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Two foreign preachers barred from entering S’pore to preach on religious-themed cruise

SINGAPORE – Two foreign Islamic preachers engaged to preach on a religious-themed cruise next month will be barred from doing so, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Monday (Oct 30).

Two foreign Islamic preachers, Ismail Menk (R) and Haslin Baharim, engaged to preach on a religious-themed cruise which will depart and end in Singapore late next month, will not be allowed to enter the Republic, said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement on Monday (Oct 30). Screengrabs taken from Youtube

Two foreign Islamic preachers, Ismail Menk (R) and Haslin Baharim, engaged to preach on a religious-themed cruise which will depart and end in Singapore late next month, will not be allowed to enter the Republic, said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement on Monday (Oct 30). Screengrabs taken from Youtube

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SINGAPORE – Two foreign Islamic preachers who were previously barred from preaching here are now banned from setting foot in Singapore, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Monday (Oct 30).

This comes after authorities learned that Ismail Menk – better known as Mufti Menk, originally from Zimbabwe – as well as Malaysian Haslin Baharim have been engaged to preach on an Islamic-themed cruise which will depart and end in Singapore from Nov 25 to 29.

The authorities had previously rejected the two men’s miscellaneous work pass applications to preach in Singapore, noted MHA. Mufti Menk has been banned from preaching in Singapore since 2015, while Haslin’s work pass application was rejected earlier this year.

A work pass is required to preach in Singapore, but not on a cruise ship.

“They will not be allowed to get around the ban by preaching instead on cruise ships which operate to and from Singapore,” said MHA in a statement, adding that the decision was made following consultation with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), Singapore Tourism Board and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The move to deter such preachers from entering Singapore comes a few weeks after Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam told Parliament that MHA is looking to tighten processes to ensure foreign preachers with divisive teachings do not come here to preach.

Having been known to preach “segregationist and divisive teachings”, MHA said that Mufti Menk for instance, has propagated that it is the “biggest sin and crime” for a Muslim to exchange Merry Christmas or Happy Deepavali greetings with non-Muslims.

Meanwhile, MHA noted that Haslin has expressed views that promote disharmony between Muslims and non-Muslims, who he describes as “deviant”.

Haslin had previously been rebuked by Perak’s top Islamic leader or mufti because of his style of conducting sermons, in which he included elements of comedy and singing.

“Such divisive views breed intolerance and exclusivist practices that will damage social harmony, and cause communities to drift apart. They are unacceptable in the context of Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society,” said MHA.

Pointing out that the government has a responsibility to safeguard social cohesion and religious harmony, MHA reiterated that Singaporeans need to also “unequivocally reject and guard” against divisive messages and preachers who propagate them, regardless of the faith.

A check online showed that a travel agency called Islamic Cruise, which is based in the state of Selangor in Malaysia, is conducting what it called a “spiritual voyage” to Aceh, Indonesia, with Mufti Menk to be its featured speaker. Haslin is also supposed to be on the trip.

According to the trip’s itinerary, a coach is scheduled to depart KL Sentral – an integrated transport hub in Kuala Lumpur – in the morning on Nov 25 for the Singapore Cruise Centre at Harbourfront, where the cruise will set sail at 10pm the same day.

Among the activities planned for the cruise are Islamic forums and sermons, and travellers will be able to tour Aceh as well.

In a separate statement, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said that it does not support the applications for foreign preachers whose ideas are “deeply problematic and very unsuited to a multi religious context in Singapore” and whose views contravene the code of ethics under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS).

Before religious speakers can preach here, Muis assesses their applications, which includes reviewing their backgrounds and what they have previously propagated. The ARS recognises religious teachers and scholars who meet the minimum standards of qualification to preach and teach Islam in Singapore. And its code of ethics require religious teachers to adhere to moderate Islamic teachings, among others.

Discussing the issue of terrorism in Parliament earlier this month, Mr Shanmugam had showed Members of Parliament two videos of preachers – one of whom was Mufti Menk espousing his exclusivist views.

The other video featured Mumbai-based Islamic preacher Zakir Naik advising followers not to vote for someone of another religion.

Speaking during a private member’s motion on staying united against the terror threat, Mr Shanmugam had said, “I think Singaporeans will say that is not acceptable. If we allow that kind of teaching in Singapore, we can easily imagine what else might be said by people. It will move to race. If you are one race, you should vote for a person of that race.”

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