Common salary guidelines to be developed for asatizah in Singapore

Every year, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) organises a Workplan Seminar to cover the highlights of the previous year, and share new focuses for the current year.

Source: Muis Facebook page. Highlights for 2021 included record zakat contributions as well as religious guidance on wearing a headscarf in the uniformed services.

2022 kicks off Muis' 7th Three Year Plan, which has three thrusts, developing the asatizah ecosystem being one of them. The plan will also focus on imbuing the community's religious life with Singapore Muslim values, as well as to mobilise and galvanise community assets for socioreligious development.

"As we look ahead, we must continue to focus on reinforcing our competences to strengthen our resilience for a successful future, including shaping our community’s religious life and strengthening the asatizah ecosystem. I therefore commend our asatizah for constantly upskilling to keep pace with the changing times and for providing religious guidance and care to our community meaningfully," said Masagos Zulkifli, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs in Singapore, on Facebook.

Minister Masagos said that Muis will work with madrasahs and mosques to implement a Common Salary Guideline for asatizah so that they can be compensated fairly based on their skills, competency and the value that they bring to their jobs. More details on the salary guidelines will be released soon.

Minister Masagos further shared that the International Conference on Communities of Success would be taking place this September in Singapore. "Religious scholars, state officials, and community leaders worldwide will be in Singapore to discuss current and future issues impacting the socio-religious lives of Muslims," he said.

Explore

Download the report on 2021 highlights.

Hashtags: #MasyarakatGemilang, #CommunityofSuccess, #MajuBersamaM3

Muis arranges qurban to be performed in Australia for 2022

A total of 54 mosques in Singapore will offer their services to facilitate qurban in 2022, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore has announced.

For the third year running, no livestock will be imported into Singapore. However, the SalamSG Korban – a committee under the SalamSG Movement (SSGM)* – will be working closely with local mosques to arrange for the ritual to be performed in Australia and for the chilled meat to be flown to Singapore and distributed to sohibul korban**.

To better facilitate booking and payment for qurban this year, the SalamSG Korban team will introduce a one-stop registration portal for prospective sohibul korban to book and pay for their qurban at any of the participating mosques.

At the portal, sohibul korban can select the mosque which they intend to book and purchase their qurban from and view pricing – ranging from S$350 to S$370 this year. They can then determine the portion which they intend to collect (either 1/3, 2/3 or the full portion)***, and see the remaining qurban availability at each participating mosque****. Sohibul korban may also walk-in to participating mosques to make their booking and payment via physical counters.

Booking and purchase of qurban meat closes on 1 July 2022, subject to availability on a first-come, first-served basis. Payment can be made online via PayNow, debit card or credit card. An e-receipt will then emailed to the individual. Cash payments can only be made via physical counters at participating mosques.

Distribution for the qurban meat will begin on 14 July and end on 7 August 2022. Sohibul korban will be informed of their qurban meat delivery by the mosques which they made their booking from. They may also contact the mosques directly to enquire on their purchase.

As part of the SSGM’s theme of Reinvigorate Salam. Radiate Blessings. (Suburkan Salam. Sebarkan Rahmah.), qurban this year aims to manifest the spirit of gratitude projected by the community during Ramadhan to Dhulhijjah by distributing qurban meat to the less privileged. This act also illustrates the joy of gifting and spreading hope and happiness to all families and individuals, including the underserved.

As such, the beneficiaries of qurban meat this year will go beyond zakat beneficiaries such as the poor and needy and will include families of inmates as well as transient workers. As per last year, mosques will mobilise their befrienders and volunteers to distribute qurban meat following prevailing safe management guidelines.

*The SSGM is a new initiative put together by Muis and the mosques to rejuvenate mosque programmes and rally the Muslim community to enliven their religious life, both physically and virtually. This year, the movement will be piloted from Ramadhan 1443 until the religious ritual of qurban in Dhulhijjah. SSGM was launched at Masjid Mujahidin on 2 April 2022 by Minister, Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman.

**Sohibul korban refers to Muslims who opted to perform the korban ritual.

***This refers the portion of qurban meat which the sohibul korban intends to collect. Uncollected meat will be pooled and distributed to beneficiaries.

****Mosques and appointed vendors participating in this year's modified Korban, must comply with the food safety requirements of SFA for the importation, storage and distribution of meat products. Standard operating procedures will be adopted, observing high hygiene standards, staggering distribution and collection slots, strictly following prevailing national safety measures and guidelines.

Explore:

Check the process flow for qurban 2022, or view the list of participating mosques here.

Singapore Hajj quota processed successfully

The Islamic Council of Singapore (Muis) has successfully processed all 407 places as granted by KSA. Pilgrims were given the Hajj places in accordance with the conditions and requirements for Hajj 2022 as well as the places in the Muis’ Advance Haj Registration System (AHRS).

Muis said that all pilgrims have registered with the officially-appointed Hajj travel agencies and paid for their preferred Hajj packages already. This year, 10 approved Hajj packages were available, half of which offer stays of 14-23 days, and the rest offering stays of up to 29 days.

Prices ranged from S$6,830 (quad occupancy) to about S$15,125 (double occupancy). All package prices quoted included emergency medical assistance but excluded airfare, masha'ar* (المشاعر) costs of between S$5,000 and S$9,000, and and prevailing taxes.

"Muis is now working to have their Hajj visas issued by the kingdom," the organisation reported.

*Masha'ar refers to the large-scale movements of pilgrims within specific boundaries in Arafah, Muzdalifah and Mina to fulfil their Hajj pilgrimage between 7 and 12 Dhulhijjah.

Association for Financial Professionals announces Middle East and Africa Treasury Advisory Council

The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) has launched a new AFP Middle East and Africa (MEA) Treasury Advisory Council. The objective of the council is to provide thought leadership, expertise and advocacy for the treasury and finance community for the Middle East and Africa region. The council is composed of corporate treasury professionals and thought leaders who are members of AFP and are interested in advancing the treasury profession within the MEA region. Members of the AFP MEA Treasury Advisory Council include (in alphabetical order): – Rania Afifi, Associate Director Treasury, Misr Italia Properties, Egypt – Mohammed Saud Al-Eid, Cash Operation Manager, Maaden, KSA – Gulrez Ali Sayed, Treasurer & Financial Risk Management, Saudi Cargo, KSA – Ahmad Al Jukka, Treasury Manager, Ras al Khaimah State Government, UAE – Hisham Abouldahab, Group Corporate Treasurer, Almansour Automotive, Egypt – Mideva Lumire, Head of Treasury, Unilever Tea Kenya, Kenya – Ahmed Makhlouf, CFO, General Motors, Egypt – Emad Galal Elmesalami, Group Finance and Treasury Director, Saudi Chemical Company Holding, KSA – Mina Nasif, Chief Visionary Officer, Beacon FinTrain, Egypt – Mohamed Seddeak, Treasury and Corporate Finance Head, Nahdi Medical Company, KSA – Nihan Yılmazer, Regional Treasury & Finance Manager, TAV Construction, UAE/Turkey With a mission to support AFP in its goal to be the key resource and advocate for the treasury profession within the MEA region, the council functions as the "eyes and ears" between AFP and the MEA treasury community through activities such as sharing topics of interest as well as discussing challenges that AFP can support. "The AFP MEA Treasury Advisory Council is comprised of incredibly distinguished treasury professionals, who are enthusiastic and passionate about the profession," said Jim Kaitz, AFP President and CEO. "I'm so excited about what this organisation can do to drive that enthusiasm for treasury, and at some point, finance, throughout the Middle East and Africa region." Headquartered in the US and located regionally in Singapore, the AFP is the professional society committed to advancing the success of treasury and finance members and their organisations. Established and administered by AFP, the Certified Treasury Professional and Certified Corporate FP&A Professional credentials set standards of excellence in treasury and finance.

Singapore's Office of the Mufti explains determination of Shawwal

On May 1, Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir, Mufti of Singapore, announced that since the crescent for the month of Shawwal had already set after sunset according to astronomical calculations, May 2 would mark the 30th day of Ramadhan, and Eid would be on May 3.

The announcement caused confusion as neighbouring Malaysia announced that it would be celebrating Eid on May 2, as did a number of other countries around the world. This prompted the Office of the Mufti in Singapore to issue a statement on how the last day of Ramadhan is calculated:

Based on the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ, scholars use two primary criteria, hisab (calculation based on the science of astronomy) and rukyah (رقى, the sighting of the moon) to determine whether the crescent moon is visible.

According to the statement, it is generally extremely difficult in Singapore to see the crescent moon because of predominantly cloudy conditions. Thus, Singapore uses commonly-agreed criteria used by the MABIMS countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) in determining the sighting of the crescent moon. This methodology is known as imkan ar-rukya.

The imkan ar-rukya criteria was most recently revised in 2021 based on more than 700 data points of crescent sightings from around the world. The new criteria considers two parameters during sunset on the 29th day of the Islamic month – the elevation of the crescent moon (which must exceed three degrees), and the degree of elongation of the sun and the moon (which must exceed 6.4 degrees).

Based on these criteria the crescent moon was not visible in Singapore at sunset on 29 Ramadhan. The Office of the Mufti together with experts in the science of astronomy (الفلك, falak) confirmed this by attempting to conduct a physical sighting of the new moon. This was unsuccessful.

While the religious authorities of other MABIMS countries reported that the crescent moon was visible, they only saw it at selected sites in their own territories.

Although the results differed, all MABIMS countries used the same method of determination which was based on the principles and guidance of the Prophet ﷺ, and their individual results are valid in their respective contexts, with Ramadhan in each country being a maximum of 30 days.

The Office of the Mufti also shared a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim that Mu’awiyah fasted till Friday whereas the rest of the Prophet's ﷺ companions fasted till Saturday based on the differences in sighting the crescent moon in the cities of Sham and Madinah. When asked why they did not simply standardise the fasting period, Ibn ‘Abbas replied that such determination (in following the geographical location of a person) was what had been taught by the Prophet ﷺ, even though it would cause different start and end dates for Ramadhan among Muslims.