Friday Sermons in Singapore: The Voice of Authorities toward Building State-Centric Muslim Identity

Abstract

This article examines to what extent Friday sermons are used by the government of Singapore through its statutory board, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) or Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, to enact government policies and communicate it’s approved Islamic interpretations. A content analysis methodology was employed to discursively elucidate Friday sermon texts delivered in 2019 in Singapore, which were all taken from MUIS websites. Findings showed that the religious authority modulated religious discourses and utilized the Friday sermons as an avenue of forging state-centric Muslim identity and modulating interpretations of Islam. This content analysis study stresses the importance of how Friday sermons could be used to construct Muslim identity in secular state policies and shape a socio-political harmony between state vision and development and Muslim minorities. This paper implies that the current entanglements of religion and development are closely intertwined in which religion and state-building initiatives led by the government reciprocally interact and mutually benefit.