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Singapore’s Somad debacle stirs questions on intolerance
Muslim cleric Abdul Somad Batubara's recent denial of entry into Singapore has sparked questions of whether Indonesia should consider taking a firm stance against religious intolerance.
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A group of people claiming to represent the Islam Ideology Defense Alliance (Perisai) rally outside the Singaporean Embassy in South Jakarta on May 20 to protest the country’s rejection of Muslim cleric Abdul Somad Batubara. (Kompas.com/Muhammad Isa Bustomi)
T
he recent arrest in Singapore of several alleged followers of Abdul Somad Batubara, a conservative Muslim preacher from Indonesia, has served to underline the different approaches the neighboring countries have when it comes to addressing religious intolerance, analysts say.
Somad, who has a relatively large following, recently made headlines, following his denial of entry into Singapore on May 16. The city-state singled him out as a “religious extremist” unfit to sojourn in the country, a decision that ruffled feathers in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
The incident also affected Singapore, with several people being arrested last week. Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said they were being investigated under the Internal Security Act (ISA). He did not disclose the details of their detainment, but insisted they were all followers of Somad.
Indonesia had sent a diplomatic note seeking context for Singapore’s decision to refuse Somad entry, which some experts believe is geared toward quelling potential conflict.
From Singapore’s perspective, Somad was a promoter of segregationist teachings “unacceptable in Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society”. Shanmugam said the recent arrest of Somad followers in Singapore was evidence of the preacher’s hazardous ideology.
“Somad’s teachings have real-world consequences,” he told a group of Singaporean reporters, after sharing an anecdote on how a boy who called for the beheading of Singapore President Halimah Yacob on social media had watched YouTube lectures similar to Somad’s teachings.
He added that some of Somad’s followers had issued public threats since the denial of entry incident, warning that they would attack using bombs and offenses reminiscent of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack in the United States.
