Singapore on Monday announced the repatriation of an Imam belonging to Tamil Nadu for making a “divisive speech”.
Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel Abdul Malik (46), the Chief Imam of Chinatown’s Jamae Chulia mosque, on Monday pleaded guilty in a court and paid a fine of 4,000 Singapore dollars (around ₹1.8 lakh) “for committing an act prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious groups”.
In a statement, the Home Affairs Ministry of the city state said Mr. Malik made the controversial speech during Friday prayers on January 6, 2017. The Ministry translated his Arabic chant as, “Grant us help against the Jews and the Christians.”
In court, Mr. Malik said the phrase was not from the Koran. “He knew what the phrase meant, and that it could also be interpreted as asking God to grant Muslims victory over Jews and Christians. The phrase was, and is, unacceptable in a multi-racial and multi-religious society,” it said.
Written apology
In a written apology, Mr. Malik said that the chant was taken from a text he found at his village. “ I had recited the additional supplication in Arabic, which was taken from an old text that originated from my village in India. It was not an extract from the Holy Koran,” he said. “As a resident here from a foreign land, I should have practised my faith in accordance with, and appropriate to the social norms and laws of this country. I fully admit that my said actions have no place wheresoever in this extremely multi-religious and multi-cultural society.”
When contacted, Mr. Malik chose not to speak.
“He is a free man and is not under custody now. I was not told when the repatriation would take place; I expect it to take place soon,” Mr. Malik’s lawyer, Noor Mohamed Marican, said.
Mr. Malik has been in Singapore on a work permit since 2010. The Ministry had good things to say about him. “The action against Nalla has been taken with some regret. Nalla has worked diligently as Chief Imam at the Jamae Chulia Mosque over the past seven years, attending to the needs of his congregation, and reaching out to other faiths. He has not been deliberately malicious,” it said.
Two others were given stern warnings in the case: a person who published the video of the speech online and a tenured National University of Singapore Associate Professor who posted on Facebook about it.