Facebook post urging Muslims to confront ISIS issue goes viral online
Screencap: Sulaiman Daud/Facebook
SINGAPORE — A Singaporean’s Facebook post calling on fellow Muslims to own the “Islamic problem” that is the Islamic State (ISIS) has gone viral, with the post being shared more than 22,000 times as of 10.30pm today (Nov 16) since it was put up on Saturday.
In the 532-word post, Mr Sulaiman Daud wrote: “As a Muslim, I wish that we weren’t so quick to emphasise that this has nothing to do with us… radicalism has everything to do with Islam. And the failure to address that out of a well-intentioned commitment to tolerance is making the problem worse.”
He added: “ISIS is a Muslim organisation, and it is an Islamic problem... they are a cancer at the heart of Islam. And the problem will not go away until Muslims confront that... We have to own the problem. We have to admit that this is a religious problem, and we need to renew our commitment to a secular country which treats all religions equally.” Muslim clerics and community leaders whom TODAY spoke to largely agreed with Mr Sulaiman’s view that Muslims are at the frontline of the battle of the minds. However, Mr Alla’udin Bin Mohamed, who is the chairman of Masjid Khalid, felt that ISIS’ threat has “transcended religious boundaries”.
Mr Alla’udin, who is also the vice-chairman of Geylang Serai Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCC), said: “ISIS is the world’s enemy and is anti-humanity. It has become a force that nobody of this world in their right mind will say they are right.”
He added: “We are not denying that people are influenced (by religion), but those people (in ISIS) are not the people who truly understand Islam... Because the virtue of all religion is to be peaceful, it will not teach aggression or to wage war against the innocent.”
Nevertheless, he agreed that Muslims have a stake in improving the situation. “Muslims can recognise (the problem) more than non-Muslims, and be the eyes and ears for authorities to identify certain individuals that are different in their thinking,” he said.
A Muslim member of Radin Mas IRCC, who did not want to be named, added: “It is the collective responsibility of the majority Muslims to reach out, show, cajole this deluded minority group back to the true Islamic faith that advocates peace.”
Radin Mas IRCC chairman Sarjit Singh said he agreed fully with Mr Sulaiman’s “very honest” opinion. “(The problem) will spread if nobody goes against (IS)... But Muslims should be the first ones.”
