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Purpose This paper attempts to explore the transformations taken by madrasah, especially in preparing students both in religious and academic field. Besides, this paper aims to demonstrate measures taken by madrasah in instilling the religious and racial cohesion far from conservatism and extremism that has always been labeled to their students. Design/methodology/approach This paper is qualitative in nature. It is a library research and uses historical method in collecting the data. Some relevant literatures and data have been analyzed and presented in this paper. Findings Madrasah in Singapore has always been perceived in a negative nuance because of its ineffectiveness and irrelevant roles in economic building. The conservative and traditional madrasah education system is also seen to impede Singapore’s religious and racial cohesion. The struggle increases prior to the implementation of compulsory education (CE) policy in 2001, where madrasah was almost forced to closure. Originality/value Islamic education in Singapore can be observed evolving through three phases: colonial period where it adopted the secular system, post-colonial with the traditional system and, currently, the transformation period with its integrated syllabus.

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The issue of hijab has become a controversial and ongoing topic discussed mainly in European countries and has been perceived differently by the media. The discourse of hijab and its controversy, particularly in France, Netherland, Germany, as well as in the United Kingdom, has not been interpreted by the media according to the Islamic perspective, thereby implicitly creating tension between Muslims and the local society. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the controversial issue of hijab that arose in the European countries by focusing on France, Netherland, Germany and the United Kingdom and how the issues have been reported and perceived by the media. This study employs a qualitative approach that applies library research focusing on data collection via secondary sources. Furthermore, the data are analysed according to thematic analysis in identifying and interpreting patterns and themes within the data obtained. The finding of this study shows the issue of hijab within European countries is regarding more on veil and purdah or niqab rather than headscarves as wearing of headscarves is commonly recognised by the European communities. As a conclusion, it is suggested for Muslims to be more visible in society and media in countering negative views and perceptions towards Muslim as well as in depicting constructive image of Islam.

Proses sekularisasi yang dilaksanakan di Turki turut memberi kesan kepada perlembagaan negara tersebut. Perlembagaan Turki yang beridentiti sekular menjadikannya sebagai sebuah kontrak sosial yang bersifat mencengkam dan mengekang kebebasan individu, termasuklah untuk mengamalkan agama secara bebas. Kemunculan Parti Keadilan dan Pembangunan (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) dengan wacana demokrasi konservatif cenderung untuk membuka ruang kebebasan yang lebih luas, termasuklah untuk membolehkan pengamalan agama dilakukan secara bebas. Justeru, artikel ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis proses pendemokrasian di Turki yang dilakukan oleh AKP menerusi pindaan perlembagaan pada tahun 2010. Artikel ini menganalisis secara langsung Perlembagaan Turki sebagai sumber primer kajian dengan meneliti perbezaan sebelum dan selepas pindaan pada tahun tersebut. Selain itu, senario sepanjang proses pindaan perlembagaan dilakukan turut dianalisis secara mendalam. Secara keseluruhan, pindaan perlembagaan tahun 2010 sememangnya menyumbang kepada proses pendemokrasian di Turki. Pindaan tersebut memberi kesan kepada kedudukan hak asasi rakyat, di samping tentera dan badan kehakiman yang selama ini diperuntukkan dengan bidang kuasa yang luas. Sebagai sebuah negara sekular, proses pendemokrasian merupakan langkah yang berkesan di Turki untuk membuka ruang kepada kebebasan pengamalan agama masyarakat.