Two foreign Islamic preachers, Ismail Menk (right) and Haslin Baharim, engaged to preach on a religious-themed cruise which will depart and end in Singapore late November, will not be allowed to enter the Republic, said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement on October 30. — Screengrabs from YouTube/TODAY pic

SINGAPORE, Oct 30 — 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 today.

According to the ministry, both Ismail Menk — who is better known as Mufti Menk originally from Zimbabwe — and Malaysian citizen Haslin Baharim were engaged to preach on the cruise, which was set to sail from Singapore from Nov 25 to 29.

The two men will not be allowed to enter Singapore, MHA said.

The authorities had previously rejected their miscellaneous work pass applications to preach in Singapore, noted MHA. “They will not be allowed to get around the ban by preaching instead on cruise ships which operate to and from Singapore,” it added in the statement.

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. He was previously banned from preaching in Singapore in 2015.

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

“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.

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.

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.

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).

The move to prevent both men from entering Singapore’s soil was made following consultation with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), Singapore Tourism Board and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

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.

According to the itinerary, the cruise is supposed to depart the Singapore Cruise Centre at Harbourfront at 10pm on Nov 25.

Specially catered to Muslim travellers, the cruise programme is filled with activities such as Islamic forums and sermons.

In its statement, Muis noted that assessment is done with regard to applications for foreign preachers to speak during events in Singapore. As part of this process, Muis reviews the background of these preachers including what they have propagated previously.

The ARS — managed by Muis — recognises religious teachers and scholars who meet the minimum standards of qualification to preach and teach Islam in Singapore.

Among others, the ARS code of ethics require religious teachers to adhere to moderate Islamic teachings as well as exhibit a sound grasp of religious knowledge while being mindful of contextual considerations in the interpretation of religious teachings.

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.

Speaking during a private member’s motion on staying united against the terror threat, Shanmugam had showed Members of Parliament two videos of preachers — one of them being Mufti Menk, who said that Muslims cannot exchange greetings with those who are not from Islam.

He had also showed a video of Mumbai-based Islamic preacher Zakir Naik advising followers not to vote for someone of another religion, prompting Shanmugam to say: “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.” — TODAY