I had a wonderful meeting with Syria's Grand Mufti Dr Ahmad Badruddin Hassoun this morning at Foreign Ministry. He has a view of religion which most Singaporeans would be very comfortable with. When he gave a talk to the European Parliament early last year, his speech emphasizing that states should be created on a civil basis rather than a religious basis received wide applause. He said that 'there's no such thing as a holy war, there can never be a holy war, only peace can be holy'.
The Grand Mufti is in Singapore at the invitation of MUIS to give a distinguished lecture. We have some 60 religious students studying in Syria. He came with a son who is the Mufti of Aleppo.
George Yeo
Comments