After being refused entry to Singapore on Monday, Indonesian Ustaz Abdul Somad (UAS) said during an interview on Wednesday that Singapore is part of Indonesia.
When asked if he is going to give up going to Singapore, UAS said he would not, because Singapore is a Malay land and to the Riau people including him, Singapore is part of their land.
“Singapore is a Malay land. We Riau people see that Singapore is part of our land.”
Ustaz Abdul Somad
He explained that it was because Singapore used to be the Temasek Malay kingdom which moved to Malacca. In the 15th century, Malacca fell and became the Johor kingdom. That fraction of Johor is Sri Indrapura Riau hence Singapore belongs to Indonesia. “We’re ethnically Malay,” he adds.
UAS has been to Singapore twice, in 2012 and 2017, before being refused on 16 May 2022.
“This is a political problem. It’s only a matter of the strength of Muslims. If there are strong Muslims in a country, I can enter, I can teach, I can lecture. Incidentally, in Singapore, the Muslims are weak,” UAS said.
Singapore has been a target of attacks on social media by supporters of UAS since the Indonesian preacher was denied entry into Singapore.
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