The Muslim imam who was caught on video praying for "victory over Jews and Christians" was on Monday (April 4) convicted of promoting enmity between different religious groups.

Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel Abdul Malik, 46, was fined S$4,000, which he has paid, and will also be sent back to his home country, India.

He was recorded saying the following in Arabic during a Friday prayer at the Jamae Chulia Mosque on South Bridge Road:

“fansurna ‘alal qaumil yahudiyyin wan nasraniyyin;

fansurna ‘alal qaumil yahudiyyin wan nasraniyyin”

Which translates to:

“Grant us help against the Jews and the Christians;

Grant us help against the Jews and the Christians”

According to a report on the case in Channel NewsAsia, the words were taken from an old Arabic text that originated in his village in India, and were not from the Quran.

He apologised on Friday to the representatives of Christianity, Sikhism, Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism, alongside members of the Federation of Indian Muslims.

On Sunday, the imam also travelled to the Maghain Aboth Synagogue to apologise in person to Jewish Rabbi Moderchai Abergel.

"He knew what the phrase meant, and that it could also be interpreted as asking God to grant Muslims victory over Jews and Christians," said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a statement released on Monday afternoon. "The phrase was and is unacceptable in a multi-racial and multi-religious society."

"Any religious leader from any religion who makes such statements will be held accountable for their actions. In this case, the supplication used by Nalla was not in the Qur’an. But the same principles apply, even if such verses are to be found in a religious text. There are exhortations in religious texts, from more than one religion, which inter alia, encourage violence towards people of other religions. Under Singapore law, we cannot (regardless of his religion) allow anyone to preach or act divisively and justify that by reference to a religious text."

NUS prof, video uploader also found to have broken the law

According to MHA, NUS Associate Professor Khairudin Aljunied and Muslim convert Terence Nunis, who uploaded the video of the Imam speaking, were also found to have broken the law in what they did.

In the case of A/P Khairudin, his two Facebook posts on March 1 and 2 were found to be in breach of Section 298a(b) of the Penal Code, which reads:

"Whoever—

…

(b) commits any act which he knows is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious or racial groups and which disturbs or is likely to

disturb the public [tranquillity],

shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both."

Khairudin has since apologised for his actions, and was given a stern warning instead of being charged in court.

As for Nunis, for choosing to make his video public instead of just reporting it to the police, he, too, was in breach of Section 298a(b). He was also given a stern warning in lieu of prosecution.

"Some regret"

In its statement, the MHA said it took action with "some regret", noting that the imam had served at the mosque for the past seven years.

"Nevertheless, what he did was wrong. And he has admitted it. Given the nature of the breach, action had to be taken."

Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said this has been a "difficult episode" for the Muslim community, stressing that "there cannot be double standards" when dealing with issues relating to racial and religious harmony.

Here's his statement on the case and its outcome in full: