Part of a series on Shia Islam |
---|
Shia Islamportal |
Shia Muslims are a minority in Singapore, where Sunni Islam is the majority as is much of Southeast Asia. The Shia community in Singapore is considered part of the wider Muslim religious group alongside the majority Sunni and are afforded the same legal rights and protections covered by the Administration of Muslim Law Act, which does not explicitly name any one particular branch or sect. [1] The most prominent branches in Singapore are the Twelver (also known locally as Ithna 'Asheri) and Isma'ili (mainly of the Dawoodi Bohra denomination).
Shia Muslims have had contact with maritime Southeast Asia since ancient times due to Indian and Persian traders engaging in the local trade. The first documentation of Shi'ites in Singapore was a Malay language account (written in Jawi) of a 1864 procession celebrating Muharram. [2]
Records documenting Gujarati traders of the Dawoodi Bohra denomination date back to 1875, when the first immigrants arrived to set up businesses, mainly dealing in dried goods and spices. They were considered as part of the "Indian Muslims" subgroup but were a distinctly separate community as the majority of Indian Muslims were Tamil-speaking and/or adhered to the Sunni sect. The Dawoodis built their own mosque, Burhani, located along 39 Hill Street. The original one-story mosque was torn down and replaced by a upgraded three-story building. [3] [4]
The Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs, a Singapore-based Muslim affairs think tank, noted that the majority local Sunni population frequently interacted with Shia businessmen and migrant workers due to Singapore being a cosmopolitan trading port since the colonial area. This was highlighted by the fact that the 1968 founding of Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore) was supported by prominent Shia community leaders and professionals. The differences between the Shia and Sunni became much more pronounced within the local Muslim community following the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the Shia community began to be viewed as "deviants" or followers of "a different religion". [5] [6] The government and MUIS sought to mitigate the potential divisions and unite the Muslim community by encouraging both Shi'ites and Sunnis to find common ground as fellow believers of Allah and participate in community events and activities promoting religious harmony. [7]
In the 1970s Rajabali Jumabhoy and his wife Fatima Premjee bought a shophouse in Lim Ah Woo Road where Muharram majaalis were addressed by Maulana Mazahir (an Urdu-language preacher from Lucknow, India). The number of adherents rose during the 1980s due to a significant number of Malay Muslims converting from the Sunni sect, neccesitating the need for better representation.
A Shiite association named Jaafari Muslim Association was approved in 1998 by the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura. The first meeting was held on 9 January 1998 at the Imam Bargah. The founding committee members were as follows:
Although Shia–Sunni relations had long been cordial due to secular government legislations protecting religious freedom and promoting inter-religious cooperation in a pluralistic society, the tensions between the two sects overseas was brought to the attention of the public due to the protracted sectarian violence and civil war in Syria and ISIS utilising the internet to recruit fighters from Southeast Asia. Anti-Shia sentiment is a source of concern with the rise in arrests and detentions of self-radicalised Sunni Muslims intending to travel to Syria to join the "holy war" against the Shi'ites. [9] [10] [11] [12] Professor Syed Farid al-Attas noted that the current internet-savvy generation were still able to access anti-Shia pro-ISIS materials from radicalised groups based in Malaysia and Indonesia and prejudices regarding Shi'ites being "heretics" have yet to be adequately addressed by MUIS. [13] [6]
Isma'ilism is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kadhim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām.
In Shia Islam, the Imamah is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imams possess divine knowledge and authority (Ismah) as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad. These Imams have the role of providing commentary and interpretation of the Quran as well as guidance.
The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. Their largest numbers reside in India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, with a growing presence across Europe, North America, South East Asia, and Australia. Most estimates put the worldwide population to be one million.
Islam is the official religion of the United Arab Emirates.
Islam constitutes the third largest religion in Singapore, with Muslims accounting for approximately 15.6% of the population, as indicated by the 2020 census. Predominantly, Singaporean Muslims are Sunni Muslims adhering to either the Shafi‘i or Hanafi schools of thought. The majority of the Muslim population, about 80%, are ethnic Malays, while 13% are of Indian descent. The remaining fraction comprises local Chinese, Eurasian, and Arab communities, in addition to foreign migrants. Buddhism and Christianity are the two larger religious affiliations in the country.
The Musta‘lī are a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah. In contrast, the Nizari—the other living branch of Ismailism, presently led by Aga Khan IV—believe the nineteenth caliph was al-Musta'li's elder brother, Nizar. Isma'ilism is a branch of Shia Islam.
The Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), also known as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (IRCS), is a statutory board of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore. As a majlis, its role is to look after the administration and interests of Singapore's Muslim community. The Majlis is headed by a Council, in which members are appointed by the President of Singapore. Since 2009, the council is headquartered in the Singapore Islamic Hub, along Braddell Road.
Salamieh (Arabic: سلمية Salamieh) is a city and district in western Syria, in the Hama Governorate. It is located 33 kilometres southeast of Hama, 45 kilometres northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo" because it was the birthplace of the second Fatimid caliph al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, whose dynasty would eventually establish the city of Cairo, and the early headquarters of his father Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah who founded the Fatimid Caliphate. The city is an important center of the Shi'ite Nizari Isma'ili and Taiyabi Isma'ili Islamic schools and also the birthplace of poet Muhammad al-Maghut. The population of the city is 66,724.
Masjid An-Nahdhah, is a mosque located in Bishan. The mosque was the sixth to be built under Phase III of the Mosque Building Fund program. It opened on January 6, 2006 and can accommodate about 4,000 worshippers. The building also contains the Harmony Centre @ An-Nahdhah visitor center.
The Abdul Aleem Siddique Mosque is a mosque in Singapore that was built as a recognition of Muhammad Abdul Aleem Siddiqi’s propagation of Islam.
Masjid Ahmad (Jawi:مسجد أحمد; Malay for, Ahmad Mosque is a mosque in Singapore located in the Pasir Panjang area, at the junction of South Buona Vista Road and Lorong Sarhad. It was originally a kampung mosque built in 1934, but has been later redeveloped.
The Al-Falah Mosque, built in 1987, is a mosque in Singapore.
Masjid Al-Iman is a mosque in Bukit Panjang, Singapore. The four level mosque building was opened on 2 May 2003 and officiated by Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim on 19 September 2004.
The Al-Istighfar Mosque is a mosque in Pasir Ris, Singapore.
Shia Islam was brought to the Indian subcontinent during the final years of the Rashidun Caliphate. The Indian subcontinent also served as a refuge for some Shias escaping persecution from Umayyads, Abbasids, Ayyubids, and Ottomans. The immigration continued throughout the second millennium until the formation of modern nation states. Shi'ism also won converts among the local population.
Masjid Taha, or Taha Mosque is a mosque in Geylang, Singapore. It is the only mosque for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the country. It is located at Onan Road, adjacent to Masjid Khalid, a mainstream mosque.
Anti-Shi'ism is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Shia Muslims because of their religious beliefs, traditions, and cultural heritage. The term was first used by Shia Rights Watch in 2011, but it has been used in informal research and written in scholarly articles for decades.
Religions in Karachi include Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and others. According to a 1998 census of Pakistan, the religious breakdown of the city is as follows: Muslim (96.45%), Christian (2.42%), Hindu (0.86%), Ahmadis (0.17%) and other (0.10%). Other religious groups include Parsis, Sikhs, Baháʼí, Jews and Buddhists. Of the Muslims, approximately 66% are Sunnis and 34% are Shi'ites. The Sunnis follow Hanafi fiqh while Shi'ites are predominantly Ithnā‘Ashariyyah fiqh, with significant minority groups who follow Ismaili Fiqh, which is composed of Nizari, Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaymani fiqhs.
Masjid Hang Jebat is a mosque in Queenstown, Singapore. It is one of the few old-generation kampung mosques left in Singapore. The mosque was iconic for its close proximity to the former KTM railway tracks.
The Administration of Muslim Law Act is a Singapore statute that pertains to regulation of Muslim religious affairs, establishing the creation of a religious council to offer advice on matters related to the Muslim religion, and the creation of a Syariah Court in Singapore. The act was passed in 1966 and came into force on 1 July 1968.