Contextualizing political Islam for minority Muslims

Abstract

Political Islam is a reality today and it will be growing trend in the future of the region. In today's globalized society, political Islam will become more influential in some segments of the Muslim community in Singapore, however much one attempts to prevent it. Rather than arguing for a total ban on political Islam, this paper arguews that spaces should be opened up to allow the existence of moderate strand of political Islam, as it is better option to prevent Islamists within a minority Muslim community from being drawn into supporting the extremists. However, this can only happen if an alternative viewpoint to strands of political Islam - that could raise security threats and create social problems in Singapore - can be put forth and accepted by the Islamists. This paper seeks to offer an alternative viewpoint based on Islam's rich tradition. This is done by, first, refusing absolutism in political Islam and, then, applying it within the social setting of Singapore based on the view that contextual understanding of Islam is one of the fundamental characteristics of Islam.