SINGAPORE, March 6 — Two Cabinet ministers have called for calm and cautioned against abusive attacks on the Mufti and the Islamic authorities here, as a viral video of an imam allegedly insulting Christians and Jews "sparked a storm” in the Malay-Muslim community.

In two separate Facebook posts on Saturday, Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim noted how the case had whipped up strong emotions on and offline.

Dr Yaacob said the case had "sparked a storm” in the Malay-Muslim community, adding: "Many in our community felt angry, because they believe that the postings could be used to cast aspersions on Islam and the asatizah in our mosques.”

Shanmugam wrote that the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) and the Mufti of Singapore, Dr Fatris Bakaram, had come under attack by those who disagreed with their positions on the case involving the imam.

He added: "The Mufti himself has been attacked, in rude and unacceptable language. Just because these people may not agree with the Mufti, or the Islamic authorities, does not mean they should use rude and abusive language against them.

"I find that very saddening — kurang ajar (ill-mannered). We are keeping a close watch on people who do these things. If the conduct crosses over and becomes criminal, action will be taken.”

The imam’s alleged comments first came to light on Feb 24, when a Facebook user who signed off as Terence Helikaon Nunis posted details of the offending remarks and a video of the imam. The post said the imam had made the insulting remarks during his Friday sermons on Jan 6 and Feb 24 at the Masjid Jamae (Chulia) in South Bridge Road.

The imam was said to have repeatedly quoted a verse from the Quran along the lines of "God grant us victory over Jews and Christians”, among other things, Shanmugam told Parliament on Friday. He added that the police was investigating the case and interviewing all parties involved, including those who "filmed and publicised the video”.

Both ministers made clear that there was no room for divisive religious preaching in Singapore, or language and actions that would foster ill will among communities. But they also suggested, given the sensitivities involved, that future whistle blowers should alert the authorities first instead of posting any potentially inflammatory material online.

"While it is correct to whistle blow when one sees wrongdoing, one must also ask whether the manner in which this is done is appropriate, or if it sows more discord and causes tension in our society,” wrote Dr Yaacob, who is also Minister for Communications and Information.

Agreeing, Shanmugam added: "The right thing to do though, is that when a matter like this is encountered, it should be reported to the Police, and not put out on social media. That will allow police to focus their investigations on the subject of the complaint.

"If instead, the matter is publicly posted, it could lead to a ground swell of feelings, in this case, both from Muslims as well as non-Muslims. It could cause confusion about religion, and increase tensions and so on. We don’t want that in Singapore.”— TODAY