About Us
The Association is a registered society under the Singapore law. It was formed in 1998 to serve the growing Shia Ithna Asheri muslim community in Singapore. It aims to promote the understanding of true Islam as taught by Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). The Prophet urged his followers that after him they should continue to hold firmly to two precious things to avoid being misguided - the Holy Quraan and his pure household.
Activities of the Association are in most cases conducted jointly with our brethren from the Muslim Youth Assembly. Lectures and prayer sessions are held on all important religious occasions including the birth and death anniversaries of the Prophet and Imams. Other activities range from regular classes for children to discussion sessions (eg:tafseer of Al-Qur’an) as well as social work such as participation in blood donation drives. Volunteers from the Assembly also provide assistance in burial arrangements and funeral prayers on a death in the community.
Attendances, religious fervour and spiritual upliftment are at their peak during the holy months of Ramadan and Muharram. These serve as important boosters that rejuvenate and reinforce our beliefs and practices every year.
Why these activities ? Why take time out from our busy
schedules to learn and practise Islam? The simple answer is : our worldview
and the desire to lead a meaningful, successful life. Definitions of success
differ depending on one’s worldview. Why are we here ? What happens after
death ? For us, Islam sets the tone by providing a clear worldview , i.e.,
that this life is just a short journey and our aim is to provide as much as
we can for the eternal life after death by following the right path.
This does not imply that one shuns the worldly pursuits but it does mean
that one pursues them in an ethical and balanced way without ignoring one’s
obligations towards the Creator, the family and rest of the soceity. And if
someone’s priorities appear to tilt towards the spiritual, it should not
come as a surprise. The pious one who has intense love for the Creator finds
nothing more satisfying than seeking His pleasure. Others, who have not
reached such heights , can also relate to such prioratisation on the basis
of familiar and much appreciated concepts of our modern society such as
meritocracy and maximising returns. To illustrate, if one has limited funds
and several projects competing to use them, one will allocate them , based
on merit, to the project which promises the best return. For a muslim,
common sense tells him that his limited capital (duration of his life in
this world) will produce best returns when used in a way that earns the
pleasure of Allah, the Creator, the Lord of the Worlds. Money made by
excessive material pursuits can be enjoyed at best for 90 or 100 years of
this life. Good deeds, charity, prayers bestow not only inner peace and
prosperity in this world but also rewards for hereafter that last forever.
So, it comes down to choosing between 100 years and forever. Can the
decision be simpler ? Yet, without true knowledge and conviction, how many
will get it right?
Role of the Association: Besides individual efforts, we need
the synergies from co-operative endeavours as part of an association in
order to effectively face the many modern day challenges . We live in a
world where the all-pervasive communication technologies from TV to cinema
to internet to MRT billboards bombard us daily with glorification of things
that are bad for us . These viruses of vanities and depravities make
gradual, invisible inroads into our unsuspecting psyche. We need as many
effective tools as we can get to counter them and stay on the right path.
Our individual activities at home such as the five daily prayers provide
invaluable protection. Islam also provides us with some excellent
opportunities to supplement these with collective activities. Why not make
full use of them . How many of us have had this feeling that some of the
more stubborn viruses are threatening to gain an upper hand in our lives …..
and then, to our relief, find that a powerful dose of anti-virus comes to
the rescue in the form of the holy month of Ramadan …
The holy month of Ramadan: a month of blessings with days of
fasting and nights of prayers. As we pray together at the Imambargah late
into the nights of qadr ( nights of power ), the only thoughts that tempt us
are those of seeking the pleasure of, and nearness to, our Creator .
Yesterday, like many, we may have craved one or more of the famous 6 “C’s” (
condos, clubs, cars…). This night though, deep in prayers, the C’s of this
temporary world suddenly seem very insignificant, quite irrelevant,
relatively worthless!. The only C that now matters is the one in the
Creator, the One, the Everlasting ! A month when efforts to fight against
our base desires and bring out the best in our character ( also called the
greater Jihad ) become the focus of our lives . At the end of the month we
gather for a large celebration (Hari Raya , Eid ul Fitr ) , to once again
seek Allah’s forgiveness and thank Him for this opportunity to seek His
blessings . As we greet eachother and especially our elders on this day, we
also ask them to forgive us … thus hoping to restart life with a clean slate
vis-à-vis God as well as our fellow-beings.
Muharram: Months go by and new viruses arrive on the scene .
Shia Islam protects us with a second powerful booster . As soon as the moon
of the month of Muharrum is sighted, a deep transformation comes about in
shias ….. off goes the TV , out come the black clothes and the conscience
that prods us to do good deeds. And night after night, all roads seem to
lead to the Imambargah and Hussainyeh, and you get to meet the whole
community including those you may not have seen since the previous Muharram.
The trigger is the remembrance of severe atrocities against Imam Husain (a.s.)
, the grandson of the Prophet, and his family and companions committed more
than fourteen hundred years ago. Lectures and majalis(gatherings) are held
at several places in Singapore including the ones in Urdu, Malay and English
organised by the Association and the Assembly....more
Useful Links
The Holy Quraan: arabic, translations, commentary
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Islamic books including free books: