Some ISA detainees were grateful when arrested: RRG

SINGAPORE — Having been with the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) since 2005, Ustaz Muhammad Saiful Alam Shah Sudiman has counselled many radicalised individuals and helped them return to the straight and narrow.

And he was quick to dispel the “misconception” that those detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and referred to them for counselling are no different from terrorists.

Often, they are in need of spiritual guidance and, for some, especially those who were lured into radical groups, detention was a way for them to escape the bad influences.

Ustaz Saiful recalled the case of a former detainee who had been a “non-practising Muslim” for most of his life and he wanted to seek solace through Islam after a family tragedy. He was preyed upon by radical groups and, before long, he was asked to cause harm to other people.

“He was told that it was the greatest sin if he decided to leave while already on the path to attain ‘paradise’,” Ustaz Saiful said. “The radical groups played on his emotional needs and he was trapped ... He actually appreciated being arrested by the authorities. It gave him a way out.”

Several others have familiar tales to tell. “Some fell into bad company while trying to learn Islam. And once they sink too deep, they get trapped. So they actually appreciate the opportunity to re-learn the teachings ... In a way, some are grateful to be arrested,” Ustaz Saiful said.

Formed in 2003, the RRG is a voluntary group made up of Islamic scholars and teachers in Singapore. According to its website, the RRG’s initial primary objective was to rehabilitate detained Jemaah Islamiah members and their families through counselling.

Amid the changing face of the terror threat and the rise of the “lone wolf” phenomenon, the group broadened its scope to, among other things, dispelling misinterpretations promoted by self-radicalised individuals and those in support of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS).

The RRG works closely with the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group (ACG), which was established in 2002. The ACG provides counselling and financial support as well as job hunting for families of the detainees — who are often sole breadwinners — and ensure that their children continue to receive education.

This aspect of the Singapore rehabilitation programme had been described by Jakarta-based security analyst Sidney Jones as a “stroke of genius”.

Apart from Ms Jones, other international experts and journalists have hailed the work of the RRG and the ACG and cited it as a model to emulate.

Dr Douglas Stone, who was formerly Commander of the United States detainee operations in Iraq, is a known admirer of the RRG. In an interview with TODAY in 2013, Dr Stone suggested that the United Nations give the Singapore Government the opportunity to present its work in this area to the General Assembly.

While the efforts of the RRG and ACG have been widely praised around the world, much of the group’s work is done away from the public eye because of the sensitive nature of its task. In separate interviews with TODAY, RRG and ACG counsellors provided a glimpse into what they do and the cases they have encountered.

Since 2002, more than 80 radicalised individuals had been detained under the ISA. To date, all but one-fifth have been rehabilitated and released.

Ustaz Saiful said that most detainees were “genuine in wanting to be reoriented”. Nevertheless, some use the counselling sessions to “challenge” the scholars on religious matters. “These people want to see how ‘good’ we are ... Whatever phase or stage the detainees are in, we need to try and win their hearts and minds,” he said.

Detainees meet specific religious counsellors once every month, with those arrested for more severe offences assigned to more senior counsellors. During the sessions, which last about an hour, the detainees share their emotional and social woes and bring up questions about scripture or various aspects of religious living, the RRG counsellors told TODAY.

Among the common questions that detainees ask are: Am I a good Muslim if I don’t travel to Syria? Can Muslims live in a secular state like Singapore? Is a caliphate compulsory?

The counsellors said that the sessions conducted with the detainees focus on key theological areas, including the Islamic theories of jihad (holy war) and takfir (excommunication), as well as relations with non-Muslims.

Upon their release, the ex-detainees will meet a separate group of counsellors, who would focus on helping them understand the principles of Islamic jurisprudence.

The counsellors whom TODAY spoke to said most detainees were open to being rehabilitated and they appreciated the religious discussions.

Nevertheless, Ustaz Saiful said it is important to let detainees know that attending counselling is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

FAMILY SUPPORT CRUCIAL

The most recent arrests and detentions were announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs in August: Four self-radicalised Singaporeans were dealt with under the ISA for intending to travel to Syria to fight for IS, among them a husband-and-wife pair who were making preparations to relocate to Syria with their children.

This was the fifth round of ISA detentions and orders announced this year, and it came less than a month after the previous round involving another four Singaporeans.

Ustaz Saiful noted that there were some individuals who returned to their old ways — including former lawyer Abdul Basheer Abdul Kader, who was first arrested in 2007 after he made plans to pursue militant jihad in Afghanistan. He was released conditionally in 2010 but was detained again in October 2012 when he tried to travel to Syria to fight.

Apart from detainees, counselling is also extended to family members. Nine out of 49 RRG counsellors are women clerics who are trained to care for the wives and female family members of detainees. One of them, Ustazah Kalthom Md Isa, said: “We want the family members to be on the same page in terms of religious understanding. They play a key part in rehabilitating the detainees back into life after they are released.”

Ustaz Mustazah Bahari noted that even after an individual is released, having been deemed to be sufficiently rehabilitated, re-integration can hit a roadblock when family members ostracise or look down on him or her.

Wives and children have an important role in giving former detainees a “sense of purpose” by letting them “resume leadership in the households as soon as possible”, said Ms Habibah Mohd Saleh from the ACG.

The counsellors said there have been instances where the detainees’ children had to be transferred to another school after they faced discrimination by their classmates. Ms Habibah said: “We also encourage the children to get plugged into mosques for religious education ... If we sense the children going awry with their religious leanings, we will close in (on them) and meet them more often.”

Despite their good intentions, counsellors are sometimes given the cold shoulder by the detainees’ families, Ms Habibah said. “They think, ‘you have taken my husband and now you want to be my hero?’ Most of them feel they can manage on their own,” she added.

But the counsellors are not deterred when they encounter such cases. “We continue to reach out to them, such as by visiting them during Hari Raya, and let them know there’s this avenue for help,” said Ms Habibah.

Ustaz Saiful stressed the importance of having the family involved in the process. In fact, if the RRG and ACG do not step in, a detainee’s vulnerable family members may instead turn to radical groups for help, as has happened in other countries.

“That would be like saving someone from the mud and throwing them back into the mud ... Family members need to be counselled on how to respond appropriately to former detainees’ emotions, and (in some ways) play a counsellor’s role themselves,” he said.