Education
Contributions to Education
History of Madrasas in Singapore
Today, most of the religious schools or madrasas in Singapore are established by Arab families. To name a few, Madrasah Aljunied, Madrasah Alsagoff and Madrasah Wak Tanjong. Arab philanthropists set up these schools with the crucial understanding that education is the anchor of their community. They recognised that the prosperity of the Arab community could only be sustained insofar as a quality education system was established. In addition to that, they wanted to spread the Arabic language, which was the language used for prayer and the understanding of the Quran. They felt that it was an important language to allow students to learn Islamic studies closer and better. Mr Syed Abdul Rahman Alsagoff, the founder of Madrasah Alsagoff, scouted the best teachers from Middle East and other Arab-speaking countries to ensure that students would be able to receive the best Arabic education, hence madrasas were set up to ensure that children would not need to travel far to obtain an Arabic education.
Impact of Madrasas on Religion and Culture
The madrasas were established in a time of British colonisation where access to Arabic education was scarce. Donations by wealthy Arab philanthropists were vital to ensure that Arab children grew up learning the Arabic language and were exposed to the Islam religion and the Arab culture. Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Arabiah, set up by Syed Mohamed bin Ahmed Alsagoff, was one of the several full session madrasas that served to taught religion as well as the Arabic language, which was lauded by many members of the Malay community, who felt that colonialism had left them their children with few opportunities to enrich their understanding in religion and their culture. Additionally, the fact that this madrasah is still standing even today and is still using Arabic as the medium of teaching is a testament to the long-term impact of the madrasahs built by these philanthropists.