UNDERSTANDING THE SUNNI-SHIITE TRANSITIONS AMONG THE FIRST GENERATION MALAY SHIITES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This study sheds a critical light onto the accounts of first generation Malay Shiites in Singapore, focusing on the nature of their agency in the process of their transition from a non-Shiite to a new Shiite identity. The analysis in this study is focused on the transition process of the first generation Malay Shiites in Singapore which took place during the 1980s. This research is meant to bridge the gap in the understanding of the role of the convert in his/her own conversion process i.e. the agency of the convert. Looking into the personal accounts of the first generation of Shiite Malays in Singapore will also shed some critical light on the current understanding of the emergence and origins of Shiites and Shiism in the Malay World as a whole.