SHARIAsource

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Singapore, based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Singapore's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has some legal status.  

Constitution for Singapore in English, published with the permission of Constitute.

This case was brought by the parents of Maria Huberdina Hertogh for the following reliefs: that Hertogh's marriage to Inche Mansoor Adabi be declared void and of no effect; that Inche Mansoor Adabi be ordered to deliver Hertogh to the custody of the Consul-General for the Netherlands; that the Consul-General for the Netherlands be free to restore Hertogh to her parents; and that Inche Mansoor Adabi and Amina Binte Mohamed be prohibited from removing Hertogh from the jurisdiction of the court pending the hearing of the application. The Court ruled that it did have jurisdiction to declare the marriage void, that the marriage was invalid, and that Hertogh should be returned to the custody of her mother.

This appeal against the ruling reported in Malaya Law Journal XVII 12 was made on the grounds that the Court had no jurisdiction to declare void the marriage between Maria Huberdina Hertogh and Inche Mansor Adabi, that Hertogh was a Muslim "in fact and in law," and that her marriage to Inche Mansor Adabi was valid. The Court ruled that the declaration of the illegality of the marriage was beyond the Court's jurisdiction, but that Hertogh was domiciled in Holland. As Inche Mansor Adabi had not proven that the marriage was valid by the laws of Holland, the Court had rightly ordered custody of Hertogh to be returned to her parents.

F.C. Gimson, Governor of Singapore, commissioned this 98-page report of July 13, 1951, "on the recent disorders in Singapore on 11th December [1950] and subsequent days, with special reference to the causes of those disorders, and the measures taken to protect life and property and to restore law and order" (p.97). The events to which it refers were the riots that took place in Singapore after the ruling of the case In re Maria Huberdina Hertogh. It contains 22 chapters that describe the "disorders" and the response of the colonial government and administration, as well as several accounts written by observers and participants.

F.C. Gimson, Governor of Singapore, commissioned this 98-page report of July 13, 1951, "on the recent disorders in Singapore on 11th December [1950] and subsequent days, with special reference to the causes of those disorders, and the measures taken to protect life and property and to restore law and order" (p.97). The events to which it refers were the riots that took place in Singapore after the ruling of the case In re Maria Huberdina Hertogh. It contains 22 chapters that describe the "disorders" and the response of the colonial government and administration, as well as several accounts written by observers and participants.

Fatwā concerning the legality, based on their interpretation of Islamic law, of a) the responsibility of mosque officials to prevent unwell congregants from entering a mosque’s premises and b) the temporary suspension of congregational and Friday prayers, and subsequent mosque closures. The answer provided by the Fatwa Committee, who met on 18 February 2020, is that a) mosques’ management has the religious duty to request or prohibit any unwell congregants from entering the mosque area, whether for performing prayers or other matters and the closing of a mosque and b) the suspension of congregational prayers and Friday prayers during this situation, is required.