Students found out more about countering extremism at a convention on Sat.Students from various madrasahs in Singapore attended the Madrasah Convention 2007 on Sat 14 July.
Co-organized by Taman Bacaan, the Inter Agency Aftercare Committee, Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah and Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) with the support of Islamic Religious Council (MUIS), the Convention aimed to portray the real threat and dangers of the violent extremist trend today and educate Madrasah students on the proactive and positive values against currents of hatred and extremism.
Held at Madrasah Aljunied Al – Islamiah, about 200 students, 30 asatizahs and 15 undergraduates from Al-Azhar University (currently here on vacation) attended the event.
Straits Times - Teaching madrasah students to counter terror ideology
Ustaz who counsel JI detainees to hold talk for 200 students
By Zakir Hussain
ISLAMIC religious teachers who counsel Jemaah Islamiah (JI) detainees are going out to madrasahs to train the students in ways to combat extremist ideology.
The first move will be made today when five ustaz go to Madrasah Aljunied, where about 200 students from the six full-time religious schools will gather for a seminar.
More such forums for young Muslims are being planned, said Ustaz Ali Haji Mohamed, a co-chairman of the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG), which counsels terror detainees.
The ustaz have, in the past two years, been holding public forums and talks to explain how extremists distort Islam.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng also made a call last month for religious leaders to challenge terrorist messages wherever they occur.
At today's seminar, the message the ustaz want to get across to these students is that as future religious teachers, it is their responsibility to know how these ideas distort Islam, and to rebut them.
This new effort comes amid the recent uncovering of young professionals here and abroad succumbing to radical teachings.
Said Ustaz Ali: 'Recent cases of radicalised youth show that anyone can be susceptible to extremist ideology.'
Added Ustaz Mohamad Hasbi Hassan, an RRG co-chairman and principal of Madrasah Aljunied: 'Madrasah students can reach out to people their age as they are well educated about their religion.'
Radical teachings that purport to represent Islam are widely available, especially on the Internet, and the teachers are concerned that Muslim youth may fall prey to them.
There are about 4,000 madrasah students here.
Said Ustaz Hasbi: 'Madrasahs here have been a strong counter to radical teachings, and religious teachers they produce are proof of that. We hope this will continue.'
At the seminar, the students will be told about current security threats and have a closed- door dialogue with the Internal Security Department director.
In the audience will also be some 30 ustaz, and 15 undergraduates of Cairo's Al-Azhar University. The hope is that they can share what they learn with their peers when they return to Egypt, said Mr Abdul Halim Kader, who chairs community group Taman Bacaan and the Inter-Agency Aftercare Committee for JI detainees' families.
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16 July 2007
TODAY - Net-savvy need enlightened Islamic teachers
Nazry Bahrawi nazry@mediacorp.com.sg
In his quest to learn more about his religion, 28-year-old lawyer Abdul Basheer turned to the Internet instead of Islamic teachers. This could have been one of his first steps down the path to militancy.
But choosing between the unregulated Web and Singapore asatizah (Islamic religious teachers) for advice may not be a simple thing. A divide appears to have emerged within the Muslim community on the role of religious teachers.
Many young Muslims, especially the students from madrasah (Islamic schools), believe approved asatizah are the best source for a proper grounding in Islam, especially for those from secular schools.
Nineteen-year-old madrasah student Siti Aisyah Mohd Amirruddin, who attended the first Madrasah Convention held here over the weekend, said her peers were surprised to learn that young Muslims here were seeking Islamic knowledge without guidance from recognised asatizah.
She told Today: "They can easily get the wrong view about Islam." To get around that, she suggests better interaction between secular and madrasah students.
But other young Muslims — those with a secular education — told Today they turn to other sources because some teachers do not satisfy their intellectual craving.
Herein lies the divide.
But is this divide real or perceived?
While admitting that some asatizah may give answers that are considered simplistic, Ustaz Azmi Abdul Samad of the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association, said the onus is on those seeking answers to find a teacher who can engage them on the more complex issues.
Still, some argue that such teachers are rare in Singapore.
Secondary school student Bashirah Akhtar, 16, said: "Religious teachers may be well-versed in traditional Islamic knowledge but they're not educated sufficiently in modern knowledge such as stem-cell research and economics."
Others believe that some asatizah here have a focus that is too narrow.
Instead of raising awareness of contemporary issues such as media literacy, the asatizah are entrenched in discussions of what is halal (permissible) and haram (non-permissible) for Muslims, said media trainer Muhammed Shahril Abdullah, 29, who also chairs a loose grouping of young Muslims known as The Reading Group.
If such views are to be considered, a "back-to-class" approach in weeding out extremist tendencies may not produce the silver bullet. Instead, what may do so is a multi-prong approach that does not ignore the views of Muslims who have undergone secular education.
This approach should include facing and accepting the fact that the asatizah here may put off some young Muslims.
While it is commendable that the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore maintains a register of the asatizah, it is time this is made compulsory rather than voluntary.
Otherwise, in a worst-case scenario, we may see another Ibrahim Maidin, a self-professed ustaz (male religious teacher) and ringleader of the first wave of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) followers here.
It is important that the asatizah be well-equipped with knowledge and skills, such as critical thinking, to help them connect with today's Net-savvy and informed Muslims. Such is the hope of the Religious Rehabilitation Group, a group of religious teachers counselling detained JI members, who will launch their website within a month.
In the words of media trainer Shahril: "Religious educators need to create an environment where students are free to ask questions, to argue, to be critical of what is written in the books; educators need to initiate discussion in the class, engage the students and make them engage one another constructively and openly."
