The emergence of the deaf Singaporean Muslim identity through language practices and resources

• Main Author: Muhammad Abu Dzar Hanafi
• Other Authors: Luke Lu
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Humanities::Linguistics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138281
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The linguistic climate of Islam in Singapore requires Singaporean Muslims to be able to be proficient in Malay and Arabic. With the majority of Muslims in Singapore being of the Malay ethnicity, the Malay language has inevitably become the pivotal language in the dissemination and attainment of Islamic knowledge. This has subsequently bled into most areas of the Muslim community, with the Malay ethnicity (and by extension language) and Islam in Singapore now seen as synonymous with one another. On the other hand, Arabic’s role as the religion’s liturgical language is seen by Muslims as the language that connects one to God and to fellow Muslims around the world. Arabic is the mandatory language required in all obligatory religious practices such as the daily prayers and the reading of the Holy Qur’an. This has seen Malay, Arabic, and in recent years English, become a vital part of the Muslim identity in Singapore. As a result, a significant amount of language resources in Islam are directed to these aforementioned languages. As languages play a crucial role in religious identity construction, a particular group of Singaporean Muslims has seen this essential part of their identity construction being taken away. Without the ability to speak these languages fluently like their hearing Muslim counterparts, the deaf Singaporean Muslims’ religious identity takes a hit. Hence, this study looks at how deaf Singaporean Muslims navigate their self and group religious identity as they deviate from the language practices of the hearing majority. Additionally, this study also explores the language resources available for this community in Islam in Singapore and similarly, how this affects the formation of their Muslim identity. Their accounts are put up in relation to various notions of identity construction. The findings from the interviews held with the deaf Muslims suggest that feelings of inferiority start to emerge once their language practices are put in relation to their hearing counterparts, a sentiment that was absent when their religious identity was not compared to the majority. Furthermore, the lack of religious knowledge, a consequent of the restricted language resources, is also seen to have affected this Muslim identity of theirs.