The conceptualised muslim identity in Singapore during the islamic resurgence (1970-1989)

• Main Author: Nur Irfaniah Ahmad
• Other Authors: Hallam Stevens
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/73556
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Against the backdrop of the Islamic resurgence, this paper will examine the conceptualisation of the Muslim identity in Singapore from 1970 to 1989. Using Singapore as a case study, this paper seeks to illuminate the complexity of religious identity formation and the agency of the local reformists. I argue that reformists in Singapore developed a transnational ummatic identity through the transmission of and participation in print-media discourses. This Muslim identity was based on 1) the umma where they relate themselves to the global Islamic community; 2) the conditioned ideas of utopian Islam; and 3) an imagined Other for collective mobilisation. The first chapter will study how the transnational ummatic identity took root in Singapore by looking at the role of local reformists in building networks with institutions, Saudi Arabia and Islamist movements. The second chapter will look at how print-media transmission shaped the utopian mentality and reforms pushed for by the local adherents, and its subsequent friction with the rest of the Muslim community. The last chapter will demonstrate how the local reformists aimed to unite and mobilise the readers for political and military purposes through the conceptualisation of the imagined Other, apocalyptic threat imagery and the glorification of sacrifice.