrested, One of Them Detained for Planning Terror Attacks”, Straits Times, 27 May 2015. http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/2-singaporean-youths-radicalised-by-isis-arrested-one-of-them-detained-for-planning-terror (accessed 6 April 2016).

34 Barry Desker, “The Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) Phenomenon in Singapore”, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2005, pp. 489–507.

35 Tim Huxley, “Singapore and Malaysia: A Precarious Balance?”, The Pacific Review, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1991, pp. 204–213.

36 Kuah Khun Eng, “Maintaining Ethno-Religious Harmony in Singapore”, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 28, No. 1, 1998, pp. 103–121.

37 See excerpts of Menk's speech in Malaysia posted on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LAGZJDqhis (accessed 7 April 2016).

38 Syed Hassan Al-Attas, “Ucap selamat dalam Islam (Wishing for peace in Islam)”, Berita Harian, 26 January 2016. Habib Hasan's position is not surprising, as he is considered to be one of the clerics who are on amicable terms with the state. See Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, “Of Co-optation and Resistance: State-Ulama Dynamics in Singapore”, Journal of Church and State, Forthcoming.

39 “All hands on deck in fight against extremism: Maliki Osman”, Channel NewsAsia, 26 January 2016.

40 See Pergas’ Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Pergas.Singapore/photos/pcb.1072978482754631/1072976996088113/?type=3&theater, 5 February 2016 (accessed 10 February 2016).

41 Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, “Religious Representation in Secular Singapore: A Case Study of MUIS and Pergas”, Asian Survey, Vol. 53, No. 6, 2013, pp. 1182–1204.

42 Han Fook Kwang et al., Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going, Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2011.

43 Kenny Chee, “MM's Views on Muslims Not Govt's”, Asiaone News, 31 January 2011. http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110131-261196.html (accessed 7 April 2016).

44 See for instance, this opinion by Sheikh Saalih Al-Munajjid, https://islamqa.info/en/2459 accessed 7 April 2016).

45 See Hussin Mutalib, “Singapore Muslims: The Quest for Identity in a Modern City-State”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vo. 25, No. 1, 2005, pp. 53–72; Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, “Making Sense of an Evolving Identity: A Survey of Studies on Identity and Identity Formation among Malay-Muslims in Singapore”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2006, pp. 371–382.

46 Charissa Yong, “Singapore Cannot Exist in a Cocoon”, Straits Times, 28 August 2015. http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-cannot-exist-in-a-cocoon-minister (accessed 8 April 2016).

47 Prime Minister's Office Singapore, “Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally Speech 2015”, http://www.pmo.gov.sg/mediacentre/prime-minister-lee-hsien-loong-national-day-rally-2015-speech-english (accessed 8 April 2016).

48 Neo Chai Chin, “S’pore Facing At Least Four Types of Terror Threats, Says Shanmugam”, Today, 19 March 2016. http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/spore-facing-least-four-types-terror-threats-says-shanmugam (accessed 8 April 2016).

49 Jonathan A. Rae, “Will It Ever be Possible to Profile the Terrorist”, Journal of Terrorism Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2012. http://jtr.st-andrews.ac.uk/articles/10.15664/jtr.380/ (accessed 8 April 2016).

50 Ben Farmer, “Who Is Salah Abdeslam and Who Were the Paris Attackers? Everything We Know About the ISIL Attackers”, The Telegraph, 18 March 2016. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11996120/Paris-attack-what-we-know-about-the-suspects.html (accessed 8 April 2016).

51 Michael D. Barr, “Turning Conservative Muslims into ‘Good Citizens’: New Allies in the Management of Islam in Singapore After 9/11”, in Culture, Religion and Conflict in Muslim Southeast Asia: Negotiating Tense Pluralisms, ed. Joseph Camilleri and Sven Schottmann, Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2013, pp. 80–98.

52 Wael B. Hallaq, An Introduction to Islamic Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 1.

53 Ibid., p. 1.

54 Amir Saeed, “Media, Racism and Islamophobia: The Representation of Islam and Muslims in the Media”, Sociology Compass, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2007, pp. 443–462.

55 Katherine H. Bullock and Gul J. Jafri, “Media (mis) Representations: Muslim Women in the Canadian Nation”, Canadian Women Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2000, pp. 35–40.

56 Elizabeth Poole, Reporting Islam: Media Representations of British Muslims, London: I.B. Tauris, 2009.

57 Edward W. Said, Orientalism, London: Penguin, 2003.

58 Edward W. Said, “Islam Through Western Eyes”, The Nation, 26 April 1980. http://www.thenation.com/article/islam-through-western-eyes/ (accessed 8 April 2016).

59 Joseph A. Massad, Islam in Liberalism, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015.

60 However, more can be said about Irshad Manji and Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the criticism they face, and why, because their views are not necessarily “modern” but their own “version” of Islam and biased, based on their own personal experiences.

61 Edward Said, “Islam Through Western Eyes,” op. cit.