Speech by President Halimah Yacob at the Visit to Religious and Rehabilitation Group Resource and Counselling Centre

Ustaz Ali Haji Mohamed & Ustaz Hasbi Hassan,

Co-Chairmen of Religious and Rehabilitation Group (RRG)

Members of RRG

Ladies and gentlemen

It is a pleasure to be here this evening. 

         I last visited the Religious and Rehabilitation Group (RRG) Resource and Counselling Centre in 2014.  Today, as I went through the exhibits, I was reminded of how the critical role of RRG in combatting terrorism and extremism in Singapore has evolved and strengthened over the years, and how much we have benefitted from your good work.  More than 90 terrorism-related detainees, including many who were part of terrorist groups like Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), have been rehabilitated, released from detention and re-integrated into society.  RRG has also helped individuals in the early stages of radicalisation to get back on the correct path.  In addition, the RRG has been educating the wider public, making our society more resilient against extremist ideologies.  Thank you for your hard work over the years.  You have done a tremendous service to the nation.

The fight against terrorism has achieved some success in recent times.  ISIS has seen territorial losses in Syria and Iraq.  Extremist groups in the region, like JI, have been relatively quiet. 

However, we must not be complacent.  This could be the calm before the storm.  The threat of self-radicalisation persists, especially through the internet, and the authorities continue to detect people influenced by extremist rhetoric.  Extremist groups continue to be active and are recruiting supporters.  We must remain vigilant at all times, because this is a long term challenge, both globally and in Singapore.

The two recent cases of Restriction Orders under the Internal Security Act (ISA) are stark reminders of the need for consistent vigilance in countering wrong teachings and ideologies.  One of the supervisees was a former ustaz, who propagated beliefs that are wrong in Islam, as well as, incompatible with Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious context. Together with his student who was also placed on restriction order, they legitimised the killing of those they deemed as apostates and urged their students to withdraw from Singapore society and to disregard our laws. These teachings are wrong and misguided.  Any view that promotes violence is wrong; what more if it is done in the name of religion and trying to appeal to the spiritual and emotional needs of people to achieve certain objectives.   Asatizahs have a certain standing and influence in our community and, hence, have the responsibility to ensure that they lead the community in their faith based on the true teachings of Islam and consistent with our own context.  Asatizahs can be a great source of good in guiding the community towards achieving progress and living peacefully with others.

In such a situation, MUIS made the right decision in cancelling his accreditation as soon as they were aware of his radical ideologies.  Many of our asatizahs are doing good work in guiding and helping the community to navigate between their faith and living in a modern city state with all its complexities.  They teach their followers that being good Muslims do not require them to live separately in a bubble, divorced from the world, but that Muslims should robustly participate in our economy and our society.  Indeed, good Muslims are those who make significant contributions to the country that they live in, and, are seen as valued members of society because they show compassion, commitment and responsibility, in their daily deeds.

Our religion, Islam, never preached separateness. Our history is filled with examples of Muslims co-existing peacefully with other communities to advance society. In fact, in Islamic history, when the early Muslims were persecuted in Mecca, the Prophet urged them to go to Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia) which was ruled by a Christian King.  There they lived peacefully with non-Muslims and fully respected the laws of the state. In some historical narrations, the Muslims there even defended the Christian kingdom when it was under attack. Thus demonstrating how they did not only live in peace but actually contributed to securing peace for the nation they belong to. It is not sufficient for us to keep repeating that Islam is a religion of peace, but we have to demonstrate through our action and deeds that it is so.  Good Muslims are those whose existence is a boon and a benefit to others.  Hence, extremism is never part of our Islamic ideology or culture.

Therefore, it is heartening that the community has taken upon itself to deal with this issue of extremism, which includes the tremendous efforts by all of you here. For example, the RRG has ventured into cyberspace to tackle head-on dangerous and radical ideologies. This is important as extremists are actively using social media tools to glamorise their misguided crusade and create a ‘them versus us’ narrative. I am glad that you launched the RRG mobile app, which features a one-on-one in-app chat through which users can engage RRG counsellors.  Last year, the RRG also saw its first batch of graduates from the Awareness Programme for Youths (APY), which aims to provide our youths with proper religious knowledge.  I would also like to commend the RRG asatizahs, whose work has expanded in recent years from providing religious counselling to radicalised females and supporting the families of those detained under the ISA, to educating the foreign worker and foreign domestic worker population in Singapore on the dangers of radicalism. All these are useful initiatives, as it helps our community better contextualise Islamic texts and practices for the multi-racial and multi-religious society in Singapore.   

But, we still have a lot of work to do to counter the spread of wrong ideologies and terrorism by extremists.  Terrorists have been propagating the wrong ideas and interpretations of the Quran and hadith (prophet’s sayings) that are devoid of context and slanted to suit their actions.  They are able to deceive and misguide many to become their followers or sympathisers.  In most cases, those who are misled, may themselves not be very knowledgeable about Islam and are, therefore, easily persuaded by these terrorists who use Islam to propagate terror.  The solution lies in exposing the terrorists’ misinterpretations and abuse of Islam in pursuit of their own goals.  It also requires courage, tenacity and unity in the efforts of Muslims all over the world to prevent Islam from being hijacked by extremists.

Our concern is that acts of terrorism provide the fodder for Islamophobes to justify their hatred, prejudices and attacks against Muslims everywhere, thus making it difficult for Muslims to practise their faith.  Terrorism and killing of innocent people fit into the Islamophobes’ narrative that Islam is backward, stands in the way of progress and that Muslims are violent people who cannot fit into the modern world.   We need to push back against this narrative.  We can do so by showing that we can make a difference to the societies that we live in, and are valuable contributing members of our society.

In conclusion, a cohesive society is key to the stability and progress of Singapore, and of any country for that matter. The fight against terrorism on the ideological front must continue to remain strong and unwavering.  We must not let dangerous ideas fester or allow them to gnaw at our social fabric.  If any such views were to surface, we should nip them in the bud.  Yet at the same time, for us to win the war against extremism, it takes more than just tackling radical ideologies.  We also need to take a broader approach of strengthening bridges among communities, by forging mutual understanding and respect.  We need to strengthen the resilience of our society, so that we do not fall prey to radicalism due to a trust deficit from within. The Singapore Muslim community has demonstrated resilience against these dangerous ideologies and they should continue to enhance this by forging deeper the Singaporean Muslim identity which we have been cultivating for generations within the community. This is analogous to our fight against any disease – while it is important to find a cure for the illness, it is also crucial for us to adopt preventive measures.

Finally, let me once again express my thanks to the RRG for your contribution to our community and our nation.  Although you are a voluntary organization, you have done outstanding work to keep the social fabric of our society together, and I thank you for that.   

Thank you.