Singapore Muslim identity discourse : tracing the identity conception disparity between the state and local Muslim community

This paper intends to explicate the identity conception disparity between the traditionalist and reformist schools, which are two prominent schools of thought as represented by the local Muslim community and MUIS respectively. The local Muslim community grounds its ideal religious identity in the traditional understanding of Islam, where metaphysics and the study of the soul are basis for the development of the ideal Muslim identity. Whilst the MUIS’ conception of the ideal Muslim identity is rooted in politics – upholding multiculturalism and secularism, where the constructed ideal attributes of a Singaporean Muslim correspond with nationalistic values. The disparity and tension between the traditionalist and reformist schools would illuminate further the Muslim plight as when we deconstruct the perceived socio-political issues embodied by the clash between the community and state, or with a state agency, this reveals the underlying, often-overlooked dynamic at play, which is the dialectic relation between traditionalism and modernism. Therefore, this thesis seeks to bring the traditional form of Islam to the fore, a strand of Islam that according to historical records, is the initial type of Islam that arrived in Singapore. However, with the advent of rapid modernism and progressivism, the traditions that were practised were lost in the process of state advancement. Hence, with Islam gradually adopting a modernist and reformist perspective, as a means to prove its place in the fast-paced and demanding society, Muslims become less aware and sensitive to those who are cautious of the easy assimilation of foreign ideologies into the fold of Islam.Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Global Affair