Tamil Muslims

Tamil Muslims in Singapore trace their origins to seafarers and traders from South India, who had sojourned or settled in parts of Southeast Asia centuries before the arrival of colonial powers. However, their uninterrupted history as a community in Singapore dates back to the 19th century. In the early years of Singapore as a trading post of the British East India Company, established in 1819, Tamil Muslims, then known as Chulias, constituted the majority of the Indian population, accounting for 79% of about 6,260 Indians in 1849. However, by 1931, although the total Indian population had increased to 13,330, the proportion of Indian Muslims declined to about 25% due to the influx of non-Muslim Indians who arrived as migrant labourers to work in various sectors of the growing economy. Muslims comprise approximately 20% of the Tamil-speaking community in Singapore. அ

A segment of the Tamil Muslim community evolved into Jawi Peranakan, a mixed ethnic community, by marrying into the local Malay community and adopting their language and customs. A historical figure among the Jawi Peranakan community is Munshi Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, often referred to as the Father of Modern Malay Literature. His roots can be traced to Nagore, India. Early Tamil Muslim settlements were centred around the Singapore River and Telok Ayer Basin. By about 1890, with the gradual development of a new port at Tanjong Pagar, more people settled there. Gradually, Tamil Muslim traders established themselves in all commercial areas as well as near British military facilities. Their diverse occupations included textile trading, money-changing, cattle trading, gem trading, and running provision stores.  Often, a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ shop or a tea stall was their starting point, as these were in high demand and easier to set up with little capital, and could be sustained through sheer hard work. They also held positions as clerks, agents, peons, skippers, and pilots of native vessels. Some owned and rented out cargo boats and tongkangs (traditional Malay lighters), others sold fabrics and yet others were involved in providing meat from cattle.

The economic activities of Tamil Muslims were closely tied to their places of origin in Tamil Nadu, as familial and community connections mattered at the start-up stage. Those from Karaikal, Nagapattinam, and Thopputhurai were involved in the cattle trade. A notable figure, Moona Kader Sultan, known as the "Cattle King", came from Karaikal and played a prominent role in importing cattle from India and Australia. In 1912, he established the Straits Cattle Trading Co., becoming the dominant player in the Serangoon Road area by 1921. The Nagore Muslim community excelled in importing pearls, rubies, scents, and betel-boxes. They were also prominent in the areca-nut trade. Coastal towns like Kayalpattinam and Melappalaiyam engaged in trade with the Straits Settlements, while Tenkasi and Kadayanallur specialised in weaving and cloth production, including the renowned “Singapore Cloth”. Muslim weavers from these coastal towns of India settled in Singapore with their families, fostering the growth of stable communities.  As early as the 1880s, women from Kadayanallur and Tenkasi were selling spice mixes at open markets near mosques, which, some observers believe, inadvertently promoted Indian cooking amongst Malay and Peranakan Chinese customers. Religious life is integral to the lives of Tamil Muslims. The majority of Tamil Muslims in Singapore follow the practices of Sunni Islam – Hanafi or Shafii. When it comes to worship at mosques, however, they may pray together with fellow Muslims of other sects.

Tamil Muslims have several sub-groups, such as Lebbai (Missionary), Marakkayar (Sailor), and Ravuthar (Horseman), which suggest ancestral connections. Each subgroup may have started with its own characteristics, such as adherence to specific law schools, regional backgrounds, everyday economic activities, and a shared origin. However, through intermingling in various activities, work, and marriage, such distinctions have become less relevant, as they all share a common identity as Tamil Muslims. Between the 1820s and 1920s, they established many mosques stretching from the city area all the way to Siglap. These include the Jamae (Chulia) Mosque, Al-Abrar Mosque, Abdul Gafoor Mosque, Sultan Mosque, Hajjah Fatimah Mosque, Tittachery Mosque (before it was redeveloped into Malabar Mosque), Khadijah Mosque, Wak Tanjong Mosque, Khalid Mosque, Mydin Mosque, and Kassim Mosque. The mosque of Kampong Payah Goyang, too, had a sizeable Tamil Muslim community amongst its congregation. Over time, however, the management of several of these mosques, as well as the languages used within them, underwent changes. Before the war, many mosques were under the control of the Mohammedan and Hindu Endowment Board. In the 1960s, the Coronation Road Mosque (currently Masjid Al-Huda) and Kassim Mosque lost their Tamil character, and several other Tamil-founded mosques came under the trusteeship of Malays, Arabs, or Jawi Peranakans. On the other hand, Masjid Bencoolen's sermons switched from Urdu to Tamil after the 1950s. 

Besides building mosques, Tamil Muslims were forming community organisations to strengthen their collective identity both as Muslims and merchants. Wealthy Tamil Muslim merchants were also prominent in the Indian Association and the Ceylon Association. Following the gradual decline of the Muslim Association, which had been well-known since the 1890s, the Muslim Missionary Society Singapore or Jamiyah Singapore, was formed in 1932 as the collective voice of Muslims, including those from the Tamil community. In 1926, several kin-based groups operating near Tanjong Pagar were brought under a single representative body known as the Muslim Improvement Club (MIC). Later, the MIC was disbanded, and organisations such as the Singapore Thuckalay Muslim Association (1939), the Singapore Tenkasi Muslim Welfare Society (1940) and the Singapore Kadayanallur Muslim League (1941) were officially registered. The Pasir Panjang Indian Muslim Association was established in 1964. Later, its name was changed to United Indian Muslim Association in 1990 under the leadership of union leader M K Abdul Jabbar, who also served as the Member of Parliament for Radin Mas between 1981 and 1984.   

In the 1980s, the community once again felt the need for an umbrella organisation to unite Tamil Muslim associations and provide a representative for national and community forums such as MUIS – which took over the advisory as well as the endowment management for Muslims in 1968 – and Yayasan MENDAKI  - a self-help organisation set up in 1982 to improve the academic performance of Malay and Muslim children. Subsequently, the Federation of Indian Muslims (FIM) was established in 1992. However, at the 30th anniversary celebrations of FIM held in 2023, it was announced that FIM’s name has been changed to Federation of Singapore Indian Muslims (FSIM). By 2023, the FSIM represented 18 organisations that conduct activities in the Tamil language as well as socio-religious programmes. Another organisation established by Tamil Muslims, the Indian Muslim Social Service Association, provides religious, cultural and welfare services for the Muslim community. Notable, too, are social groups set up by young Tamil Muslims that serve the wider community, meeting their religious, cultural and professional needs. These include Roses of Peace, founded by Mohamed Irshad, who later became a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP), hash.peace founded by Nazhath Faheema, and IMPROF founded by Raja Mohamad.

Tamil Muslims have made a lasting impact on Tamil language publishing, literature, and education. Before World War I, they operated the majority of Tamil printing presses and newspapers in Singapore and published many Tamil-language publications authored by Muslims. The first private Tamil printing press, Denodaya Press, was founded in 1872 or 1873 by C K Makhdoom Sahib. It was located near Cross Street until 1915 and then relocated to North Bridge Road. It produced significant newspapers, including the Singai Varthamaani (1875), believed to be the first Tamil periodical in Singapore. Other publications from this press include Jnanasurya (1882) and Singai Nesan (1887). Early Singaporean Tamil books were also published at the Denodaya Press.

Tamil Muslims have made notable contributions to Tamil Murasu, the only surviving Tamil daily in Singapore since its establishment in 1935, serving as editors, translators, and proofreaders as well as advertisers. In 2011, Mohamad Musthafa, a Tamil Muslim, founded The Serangoon Times, a monthly Tamil magazine, which is currently available in both hard copy and online formats. N M Mohamed Abdulkadir, who jointly operated Denodaya Press with Sahib until 1876, was the author of Munajathuththirattu (1872), a collection of religious poetry, which is the first extant Tamil-language book in Singapore. Other Tamil Muslims have distinguished themselves as leading Tamil writers and poets, including Abdul Rahman (Singai Mukilan), J M Sali and K T M Iqbal, all of whom have won Cultural Medallion awards.

Amongst Tamil Muslims who were widely respected in the larger Muslim community in the second half of the 20th century was Ustaz Mohamed Muhyiddin Hasbullah, better known as Babu Sahib, who started Darul Arqam to support new converts to Islam. Another was Ustaz Ibrahim Kassim, a long-serving Deputy Kadi at the Registry of Muslim Marriages and a founding member of the Religious Rehabilitation Group that was set up to address deviancy within the faith. Tamil Muslims were prominent in selling English textbooks and examination guides and noted for their bookshops along Bras Basah Road. They were also well-established in the sports goods trade, with shops at Peninsula Plaza and Queensway Shopping Centre. In the field of cinema, K M Oli Mohamed founded one of the very few theatres that screened Tamil movies. It was the Diamond Theatre, established in 1947 at North Bridge Road.  He later established the Taj Theatre at Geylang Serai, which showed Hindi movies popular among Malays as well as Indians. Tamil theatre also benefited from individuals such as Ibrahim Pillai and Abdul Salam (also known as Mangala Santhian), who staged Tamil plays in the 1950s.

Tamil Muslims have also made a mark as writers, actors, producers, directors, and heads of programmes in radio and television. Mohamed Kasim received a lifetime achievement award for acting. Mohamed Ali headed both the Malay and Tamil television divisions in MediaCorp in 2003. Another Tamil Muslim, Seeny Jaafar Ghany, founded Bisme Islamic Radio in 2018 as an internet-based service catering to Tamil Muslims in Singapore and worldwide. Tamil Muslim trailblazers in other fields include S M A Jaleel in worker accommodation and logistics, and Mohamed Ismail Gafoor in real estate sales and development. Through their organisations, MES Holdings and Propnex Holdings, respectively, they have sponsored many community and social causes.

The contributions of Tamil Muslims to Tamil language education are noteworthy, with the Umar Pulavar Tamil School, established in 1946 by the Singapore Kadayanallur Muslim League, serving as the sole Tamil-medium high school in Singapore from 1960 to 1982. Alongside their contributions to education, Tamil Muslims have also played a significant role in establishing endowments, cementing their commitment to the development of their community. Since the early 19th century, Indian Muslim merchants in Singapore have established Muslim waqfs (endowments), donating assets like properties or land for religious and charitable purposes. Tamil Muslims typically contributed to MENDAKI, the Malay/Muslim self-help organisation, to help the needy until the establishment of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) in 1992. The advent of SINDA underscored the unique position of Tamil Muslims as both Indians and Muslims in Singapore. Tamil Muslims in Singapore actively preserve their cultural heritage. A significant milestone in highlighting Indian Muslim, especially Tamil Muslim, contributions to Singapore's history was the inauguration of the Nagore DargahIndian Muslim Heritage Centre in 2011 at the Nagore Dargah building, a gazetted national monument in Telok Ayer Street. 

For more information
Mahiznan, Arun, and Nalina Gopal, eds. Sojourners to Settlers: Tamils in Southeast Asia and Singapore. Singapore: Indian Heritage Centre and Institute of Policy Studies, 2020.
Tschacher, Torsten. The Impact of Being Tamil on Religious Life among Tamil Muslims in Singapore. PhD diss., National University of Singapore, 2007.
Mashuthoo Abdul Rahiman, and Raja Mohamad. Singapore Tamil Muslims. Singapore: Singapore Kadayanallur Muslim League, 2021.
Chanbasha, Ab Razak. Indian Muslims in Singapore: History, Heritage, and Contributions. Singapore: Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs.

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.