Islamic moderation in Singapore thrives in a secular environment

Islamic moderation in Singapore thrives in a secular environment

Muhamad Ali, Manoa, Hawai

Singapore is a unique example of how Islamic moderation could
be made possible by a politically and economically secular
environment. It is commonly held that global modernity has
nothing to do with tradition and religion. But if one more
closely observes, religious lives can be interrelated to the ways
in which a country modernizes itself in economy and education.

It is true that Singapore remained one of the most tightly
controlled, though nominally democratic, states in Southeast
Asia. With a total population in 2000 of four million -- 77
percent Chinese, 14 percent Malay and 8 percent Indian --
Singapore faced sensitive issues relating to ethnicity, though
there was little overt unrest.

With a highly urban character and its predominantly Chinese
population, Singapore became Southeast Asia's most thriving
entrepreneurial state and a major regional -- and global-
communications center by the early 1990s, though it was done at
some cost in personal liberties, self-expression and stringent
controls continued on information and the media.

But paradoxically, most Singaporeans seem to be quite happy
about their religious lives. The question arises: Is that because
economic development has actually transformed in positive ways
the pragmatic, thus tolerant minds of the religious peoples? Is
the religious freedom that they have been experiencing made
possible by their prosperity? What is the relationship between
religious observance and global modernity appropriation?

In Singapore, where (mostly Malay) Muslims constitute a
minority living in a society undergoing far-reaching secularizing
changes, some 68 mosques stand as an important bulwark of Muslim
identity and community integrity. Though the main function of a
mosque is as a place of prayer, the mosque plays a variety of
roles. Many such satellite mosques have also madrasah (modernized
Islamic schools) and pre-school centers. Mosques also provide
diverse services, mostly religious, educational, social and
economic ones. Religious development and economic modernization
seem to support each other.

Islamic organizations such as PERGAS (Union of Singapore
Islamic Teachers) and MUIS (Council of Islamic Religion in
Singapore) have been actively engaged in educational and social
activities. Singapore has conditioned MUIS, for example, to have
a vision of reaching towards "a community of excellence that is
religiously profound and socially progressive."

MUIS further spells out the desired attributes of the
Singapore Muslim community with respect to socio-religious life,
namely to hold strongly to Islamic principles while adapting
itself to changing contexts.

Unlike Indonesian Muslims, Muslim communities in Singapore are
comparatively "conservative" in their religious beliefs and
practices, but "progressive" in terms of economic and social
behavior.

The kind of Islamic "conservatism" can be easily recognized
(headscarves and Arabo-Malay attire) due to the influential role
of the particular kind of Middle Eastern Islamic preaching,
publications and organizations. In fact, Singapore used to be the
center for Islamic publication in Southeast Asia. Although they
are conservative in religious belief and practices, they are
against radicalism and terrorism.

For example, a Singaporean Malay Muslim woman said, "We as
Muslims should not be defensive about the misperceptions linking
Islam to terrorism; it is our responsibly to explain that Islam
has nothing to do with terrorism; if the terrorists claim
themselves as Muslims they have misinterpreted some of the
Koranic verses; but for us the terrorists are not truly Muslims
because the meaning of Islam itself is peace."

It is also very interesting to understand the extent to which
Singaporeans experience religious freedom of its own. When I
attended a Global Education Convention at the National University
of Singapore in which international educators and students shared
their knowledge and experiences in an attempt to promote global
citizenship and education, I observed and talked to some of the
Singaporeans about their religious lives.

Most of them are proud of being Singaporean and of the ways in
which religious beliefs are being practiced. In places of
worship, it appears that different peoples of religion (Buddhism,
Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity) are quite content with the
development of their religious lives.

Thus, when a country prospers, radical Islamism becomes less
possible. Singapore provides a case in which Muslim minorities
can actually live peacefully and prosperously in a secular,
globalized country. Despite the imminent threats posed by
Southeast Asian terrorist networks, Islam in Singapore can
coexist with economic and political secularism.

The writer, a lecturer at the Syarif Hidayatullah State
Islamic University of Jakarta, is pursuing his Ph.D in History at
the University of Hawaii at Manoa under the East-West Center
Fellowship. He can be reached at muhali74@hotmail.com