Religious teacher dies, aged 88

Islamic scholar was in pioneer batch of group that rehabilitates terrorists
By Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 9 May 2014

ISLAMIC scholar and senior religious teacher Ustaz Ibrahim Kassim, who played a key role in helping to rehabilitate terrorists, died yesterday.

He was 88.

Ustaz Ibrahim was in the pioneer batch of volunteer Islamic scholars who formed the core of the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG), which was founded in 2003 to rehabilitate Muslim extremists in Singapore.

He also helped in a big way to develop Singapore's model of religious rehabilitation from scratch, after the 2001 arrest of Jemaah Islamiah (JI) members here.

At the Whitley Detention Centre, he and other Islamic scholars would meet the detainees and address their misinterpretations of Islamic concepts, like jihad.

To prepare for the sessions, the scholars spent months studying the JI's ideology and figuring out how to counter it.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong paid tribute to the community leader in a condolence letter to his daughter Sakina.

Ustaz Ibrahim championed moderate Islam and worked closely with the Government and the Muslim community to counter radical Islamic ideologies propagated by extremist terrorists, PM Lee wrote.

"He made a special effort to attend my dialogue with the Malay/Muslim leaders on the tudung issue in January, even though he was ill," Mr Lee added.

"I was touched that he subsequently wrote to me to support what I had said about the tudung issue, and to reaffirm his commitment to serving the community despite his health."

Mr Lee also said he met Ustaz Ibrahim, who "was frail, but in good spirits", at the pioneer generation tribute party in February.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean said the religious teacher made many contributions, and that he was impressed by his knowledge and humility.

Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim, speaking yesterday at the Al-Khair Mosque in Choa Chu Kang where a prayer session was held before Ustaz Ibrahim was buried, said: "He recognised that the phenomenon (of Islamic extremism) has to be tackled, and if the religious elites do not step forward, then who else is able to?"

Ustaz Ibrahim's visionary work and strong ethos of collaboration garnered people across Singapore to serve the needy, said the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore in a statement. He also taught at mosques and Malay/Muslim organisations, counselled couples and prisoners, and was an arbitrator at the Syariah Court.

Ustaz Ibrahim, whose wife died in 2011, is survived by four children, nine grandchildren and a great grandson.

His youngest daughter Sakina, 46, a housewife with whom he lived, said he always put others before himself.

RRG secretary Mohamed Ali told The Straits Times that Ustaz Ibrahim was his mentor.

"Whenever I sat with him in a counselling session, I learnt a lot from the way he counselled - his voice, his tone. He was very down to earth, humble and polite. I never saw him angry or frustrated," said the 41-year-old.

"We hope the RRG's next generation will follow in his footsteps, in the spirit of maintaining security and religious harmony."