The following is my
answer to a Quora question: “What percentage of Muslims in
Singapore support ISIS?”
This is impossible to quantify. Firstly, how do we define ISIS? Ideologically? Politically? The average Muslim know little of them beyond
the hyperbole in the news. Secondly, how
do we define “support”? Sympathy for
their cause? Shared theological or
political positions? When does a
sympathiser become an enabler? These
things are never straightforward.
If we were to simplify it, and ask how many Muslims in
Singapore would side with ISIS, and betray their country, then we already know
that the answer is a negligible number. The
Muslim population has not even reached half a million. The number of people detained, given
Restriction Orders, or wanted by the state for Sedition pertaining to ISIS is
not even a thousand, which makes it statistically less than 0.02%.
Singapore is not an environment where the ideology of
ISIS can gain widespread support among the Muslim population. There are also very strict laws, and an
excellent surveillance system. Our
concern, as a nation, is the support of extremist groups among Muslims within
the region: Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern Philippines.
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