SINGAPORE - The use of online hate speech by Indonesian preacher Abdul Somad Batubara who was barred from entering Singapore could cause serious polarisation between Muslims and non-Muslims here, an observer said on Friday (May 27).
Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna, who heads the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), said that based on his observations, the authorities look at the current and past comments from preachers like Somad in deciding whether or not to bar their entry.
The rise of such radical social media preachers is a topic that Prof Kumar touches on in his new book Extremist Islam: Recognition and Response in Southeast Asia, launched on Friday.
Speaking to The Straits Times on Wednesday (May 25), he said it is clear that the Government applies an identical yardstick in deciding whether to ban foreign preachers of any faith. This is based on whether their current or past postings or speeches have denigrated the feelings of one or more of the religious groups in Singapore, he added.
"The authorities, to be fair, seem to have been even-handed. Hence in recent years we have seen both Muslim and Christian preachers barred from entering the country for divisive rhetoric," he said.
Somad was turned away at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal when he arrived from Batam on May 16 over what the Ministry of Home Affairs said were his "extremist and segregationist teachings, which are unacceptable in Singapore's multiracial and multi-religious society".
Somad, in the past, had 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 faiths, such as Christians, by describing the Christian crucifix as the dwelling place of an "infidel jinn (spirit/demon)".
This is not the first time a foreign preacher has been barred from entering here, and Singapore has disallowed such individuals from various faiths in the past.
Prof Kumar's book, published by the Oxford University Press, looks at reasons why terrorist networks in the region motivated by violent extremist interpretations of Islam remain resilient and dangerous.
In the course of the nearly-500 page book, which Prof Kumar worked on for about three years, he also examines four case studies of extremists from the region, and looks at the factors that have influenced their beliefs and actions.
They are: Wan Min Wan Mat, a rehabilitated former senior member of regional terror cell Jemaah Islamiyah from Malaysia who had worked as a university lecturer; Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, a Singapore-born Australian who was detained under the Internal Security Act for his active promotion of terrorism; Abu Hamdie, an ex-militant from the terror cell Abu Sayyaf Group which was based in the Philippines; and Aman Amburrahman, an Indonesian who led the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah extremist network, and is considered to be the head of all Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) supporters in Indonesia.
Prof Kumar also makes a case for why the overall South-east Asian response towards such radical threats entails having to work together to steer Muslims away from rigid and fixed ways of thinking that do not keep in mind the contexts they are in.
Governments, civil societies, social media firms and others have a responsibility to encourage Muslims towards flexible and tolerant Islamic values and beliefs that are both theologically authentic and compatible with the multicultural and globalised societies of South-east Asia, he added.
Families can play a significant role in this too, and in his book, Prof Kumar said they can help young people avoid being radicalised by extremist ideology by encouraging critical thinking.
