UAS Saga Continued: UAS Claims Singapore Is Part Of Indonesia; Links To Radicalisation Surface
Source: thevibes
The Ustaz Abdul Somad (UAS) saga took Singapore by storm last week as some of his supporters took to social media to attack President Halimah for UAS being denied entry to Singapore. According to Min Shanmugam, UAS was linked to the radicalisation of a 17 year old Singaporean who was detained in 2020.
However, in a recent turn of events, Indonesians in Madura also planned a protest against UAS arrival in their city.
Santri or religious students in Madura scheduled to demonstrate against UAS coming down to Madura because of his radical and extremist teachings. In a letter circulated on social media, the students mentioned that UAS’s teachings have caused conflicts amongst the Muslim community and they are against him coming down to give a lecture at a pesantren (religious school) in Madura.
An Indonesian TikTok user, Kader NU, posted a video which explained that Singapore wasn’t the only country that denied entry to UAS.
Countries like Hong Kong, Netherlands, Timor Leste and Germany too have denied UAS entry in the past for various reasons.
According to Travel Detik, UAS was denied entry to Timor Leste due to suspicions that he was involved in terrorism activities.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), UAS was denied entry into Singapore due to his extremist and segregationist teachings which are unacceptable in Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society.
“For example, Somad has preached that suicide bombings are legitimate in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and are considered ‘martyrdom’ operations. He has also made comments denigrating members of other faith communities, such as Christians, by describing the Christian crucifix as the dwelling place of an ‘infidel jinn (spirit/demon)’,” – MHA for CNA
UAS refused to back down, maintaining his stance by saying that he made the suicide bombing comment within the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“The issue of suicide martyrdom, I explained was the context in Palestine, when the Palestinian army did not have any tools to retaliate against Israeli attacks. And it was not my opinion, which explained the opinion of the ulema, and in the context I explained it in the mosque, answering the congregation’s questions”, – UAS for VOI
UAS then went on to say that he would still try to come back to Singapore as he considers this country to be part of Riau, a province of Indonesia. He said that Riau Malays consider Singapore to be part of the Temasek Malay Kingdom, from back in the 13-14th century.
Singapore and the Riau-Lingga Sultanate were part of the same maritime empire that came about after the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511. The term Riau-Lingga describes the archipelago located to the south of Singapore and the east of Sumatra.
Today, few remember the historical, economic and cultural ties that Singapore shared with the Riau area. But there are people here who still have families in those islands and vice versa.
But to call Singapore a part of Riau is a stretch because Singapore is a sovereign state today.
Reporter’s Opinions:Thanks for that short history lesson. Yes, we were part of that kingdom historically.
Today, however, we are an independent state. Singapore is a sovereign state that reserves the right to reject whoever they deem to be detrimental to the values of multi-racial and multi religious society we have here.
In whatever context, self harm and suicide bombing is a big no in Islam. You’re not only taking your own life but you are taking the lives of others along with you. Islam does not preach bloodshed. As a preacher, you should be very careful of what you say to the public because this is the age of vitriol. People are out for others’ blood over the smallest things. The Islam I learn and know is one that preaches love and tolerance regardless of what other people do to us.
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