Singapore: Islamic preacher, Mufti Ismail Menk has been banned to enter Singapore by its government for promoting “religious discord” through his lectures.
The Zimbabwean preacher and Haslin bin Baharim, a Malaysian scholar, were barred from entering the country to give lectures on a religious cruise, that was scheduled for five days in November last.
Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs stated, Menk has been barred due to his “segregationist and divisive teachings”, and Baharim for promoting “disharmony between Muslims and non-Muslims”, reports Al-Jazeera.
The Ministry claimed that Mufti said, Muslims should not greet non-Muslims on their festivals.
“[Their views] are unacceptable in the context of Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society,” the ministry said. “They will not be allowed to get around the ban by preaching instead on cruise ships which operate to and from Singapore.”
Menk, on Tuesday, had posted on Facebook saying that he had faced “no issues coming into Singapore as a tourist … but will not be joining the cruise now for reasons, not within my control”.
“To imply that I was using the cruise ‘to get around the ban by preaching instead on cruise ships which operate to and from Singapore’ is erroneous,” he said.
“I have never been on a cruise before, let alone give lectures on board. This was purely for a humanitarian mission to Banda Aceh,” he added.
According to the Islamic Cruise, it had scheduled a series of Menk’s lectures and an event of distribution to underprivileged people in Banda Aceh.
A 17-year-old blogger, last year, was sentenced to around two months in prison after he had hurt religious feelings of Muslims and Christians. Singapore has been slammed for a few last years for restricting “free speech.”