THE RELIGIO-POLITICAL ACTIVISM OF ULAMA IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The article attempts to understand the relationship between Muslim religious scholars and the government in Singapore and argues that it has worsened since the city-state became independent in 1965. It explores the declining religious influence of the ulama by assessing their role and contribution to the enactment of the 1966 Muslim Personal Law which governs several aspects of Muslim life in Singapore and the 1998 amendment of the earlier law. It seeks to understand various contributory factors for this waning influence, namely the ulama's role in increased religiosity amongst Muslims in Singapore, the government's changing attitude towards Islam, and the evolving perceptions amongst some ulama about their role and influence within Singapore's Muslim community. It will also show how the ulama have tried to reclaim their religious influence.

Notes

¹The only article written on ulama in Singapore has little empirical data to support the theory; cf. Noor Aisha (2009).

²Supporters of this hypothesis include Arnold (1974) and Fatimi (1963). While there are other theories of Islamisation, the Indian hypothesis seems to be the most viable. Mohd Taib (1980) highlighted similarities of religious terms used by the Malays and Indian Muslims which were adapted from Sanskrit. He argued that it is likely that these terms would have been in Arabic had the Arabs been responsible for the Malays' conversion to Islam. However, Syed Naguib Al-Attas (1969) is a fervent advocate of the hypothesis that conversions were brought about by Hadhrami and Arab merchants.

³Traditionally, a qadi has jurisdiction over all matters related to Muslim life. In the context of Singapore, the qadi's jurisdiction is limited to Muslim marriage and divorce.

⁴Interview with Ustaz Ahmad Sonhadji, Spiritual Guide to PERGAS (Muslim Scholars and Religious Teachers Association), 3 February 2004.

⁵Ibid.

⁶Ibid.

⁷Details of the reaction of the ulama in India to the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 can be found in Qureshi (1974).

⁸Interview with Othman Wok, former Minister of Social Affairs and Muslim Affairs, 27 January 2004.

⁹Syed Ali Redha, a prominent leader of the Muslim community and a former politician had also confirmed this. See Shahril Shah (1990: 35).

¹⁰Ahmad Ibrahim was also the Attorney-General of Singapore from 1959–1967. He was an expert in shariah law. See Sulaiman Jeem and Abdul Ghani Hamid (1997).

¹¹Interview with Othman Wok, 27 January 2004.

¹²Ibid.

¹³Interviews with Othman Wok, 27 January 2004 and Ustaz Ahmad Sonhadji, 3 February 2004.

¹⁴Interview with Abdullah Tarmugi, Speaker of Parliament and former Minister of Community Development and Sports (MCDS), 28 January 2004.

¹⁵Interview with Hannan Hassan, former secretary-general of PERGAS, 4 February 2004.

¹⁶Interview with Pasuni Maulan, Islamic judge at the Registrar of Muslim Marriages, 6 February 2004.

¹⁷The ulama in the council are the Mufti and a PERGAS representative. See MUIS (1998). The members of the MUIS council were under the oath of the Official Secrecy Act thus no detail of the meeting could be revealed. Several ulama interviewed felt the Deputy Mufti behaved more like a civil servant than an alim and that his views were reflective of the government's and not the ulama's.

¹⁸It was also at this point that MUIS officials were told not to occupy key positions in the PERGAS executive committee because of the conflict of interests arising from this issue. PERGAS Secretary, Hannan Hassan and Assistant Secretary, Ustaz Fatris Bakaram were both MUIS officials.

¹⁹Interview with Abdullah Tarmugi, 28 January 2004.

²⁰Sections 35, 51 and 53 of AMLA discussed this issue in more detail. See Parliament of Singapore (1999: 5–9, 12–15).

²¹PERGAS' response in a letter to AMLA on 10 November 1998. Courtesy of Ustaz Zhulkeflee Ismail, former manager of PERGAS.

²²Interview with Zhulkeflee Ismail, 28 January 2004.

²³Interview with Pasuni Maulan, 6 February 2004.

²⁴ Warita Kita, ‘Towards a better haj’, (June 1987) and ‘Islam law and organ transplantation’ (August 1987). All these articles were written by the ulama.

²⁵A piece of cloth that covers a small part of the hair on a woman's head.

²⁶Jamiyah was known to have good links with the Gulf States, especially Saudi Arabia while PERGAS has links with ulama organisations in Malaysia and Indonesia.

²⁷This could be seen from the questions posed to ulama in public talks and the MUIS fatwa committee. See <http://www.muis.gov.sg/cms/oomweb/fatwa.aspx> Accessed on 20 January 2009.

²⁸For more on Singapore's multi-racialism ideology, see Clammer (1985).

²⁹ Pondok schools are traditional Islamic schools found in Southeast Asia. Teaching is done in Malay and Arabic wih a high emphasis on religious learning. There is generally no system of assessment in place which differentiates these schools from the madrasah.

³⁰Interview with Wan Hussein Zoohri. Member of Parliament (1981–1991) and Chairman of the Prophet Muhammad Birthday Memorial Scholarship Fund Board, 26 January 2004.

³¹Interview with Ustaz Ali Mohamed, Chairman of Khadijah Mosque and Head of the Naqshabandi-Qadariyyah Tariqah in Singapore. 27 January 2004.

³²Interview with Pasuni Maulan, 6 February 2004.

³³Interview with Zhulkeflee Ismail, 28 January 2004.

³⁴Ibid.

³⁵<http://www.singapore-window.org/sw01/010521m3.htm>

³⁶Interview with Syed Isa Semait, 4 February 2004.

³⁷Interview with Hannan Hassan, 4 February 2004.

³⁸There were six full-time Islamic schools or madrasah in Singapore with an enrolment of about 4,000 students before a quota was imposed on the intake of students.

³⁹PERGAS' press statement on the tudung controversy, 2 February 2002.

⁴⁰Interview with Pasuni Maulan, 6 February 2004.

⁴¹Interview with Syed Danial, participant at protest, 5 June 2005.

⁴²Those detained were regular attendees at religious classes and talks organised by PERGAS. Interview with several ulama in PERGAS, 6–12 February 2004.

⁴³Author's confidential source.