Constructing Muslim Identity in a Secular State: The Strategic Role of Two Singapore Islamic Organizations

Abstract

In Singapore, Islamic identity matters mainly because Muslims and Malays have special constitutional status. However, state policies seem to contradict the status while the community is still dealing with the problem of backwardness in educational and economic development. This article examines the profile and strategic role of two Islamic organizations, MUIS (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore) and Pergas (Persatuan Ulama dan Guru-Guru Agama Islam Singapura, Singapore Islamic Scholars, and Religious Teachers Association), in accommodating the expression and reconstructing Singaporean Muslim identity. Through intensive library research and using an interdisciplinary approach from social constructivist and fiqh of minorities’ perspectives, this article found that both have played a very important role in the expression and construction of Singaporean Muslim identity. There have been dynamic contestation and cooperation between the state policies towards the Muslim community. However, the global effect of Islamist extremism and terrorism has united them in terms of religious thought, attitude, and the formulation of the ideal Singaporean Muslim identity. The changing process of their stances toward the government’s policies was effective due to the function of fiqh of minorities in contextualizing Islamic teachings in the context of Singapore as a secular state.