Administration of Muslim Law (Muslim Religious Schools) (Amendment) Rules 2026

These Rules are the Administration of Muslim Law (Muslim Religious Schools) (Amendment) Rules 2026 and come into operation on 2 October 2026.

In the Administration of Muslim Law (Muslim Religious Schools) Rules 2016 (G.N. No. S 730/2016) (called in these Rules the principal Rules), in rule 2 —

replace the definition of “Islamic teacher” with —“ “inspector” means a public officer, or an officer or employee of the Majlis, who is authorised under section 87(4) of the Act to inspect any Muslim religious school;“Islamic teacher” means an individual who provides Islamic instruction in any subject or field to one or more students, but does not include anyone who habitually provides Islamic instruction exclusively to his or her family members;”;

in the definition of “proprietor”, in paragraph (a), replace “, 15 and 28(1)(b)” with “and 15”; and

replace the definition of “Quranic teacher” with —“ “Quranic teacher” means an individual who provides only basic Islamic instruction to one or more students, but does not include anyone who habitually provides basic Islamic instruction exclusively to his or her family members;”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 5 —

after paragraph (1), insert —“(1A) An individual does not conduct a Muslim religious school requiring registration under paragraph (1) merely because he or she habitually provides Islamic instruction exclusively to his or her family members.”; and

after paragraph (2), insert —“(3) A Muslim religious school, as defined by section 86A of the Act, that was conducted, and remained unregistered, immediately before 2 October 2026 is deemed to be a registered Muslim religious school —

until 31 March 2027; or

if the proprietor of the school applies for the school to be registered on or before 31 March 2027 — until the date on which the school is registered or the application for registration is refused or withdrawn.”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 16, after paragraph (2), insert —“(3) An individual must not make an application to the Majlis under this rule if —

any of the following situations apply:

the Majlis has refused to recognise the applicant as a recognised Islamic teacher or recognised Quranic teacher;

the individual’s recognition as a recognised Islamic teacher or recognised Quranic teacher has been cancelled (except where it was cancelled on the basis of rule 22(2)(f));

the individual’s recognition as a recognised Islamic teacher or recognised Quranic teacher has expired and was not renewed; and

a period of one year has not yet elapsed from the date of the refusal, cancellation or expiry of the recognition (as the case may be) mentioned in sub‑paragraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii).”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 17(3) —

in sub-paragraph (a)(i), delete “or diploma”; and

replace sub-paragraph (c) with —“(c)whether the applicant can satisfactorily demonstrate that he or she has the competencies and knowledge of a person who has the qualifications referred to in sub‑paragraph (a)(i) and (ii) or (b), as the case may be.”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 20, after paragraph (4), insert —“(5) An individual who was a recognised Islamic teacher immediately before 2 October 2026, and whose recognition or renewal of recognition as such was on account of his or her holding a diploma in any discipline of Islamic studies from a tertiary institution, is taken for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a) to have satisfied rule 17(2)(a), so long as that diploma has not been revoked or withdrawn.”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 22 —

in paragraph (1)(b), replace “for not more than 6 months” with “on any condition and for any period that the Majlis thinks fit”;

in paragraph (2)(e), replace the full-stop at the end with a semi‑colon;

in paragraph (2), after sub-paragraph (e), insert —“(f)the individual has written to the Majlis requesting for his or her recognition to be cancelled.”;

after paragraph (2), insert —“(2A) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(b), an individual mentioned in rule 20(5) is considered to no longer meet the requirement for recognition in rule 17(2)(a) if his or her diploma mentioned in rule 20(5) is revoked or withdrawn.”; and

in paragraph (9), after “suspended”, insert “or cancelled”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 24 —

replace paragraph (2) with —“(2) The Majlis must provide every inspector with an identification card that identifies the individual as an inspector.”; (b)in paragraph (4)(b)(iv), delete “or” at the end;

in paragraph (4)(c), replace the full-stop at the end with “; or”; and

in paragraph (4), after sub-paragraph (c), insert —“(d)attend any Islamic instruction provided by a Muslim religious school, including courses conducted online or remotely through electronic means.”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 26 —

in paragraph (1), replace “a public officer authorised by the Majlis” with “an inspector”; and

in paragraph (2)(b), replace “a public officer” with “an inspector”.

In the principal Rules, in rule 27(b), replace “a public officer when in attendance before the public officer” with “an inspector when in attendance before the inspector”.

In the principal Rules, delete rule 28.

Rule 4 does not apply to any individual whose application to the Majlis for recognition was made immediately before 2 October 2026 and is pending on that date.

Despite rule 5, any application for recognition as a recognised Islamic teacher made before 2 October 2026 and pending on that date may be determined by the Majlis in accordance with the principal Rules as if rule 5 had not been enacted.

Rule 4 does not apply to any individual whose application to the Majlis for recognition was made immediately before 2 October 2026 and is pending on that date.

Despite rule 5, any application for recognition as a recognised Islamic teacher made before 2 October 2026 and pending on that date may be determined by the Majlis in accordance with the principal Rules as if rule 5 had not been enacted.