This year marks a decade of the Religious Rehabilitation Group’s work in religious counselling for women. Over the years, the number of female Muslim religious counsellors volunteering with the RRG has grown, and so have their challenges.

When the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) was officially formed in April 2003, it had only 11 members. All of its volunteers were male asatizah (religious teachers, advisers and counsellors) as the rehabilitation work at that nascent stage was concentrated on understanding and countering the radical ideology of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) detainees.

As religious counselling for the detainees and those under Restriction Order (RO) progressed, there was a realisation that their wives should be offered religious counselling as well. Acknowledging the religious and cultural sensitivities — as counselling is usually conducted one-to-one in a private setting — female religious advisers were invited to join the RRG in 2005.

… Nur Irfani Saripi is an Associate Research Fellow of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and also a volunteer of the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG).