SINGAPORE, April 3 — The imam who made offensive remarks against Jews and Christians during his Friday sermons at a mosque has been fined S$4,000 (RM12,670) for promoting enmity between different religious groups.
Imam Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel, an Indian national, pleaded guilty to the charge today and was sentenced on the same day.
The case first came to light in February, when a police report was lodged against the imam for reportedly saying “God grant us victory over Jews and Christians” during his sermons. His comments were captured in a video and shared online.
On Friday, Nalla apologised for his “acts of indiscretion”, where he met and apologised to about 30 religious leaders from the Christian, Sikh, Taoist, Buddhist and Hindu faiths, as well as members of the Federation of Indian Muslims, at the Harmony in Diversity Gallery at Maxwell Road.
He also said he had recited an additional supplication in Arabic, which was from an old text that originated from his village in India. It was not an extract from the Quran, he added.
“As a resident here from a foreign land, I should have practised my faith in accordance with, and appropriate to, the social norms and laws of this country. I fully admit that my said actions have no place, wheresoever, in this extremely multi-religious and multi-cultural society,” he said on Friday.
He extended his apology again yesterday, when he visited the Maghain Aboth Synagogue in the morning to convey his apologies to Rabbi Mordechai Abergel of the Jewish community. Religious leaders from Singapore’s Buddhist and Sikh communities were also present.
For promoting enmity between religious groups, Nalla could have been jailed up to three years and fined. — TODAY
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