Newsletter of the Claremont Main Road Mosque · No.16
‘Id al-Adha 1436 • September 2015
Cultivating Recognition (Ma’rifa) in the Quest for Environmental Justice Dr. Aslam Fataar A focus on environmental justice and sustainability in light of the threat of climate change, global warming, environmental pollution, and ecological imbalances all over the world, has become a matter of urgency in our lives. Humans are affected on a daily basis by an increase in diseases related to air pollution, and dwindling food resources. We have to persuade ourselves of the need for an appropriate response, based on a proper recognition of the nature, depth and extent of the crisis. No one is apparently going to die spectacularly, immediately and directly, as a result of global warming. The issue does not seem to conjure enough alarm to get people focused. Unlike incurable diseases like cancer, HIV / Aids, and even certain strains of TB, the immanence of death by environmental pollution and climate change is not apparent. This lulls us into a kind complacency, and yet the danger is imminent. Recently, the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis released an important papal encyclical, in which he suggests that ecological problems are not just environmental problems. He reflects on the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable and poor in the world. He calls attention to the devastating consequences of industrialisation, pollution and waste and the role of unbridled capitalism in the destruction of our earth. In August this year, an initiative led by Islamic Relief, with the support of, among others, the SA-based World For All Foundation, brought together a range of
Muslim civic actors and leaders in Istanbul to produce the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change. This initiative is to be lauded. The declaration speaks with clarity and urgency in calling for a coherent response from the Muslim world to address climate change. Muslims, however, collectively and individually, seem not to understand this urgency, nor are we prepared to radically adapt our lifestyles and economic platforms to mitigate and address the dunya’s sustainability.
Humans have behaved as if there will be no hisab (accountability), no reckoning with the impact of our behavior, without much of a consciousness of our ecological sustainability
My suggestion is that most people, communities and nations suffer from a failure to recognize the impending ecological disaster that has been coursing its way into the very fabric of our lives, affecting how we now live and die, the quality of our existence, the scarcity of resources for human survival, where droughts and floods affect our livelihoods, causing famine, forced human migration and wars. I propose that what is needed to confront this crisis are the following: a) a need for proper recognition (ma’rifa) of our worst excesses and complicities in the drama of ecological fragility; b) redemptive
or corrective practices; c) an educational and literacy struggle to combat our global and local ecological fragility, and d) becoming productive in areas of research into new science and technology that can mitigate environmental challenges. Once we recognise the depth and extent of the crisis, we have to work out how to get busy addressing this crisis. With regard to recognition (ma’rifa), it is clear that something about our existence is deeply ‘out of place’. Human practices, in the pursuit of economic gain, have over the last 200 hundred years been based on the unadulterated exploitation of Allah’s earth. Humans have behaved as if there will be no hisab (accountability), no reckoning with the impact of our behavior, without much of a consciousness of our ecological sustainability. An environmentally aware consciousness or taqwa, now requires that we cultivate the ability to recognize the impact of our behaviour well into the future and cultivate the necessary capacity to adjust our behaviour accordingly. Dr. Aslam Fataar, Professor and Vice Dean: Research, Faculty of Education, Stellenbosch University, is the author of the recently published book, ‘Engaging Schooling Subjectivities across Post-Apartheid Urban Spaces’, September 2015, SunMedia.
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Imam’s Message
Imam Rashied Omar Celebrating the Sixty Year Legacy of the Imamat of Al-Shahid Abdullah Haron On Sunday the 27th September 2015 we shall be remembering the 46th anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Abdullah Haron, who was killed in an apartheid prison in 1969. Imam Haron was a towering figure in the struggle against apartheid. He paid the supreme sacrifice for his witness to justice. After being held by the state security for 123 days incommunicado Imam Haron died at the hands of the apartheid state incarcerated in prison on September 27, 1969. More than thirty thousand mourners coming from all sectors of Cape Town’s diverse population turned his funeral into a ritualized form of defiance against the apartheid regime. This year’s commemoration of Imam Haron’s martyrdom is significant since it also marks the 60th year since the appointment of Abdullah Haron in October 1955 as the Imam of the Al-Jami`ah Masjid in Stegman Road, Claremont. At the time of his appointment Abdullah Haron was 31 years old and he became the youngest Imam
in Cape Town. His appointment as Imam marked the birth of a new era in the history of Islam in South Africa. During the 14-year period of his Imamat at the Stegman Road Masjid, from 1955-1969, Imam Haron forged a close relationship with the alienated Claremont youth. He developed a symbiotic relationship with the youth in which he revitalized their faith in Islam by teaching them a more dynamic and socially responsive understanding of Islam, and he in turn learnt from their political activism and involvement in anti-apartheid struggles. Since the 1980s CMRM has sought to build on the legacy of Imam Abdullah Haron by critically reflecting on and engaging with issues that affect us as Muslim citizens, locally and globally. Our mission is to build an institutional legacy for future generations, of bearing witness to Islam that upholds the virtues of social justice and compassion. To mark the milestone of the 60th year since Abdullah Haron’s appointment as Imam we have invited his grandson, Khalid
Chairperson’s Message Assalamu Alaykum wa rahmatullah It remains an honour and privilege for me to serve this institution for a second and last term as Chairperson. At our very successful AGM on Sunday 28 June 2015, I was re-elected for a second term as Chairperson, together with Achmat Peters (Vice-Chairperson) and additional Board members Mariam Baderoon and Khadeeja Bassier. Waheed Sookool was elected as a new additional Board member, and Yumnah Richards co-opted as a Board member. The rest of the CMRM Board for 2015 remains unchanged with Wasiela Agherdien (Treasurer), Jaamia Galant
Yumnah Richards
Waheed Sookool
Shamis to deliver the pre-khutbah talk at CMRM on Friday 25 September 2015. Reflecting on Imam Haron’s legacy allows us to ponder how we too can live our lives in the service of others, without prejudice and judgment, and how we as a congregation can take forward the vision that Imam Haron espoused and ultimately gave his life for. The critical challenge facing us is to find creative and innovative ways of passing our socially responsive vision of Islam to new generations of youth. I call upon CMRM members to reflect upon the abundant lessons to be found in the life of Imam Haron and to assist us in making our masjid one of the leading Islamic centres in our country and indeed the world, in the mould that Imam Haron envisioned for us. At this special time we implore, Allah, the Most Compassionate, to grant Imam Abdullah Haron and all those who have sought to build on his legacy, a continuous reward and salvation in the hereafter, insha-Allah.
Yusuf (Jowa) Abrahams
(Secretary) and Mujahid Osman and Suliman Noor as co-opted members. Our sincere thanks to outgoing Board member, Jeff Jawitz, for his dedication during his term of office. We were very pleased with the attendance at the AGM of over 70 CMRM members and a few outside guests. The keynote address was delivered by Suraya Jawoodeen, who is a longstanding social activist who has worked in labour unions for many years and is on the current secretariat of NUMSA. She reflected on the role of faith communities in supporting social justice campaigns and provided useful insights into how CMRM can strengthen its current social justice programmes. We also distributed our 2014 Annual Report, which includes the audited financial statements and highlights of our 2014 activities. The latter included the 160th year anniversary celebrations of the masjid and the many global social justice campaigns we engaged in. We were once again blessed to have had a very spiritually uplifting Ramadan
2015. Shaykh Omar Masoud moved us all with his melodious recitations during the tarawih prayers and the young muadhdhins inspired us with their commitment and enthusiasm in rendering the nightly adhkar. Finally, the finishing off of the khatam al-Qur’an in congregation on Laylatul Qadr evening was truly spiritually enriching, and we hope this will become a regular feature of our Ramadan programme. Our sincerest gratitude to all Board members for their many hours of sacrifice in ensuring that we achieve an efficient administration. Finally, our thanks to Imam Rashied and Imam Shaheed for their inspirational work and leadership at the masjid. At this time we always think of all those stalwarts at the masjid, all our parents and friends, who are no longer with us. We pray that they and all our loved ones be given a high place in Jannah, Insha-Allah. Eid Mubarak to you all! May your year be filled with peace and prosperity. May you enjoy good health Insha-Allah. Shukran once again for your continued support.
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Ibrahim & Isma`il – A Model for Parent Child Relationships Imam A. Rashied Omar At this time of ‘Id al-Adha, as we partake in animal sacrifice (udhiya also known as the qurban) we reflect on the significance of this symbolic act, as a re-enactment of the readiness of Prophets Ibrahim and Isma’il to surrender themselves fully unto God.
of consulting and communicating with the child. When Prophet Ibrahim was confronted with his disturbing dream, he felt moved not only to inform, but also to seek the counsel of his beloved son. Ibrahim approached his son with great affection and sensitivity. He was keen to hear Isma’il’s response to his disturbing dream. Prophet Ibrahim could have contemplated his own dream and acted on it without consulting his son in the belief that it was a Divine command. But he chose instead to actively seek the advice and opinion of his son for something that weighed so heavily on his mind and soul. Isma`il in turn, did not ridicule or dismiss his father’s concerns, but responded in a way that reassured his father that he was confident in the love of his father and understood that if it were a command from God, then his father should obey such a command. The exchange between Prophets Ibrahim and Isma’il exemplifies the importance of communication between parent and child. If Prophet Ibrahim had not told his son about the dream, Prophet Isma’il may never have known about the trauma his father was going through after having such a disturbing dream. And in turn, Prophet Ibrahim would not have received the reassurance from his son to obey such a Divine command. The example of Ibrahim and Isma’il not only underscores the importance of communication between parents and children, but also illustrates the capacity of mature children to serve as wise counsel to their parents. Parents should be encouraged to consult their children and seek their support and views on matters that affect not only the children themselves, but also the family as a whole as well as the parents’ personal well-being. The third and final theme emerging from the above verses is the collaboration between parent and child. Prophet Isma`il’s acquiescence to be ‘steadfast in adversity’ if it is God’s will for him to be sacrificed by his father, demonstrates his willingness to support his father unselfishly for the sake of God. Isma`il’s steadfastness is reminiscent of his mother Hajar’s (pbuh) patience and forbearance in performing the sa`i (running between the hillocks of Safa and Marwah) in search of sustenance for her infant son. Isma’il offered no resistance to the suggestion that his father would have to sacrifice him if God so wills. Here father and son enter a collaborative pact to surrender to the will of God, despite the great sacrifice they would have to endure. It is this spirit of surrendering ourselves fully and collaboratively unto God that we symbolically re-enact when we perform the animal sacrifice on the days of `Id al-Adha. The collaboration between Prophets Ibrahim and Isma’il reflects not only their mutual trust in God, but again highlights the sacred bond between them, in which Isma’il is completely secure in the love of Ibrahim. He trusted his father unconditionally and knew that his father would only offer him as a sacrifice if it was God’s will for him to do so. Isma’il could have doubted his father’s dream or questioned his father’s sanity, but he knew his father was a righteous man. The righteous son of a righteous father was committed to surrender to God’s will.
In this article, I reflect on the dignified manner in which Prophets Ibrahim and Isma`il negotiated the divine sacrificial command symbolized in the animal sacrifice and the instructive lessons this holds for parent-child relationships. The key Qur’anic text I will use for my reflections comes from Surah al-Saffat, chapter 37, verses 100 - 102, in which Allah the Sublime, proclaims:
(Ibrahim prayed) O My Lord grant me a righteous child.
So We gave him the good news of a son who would be forbearing.
Then when (his son) was old enough to work with him, (Ibrahim) said: O My Son, I have seen in my dream that I should offer you in sacrifice: So think about this and give me your opinion.
(Isma’il) answered: O My Father, do as you are commanded; If it is God’s will, you will find me steadfast in adversity. The first theme that emerges from the above verses of the Qur’an, is that of mutual respect between parent and child. The tenderness with which Ibrahim and Isma’il address each other in the above Qur’anic verses convey the mutual respect and love that existed between them. Prophet Ibrahim addresses his son as Ya Bunayya, meaning ‘O My Dear Son’ and Prophet Isma`il in turn addresses his father as Ya Abati, meaning ‘O My Dear Father’. This kind of tenderness should characterize all relationships between parents and children, because the relationship between parent and child is a sacred bond. The instructive lesson for us here is that it is not only the child who displays reverence towards the parent, but it is also the parent who expresses deference towards the child. Prophet Ibrahim sets an example for how parents too should show mutual respect towards their adult children, to acknowledge their maturity as responsible individuals. Very often it is a lack of this mutual respect that leads to a breakdown in the relationships between parents and their adult children. The second theme that emerges from the above verses of the Qur’an, which is related to the first theme of mutual respect, is that
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Jihad Against Poverty – Ramadan 2015 Our thanks to all those who contributed so generously to all of our Jihad Against Poverty programmes.
Community Iftars
Hygiene Care Packs
During Ramadan we sponsored daily iftar meals at CMRM, Dunoon, Langa, Blikkiesdorp, IHATA, Manenberg Soup kitchen and Beitul Aman. CMRM administrator, Shariefa Wydeman and a team of cooks prepared the daily meals for IHATA Shelter, Beitul Aman and CMRM. Community members in Blikkiesdorp did the daily cooking themselves.
On Saturday 4 July 2015 CMRM congregants packed 400 hygiene packs at the masjid after tarawih. The hygiene packs were customized for males and females, and included soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, facecloth and sanitary towels for females. The hygiene packs were distributed to residents at IHATA shelter, Emasithandane Children’s home, Christine Revell Home and Red Cross Hospital. In addition, hygiene packs were given to Manenberg and Langa school children participating in a winter school athletics event and to the farmworkers of Leeuwenkuil, after Ramadan.
Dunoon On Saturday 11 July 2015, CMRM congregants joined in the distribution of 500 food parcels and 30 blankets to the Dunoon community. Before the distribution, the Institute for Healing and Memories ran an Ubuntu workshop for community members on Positive Giving and Receiving, inside the masjid in Dunoon. Members of the Dunoon Street Committees facilitated the distribution of food parcels by giving out vouchers beforehand to the most needy families in the community.
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Jihad Against Poverty – Ramadan 2015 Our thanks to all those who contributed so generously to all of our Jihad Against Poverty programmes.
Leeuwenkuil After Ramadan, on Sunday 9 August 2015, about 30 CMRM congregants and their families once again shared a day of fun and solidarity with the farming community of Leeuwenkuil. Imam Rashied welcomed everybody with an impressive speech in Afrikaans in which he urged the community to join and strengthen the farmworkers union, CSAAWU. The children and women from Leeuwenkuil got the programme off to a start with entertaining music and dance performances, in which all of us eventually participated. The children then broke into various age groups to do different arts and crafts activities, while the teenagers played soccer and the adults competed in tug-of-war games. After lunch we distributed 100 food parcels and specially packaged male and female hygiene packs, and party packs for the children.
Food Parcels, Fresh Fruit and Vegetables and Blankets Starting the week before Ramadan, the Saabri Ashrafi Relief Fund in Grassy Park, donated 30 food parcels and boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables for distribution every weekend. Also before Ramadan, the Solly and Zohra Noor Foundation donated 1000 blankets, and these were included in the weekly distributions. CMRM congregants assisted with the packing every week and Boeta Achmat Peters co-ordinated weekly distributions to various locations, including Manenberg Soup Kitchen, Claremont Haven Night Shelter, Christine Revell Home, St. Luke’s Hosipice, Emasithandane Children’s Home, Saartjie Baartman Centre, Red Cross Hospital.
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Youth Empowerment
Youth I‘tikaf Since Ramadan 2015 co-incided with youth month as well as the June school vacation, we used the opportunity to build our youth empowerment programme. In addition to having our young mu’adh-dhins lead the adhkar every evening, we convened a youth i‘tikaf at the masjid from Tuesday 7 July – Friday 10 July in which up to 20 youth participated. The three day programme was structured around three themes: ‘Islam, Conflict and Peace-building’, ‘Youth and Extremism’ and ‘Islam Beyond Tolerance’. Each day participants had a core reading for discussion and a guest lecture. Guest speakers included Aslam Fataar and Shamil Jeppie, who focused on youth and extremism and the history of Islam respectively. Participants also engaged in an Asma’ al-Husna and dhikr session led by Sa’diyya Shaikh. Participants also had the opportunity to lead the congregational salah during the three days of i’tikaf. Evenings were reserved for self-reflection.
Youth Post-Tarawih Speakers We had 13 post-tarawih youth speakers during Ramadan, who covered an array of topics, which included challenges of social media for youth, productive timemanagement, youth and activism, youth and extremism, youth and sports and youth and music. In addition, youth speakers also provided insightful reflections on selected verses from the qur’an.
Haytham Jeppie
Layla Mahomed
Rezaan Behardien
Ramzi Solomon
Thafir Osman
Leila Khan
The Prophet said, “Allah will give shade, to seven, on the Day when there will be no shade but His. The second of the seven is: A youth who has been brought up in the worship of Allah (i.e. worships Allah sincerely from childhood). Bukhari 1.630 : Narrated Abu Huraira 6
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Ta’aruf and Ta’ayush
A Jewish Perspective
In high school I was privileged to be educated at the girl’s campus of Yeshiva College, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Johannesburg. From my family and school I learned about the centrality of compassion and humility in expressing one’s humanity. To be a mensch, a Yiddish word for human being, meant behaving in ways that dignified the term human-ness, menschlichkeid. I learned through daily engagement with rabbinic, written and oral texts that the tradition of Jewish ethics stresses a collective obligation to care for the orphan, the widow and the stranger, or outsider; in other words, an obligation to care for the most downtrodden and vulnerable in society. I learned that this should not be a paternalistic, arrogant or self-edifying expression of care, but that the injunction requires me to be responsive to the other whose humanity I may not even understand
by Heidi Grunebaum
formed. The one, Jewish Voice for a Just Peace (JVJP) grew in response to the most recent brutal war on Gaza and has adopted a human rights position on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. And it has taken a view that Jewish intellectual and spiritual traditions of justice and responsibility towards our fellow humans must guide South African Jews to find a new collective and communal direction, to embrace narratives and experiences that have been excluded from our self-understanding as South African Jews. The other group, South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP), has taken on the concept of joint struggle, or co-resistance, in the name of our Jewishness and not the Israeli state’s definition of our Jewish identity. This group actively participates in the international solidarity movement that has called for boycott, divestment
Muslim and Christian friends, neighbours and political comrades would come to feast together. Held at the District Six Museum, the recent Maimouna was the first communal and public celebration of the ritual in Cape Town. JVJP hosted the celebration for two reasons. The first was to honour the fact that, until recently, co-existence, comradeship and friendship characterised Muslim, Jewish and Christian relations in North Africa and the wider Islamic world. As was noted that night, the centuries-long practice of Maimouna gives lie to the dangerous dominant narrative that Jews and Muslims are mortal enemies facing one another in an apocalyptic conflict. The second reason for hosting the Maimouna was because the characteristics of this JudeoArabic practice represent important but unrecognised aspects of Cape Town’s history of social relations and political comradeship between Muslims, Jews and Christians. Even
The centuries-long practice of Maimouna gives lie to the dangerous dominant narrative that Jews and Muslims are mortal enemies facing one another in an apocalyptic conflict. or recognise fully. This obligation extends to recommitting ourselves to the social and economic solidarity required for Tikkun Olam, or repair of the world. Social justice, I learned, is an obligation that has to be lived and expressed every day and unconditionally in my relationships with my family, but also in relationships with those I do not and may not ever know. In the Torah commandment, “Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof”, “‘Justice, Justice, shall you pursue!’ the command to pursue justice is repeated twice. It is doubled and echoed. The word for justice in Hebrew, Tzedek, shares the same root with the word for righteousness/ righteous or goodness, and the word charity Tzdakah. The composite meanings that are in the ancient Hebrew word for justice open out further when this commandment to pursue justice/righteousness/charity is linked to the words of the prophet Michah, “You know what God has commanded you: to act justly, love kindness and walk humbly.” Over the past few years South African Jews have increasingly taken an outspoken position on Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and inside of Israel itself. Two groupings have
Maimouna celebration in Morocco’
and sanctions in support of the return of Palestinian refugees from 1948, the end of the occupation of the West Bank and the siege on Gaza and the extension of full civil rights to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship in Israel. Both JVJP and SAJFP have committed, in different ways, to expressing and embodying the values, ethics and traditions for justice I learned as a high school student at Yeshiva. Both groups have committed to embodying the existence of more than one narrative about Jewish history and refuting the actions of Israel which acts in our name and in the name of Jewish people across the world. In April, JVJP in Cape Town, hosted a Maimouna celebration. The Maimouna is a practice of Jewish communities from the North African and Islamic world when Arab and African Jews end the Passover which is marked with a celebration to which
despite the divisions wrought by South Africa’s history. In such communally shared gestures of Ta’aruf, of getting to know each other, we also actively give expression to Ta’ayush, or living together, as a way of sharing difference and not erasing it. And this is how I understand interfaith solidarity more generally: If there is no homogenous, singular practice of Judaism, of expressing Jewishness, then the term, “interfaith” must also be a complex and non-homogenous concept. And perhaps in finding a way that embraces and honours difference, that affirms Ta’aruf and Ta’ayush as dynamic processes and that shares a commitment to a conception of justice that always remains out of reach yet which we move towards, we can honour all that we share in common and in difference.
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madrasa news
masjid affairs
The Next Generation Any institution that is destined to have a perpetual existence, especially an educational one, will have a general turnover of students and teachers. The Claremont Main Road Mosque’s Saturday Morning Madrasah is but one young institution that already has second generation students. Currently there are five 2nd generation students at the Madrasah. The first 2nd generation student was Zubayr Wagiet who started in 2008, Amani Davids was the second 2nd generation student who started in 2009. They were followed by Layla Abrahams, Deen Wagiet and Zainab Abrahams. The CMRM SMM also had 2nd generation teachers that taught at the school. Teacher Fajwa Abrahams’ daughter and four children of Imam Rashied taught at the Institution. The Institution also has a number of Husband and Wife teams at the Madrasah. Starting from the top, we have Principal Shafiek Abrahams and wife Fajwa Abrahams, Ridwan Wagiet and Wife Zulyga, Ridwan Salie and wife Asa, and chief custodian Faiek Kippie and wife Waseema. The madrasah also has an entire family registered. Shaykh Mukhtar Gul, wife Mujahidah and daughter are teachers at the institution. His younger daughter is a student and his son an ex-student. There is a good chance that in 15 years time the 3rd generation will be attending the Madrasah.
2015 Guest Speakers Raaghib Najaar CEO, Awqaf Foundation of SA 20 June
Topic: Refugee Day: Cape Town Inter-Community Forum
Abdullahi Ali Hassan Businessman 21 June Topic: Journey of a Refugee from Somalia
Dr. Mujeeb Hoosen Lecturer, School of Natural Medicine, UWC 23 June Topic: Healthy Living & Ramadan Shaykh Muhtar Gul [teacher] Mujahida [wife & teacher] Sadaf [daughter and teacher] Owais [son & student]
Faiek and Waseema Kippie (custodians)
Father Michael Lapsley Director Institute for Healing of Memories 28 June Topic: International Torture Day
Heidi Grunebaum, Senior Researcher Centre for Humanities Research, UWC
Wahida Davids (current teacher Ridwan Wagiet (administrator), Majdah, Shamil training course), Anees (son and (son and former student), Zuleigha (teacher) Deen former student), Amani (grandand Zubayr (current students) daughter & current student)
On Saturday 13 June 2015, for the second year in succession the young CMRM mu’adh-dhins were featured on Voice of the Cape’s youth programme. The mu’adh-dhins practiced for seven weeks on Sundays before Ramadan.
4 July
Topic: Interfaith Solidarity: A Jewish Perspective Dr. Shamil Jeppie Director & Ass. Professor Institute for Humanities in Africa, UCT 11 July Topic: Islam & Extremism: A Historical Perspective
Pictured (l-r): Ra-is Mathews; Muddathir Davids; Muzzammiel Davids; Imran Adams; M. Nur Baderoon.
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book review
Sufi Narratives of Intimacy – Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender and Sexuality Sa’diyya Shaikh (2012, University of North Carolina Press) Reviewed by Bashir Sacranie This book is awe-inspiring in its depth and breadth. Extensively researched and thought through, it is written with courage, honesty and integrity, with just the right balance between reason and emotion, passion and objectivity, heart and mind. It is didactic without being pompous or pedantic, with entertaining anecdotes, engaging stories and historical accounts, applied with scholarly precision and discipline, to support and elucidate the lessons and observations that Dr. Shaikh draws from her contemplation of the vast panorama of historical and factual landscape.
She takes us on a journey from Allah’s declared purpose for creating creation, (the Hidden Treasure) to the fulfillment of human destiny (to Know Allah). Knowledge makes one humble; the wise are never prescriptive, but rather solicitous, suggestive and even tentative, and Sa’diyya does this with great style and generosity. The subjects of Sufism and gender equality and sexuality clearly engage the author deeply and justifiably. They are matters that engage all thinking people, at one time or another, and give rise to existential questions: the quest to know ourselves with reference to our universe, which has inner dimensions as vast as the outer ones. It is indeed our observations of the outer ones that lead us to open inner vistas and help us explore them, perchance to catch the glimmer of the divine is us. In this we tread the path that the holy Prophet (pbuh) delineated for us, and Sa’diyya takes us by the hand, like a guide, conscious of our vulnerabilities and sensibilities, and leads us in this pilgrimage step by step. The book reminds us that biological and physical differences are differences of form and not substance; that spiritual enlightenment and liberation is within the grasp equally of man and woman; that the pursuit towards this end is the human right and obligation of both genders, and the two can and must help each other in this quest. Woman came from man, as in the
mythical account of Adam and Eve, but man can only come from woman. In her nature as the ‘birther’ and bearer, she shares the greatest and most preferred of Allah’s attributes: Rahma. It is not for nothing that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said that heaven lies at the feet of one’s mother. As a genre or category, the book is a feminist study, but only in the sense that it is written by a woman from a woman’s point of view about the role of women in Sufism within Islam. In effect it has a much broader reach, because it exposes and adumbrates that there is no gender exclusivity where spiritual pursuit and its prize are concerned. Both genders have the longing and the capacity to seek the ultimate goal for which we are born – to seek the Face of God and to reaffirm that original declaration and commitment, “Yes, You are My Lord”. In her book, and by means of it, Sa’diyya is on an iconoclastic quest, to challenge and get her audience to cast aside the fragile constructs which support male exclusivism and contrive to marginalize women in terms of their spiritual and worldly worth and importance. In this she seeks no less a support and mentor than Shaikh Al Akbar, Ibn ‘Arabi, through his writings, thoughts and concepts, as well as the wider sources of Islamic and secular literature. She takes us on a journey from Allah’s declared purpose for creating creation, (the Hidden Treasure) to the fulfillment of human destiny (to Know Allah). In this journey, this quest and enterprise, we need to understand what we are, where we come from and where me must go – in other words, to know ourselves so that we may know Our Lord, Allah. Sa’diyya compellingly leads us, in what must be her seminal work, through the paths shown by Ibn ‘Arabi, to the realization that our baser instincts of discrimination and arrogance, of false sense of superiority, and of prejudices and preconceptions, inhibit, if not entirely nullify, our efforts to seek Allah’s Face and Pleasure and our ultimate personal felicity. Love was the motivating factor in Allah’s creation of Creation. Love (in its aspects
Sa’diyya Shaikh in conversation with Shabbir Banoobhai and Imam Rashied Omar at the launch of the new edition of the book at CMRM on Sunday 21 June 2015.
of mercy, compassion, rahma …) is the quality dearest and closest to Allah and He “descends through subtle and mysterious grace amid human beings, replacing us in our hunger, thirst and sickness.” This is at the heart of the Way that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) exemplified in his character and conduct. (To quote from the book) Ibn ‘Arabi advises, “that love and servanthood are the key ingredients for the alchemical elixir in which, “sincerity of love makes the lover take on the qualities of the Beloved… and the quality of His names.” With scalpel-like precision, Sa’diyya dissects and unpacks Ibn ‘Arabi’s views, thoughts and comments, to demonstrate that the male ego has inappropriately accorded to men a higher status than, in reality, is due, and shows how the great master turns these propositions and pretenses on their head.
Man and woman are part of a whole, and enshrined in their longing for each other is the greater propulsion and propensity of the soul to reunite with the Divine. Man and woman are part of a whole, and enshrined in their longing for each other is the greater propulsion and propensity of the soul to reunite with the Divine. The journey is a twosome one, where each should compliment and complement the other as equals. The man, in his quest to take on the dominant role, subsumes the Jamali qualities and, in particular, Rahma, compassion, to his own detriment and that of humanity as whole. There is much, much more to consider and contemplate, and this little cup cannot contain a vast reservoir. Read it.
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masjid affairs
Organic Gardening Workshop
CMRM Convenes Ramadan Hajj Seminar
On Saturday 22 August CMRM’s Muslims for Eco-Justice hosted a food garden workshop with the Islamic Life Madrasa at Al-Azhar Masjid in Aspeling Street. More than 100 participants, including 12 from the Dunoon community joined facilitators from Soil for Life in a hands on workshop. Fifty children from the Islamic Life Madrasa made their very own seed boxes and planted beetroot, green peppers, cauliflower, spinach, spring onion and kale. Other topics covered were types of soil, soil preparation and making compost and organic pesticides.
On Sunday 5 July 2015, CMRM convened a highly successful hajj seminar attended by more than 100 participants. The seminar focused on the sociospiritual dimensions of the hajj and was led by Shaykh Sa`dullah Khan and Imam Rashied Omar. Both presentations stressed the symbolic and social significance of the rites of the hajj, drawing attention to how the rites of the hajj are derived from the life histories of Sayyidina Ibrahim, his son Sayyidina Isma’il and his wife, Sayyidatina Hajar. Prospective 2015 hujjaj were given a special gift of an English translation of Yusuf Ali’s Qur`an kindly donated by the Solly Noor group of companies.
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tribute
Zainoenessa Patelia (nee Sadan) 26 December 1947 – 17 May 2015 It has been just over 100 days since our mother departed from this earth, to return to her final resting place. Our eyes are still filled with tears, our hearts still aching for her presence but our souls are at peace with what the Almighty Allah has decreed. Zainoenessa was born in Hawthorn Rd Claremont, the eldest child and only daughter of Abdul Karriem Sadan and Fatima Sadan (nee Jacobs). She had three brothers, Igsaan, M. Allie, Ebrahim and M. Yusuf. She attended Stephen Regan Primary School till Standard 5, and worked as a dressmaker and baker. She married Ismail Patelia in November 1975, and they had four children, Nurunessa, Shamiela, Wajdie and Tasneem. She also leaves behind eight grandchildren.
She was a 21st century mom, with 20th century ideals. She firmly believed in “growing with the times” but she never lost sight of the importance of family, the importance of morals, Islamic values and ethics and simply the meaning of life. Lovingly known to many as Aunty Zain, our mother was truly an incredibly strong spirited woman, with a presence that was noticeably warm and alive. She was the embodiment of self-sacrifice, unconditional love, forgiveness, care and kindness. She was consistently simple – her demeanor, her lifestyle and her outlook on life. On the day of her janazah, friends, family and all her loved ones were allowed to bear witness to the high stature of this incredible woman. We heard them say “she was a wonderful woman”, and “she was a kind and generous soul”, and “she could never say no.” We always knew she was generous, kind and loving. But it is only now that we realise the extent of her generosity and have become conscious of how selflessly she lived. She cared and loved every soul she crossed paths with regardless of gender, race or religion. Our Father often quotes the words he holds close to his heart “You must
give. You will give. And you will always have enough to be able to give”. These words are the epitome of her entire life. Growing up in the 1950s to 1960s, our mother was raised in a conservative era where women stayed home to raise their children and family. Back then, it was not a necessity for a “girl child” to attend high school or university and due to this, she only completed schooling up until Standard 5. But she raised us, her children, in a time when family dynamics changed, getting a good education was essential and having a career became vital. However, she was a 21st century mom, with 20th century ideals. She firmly believed in “growing with the times” but she never lost sight of the importance of family, the importance of morals, Islamic values and ethics and simply the meaning of life. Like any parent-child relationship, there were times of disagreement but it was in those moments that she fought to teach us the most valuable and important lessons of life. Those lessons have molded us into the strong individuals we are today. Lessons which echo words such as “always respect your elders”, “respect yourself ” and “listen to your inner voice”. She taught us the value of appreciating the finer and most precious things in life. Her lessons were always to not let our days go by without either learning something or performing a good act for another person. Although she was a woman of very few words, she led by example. Our mother displayed actions of piety and devoutness to the Almighty which she performed with grace and humility. Her constant reminder to us was that of “follow the Qur’an and Sunnah and you will never go wrong.” In her comforting and loving voice, she would say, “give to those who do not have” and “place your head on the ground and ask Allah to guide and protect you and you will never go wrong.” Her actions were a constant reminder to us that we should continuously be God Conscious and be graceful and humble in everything we do. That we should seek the approval from the
Almighty and not the approval or credit of Man. There were three aspects of her life that she truly and solely lived for. Firstly and most importantly, she lived to serve and worship her Creator, The Most Merciful and Beneficent Almighty Allah. Secondly, she spent her life taking care of her parents and husband and nurturing and raising her children and grandchildren. And thirdly, in between everything she made time to tirelessly “give back” to the community. She taught children at the Claremont Main Road Madrassa and Masjidul Ishraaq. She taught unemployed women to sew and volunteered effortlessly through various organisations throughout her lifetime. Together with this, she always sought to empower herself through knowledge and didn’t stop educating herself, whether it was reading, attending classes or listening to a lecture.
She was the embodiment of self-sacrifice, unconditional love, forgiveness, care and kindness. She was consistently simple – her demeanor, her lifestyle and her outlook on life. As her children, we remember the moments that we were given the opportunity to do the simplest things for her and she would be so grateful. These moments humble us and make us realise that a parent’s gratitude and love is something nobody can give you and that a parent’s satisfaction can pave your path to success wherever that may lead. Words could never capture our mother’s essence, that of a giving and kind soul with a presence that could not be ignored. It is evident the legacy she left behind for us, her family, a legacy of charity, humility, love and true understanding. When we think of her, we feel proud and blessed to have had her as our mother, even only for a short while on this earth, as she has shaped us into the individuals we are today and we stand tall knowing, we are her children.
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Youth and Activism Leila Khan I can only speak on this topic from my position and experience as a member of the Rhodes Must Fall Movement. For those who don’t know, Rhodes Must Fall began with UCT students, workers and staff calling for the Cecil John Rhodes statue to be removed from campus, recognising it as the perfect embodiment of Black alienation and dispossession at the hands of white capitalist and patriarchal power. However, this movement has never been simply about a statue. If this was the case, this particular moment could not have captured the attention of South Africa and the world in the way that it has. In reality, this movement sees young Black people unwilling to accept the myth of the rainbow nation, and the false promise of “transformation”, or slow reform, which has proven only to maintain the status quo. Black students around the country are fearlessly calling out society as it is, in an unashamedly racial and honest fashion. We have called for the decolonisation of our institutions and of society at large and have adopted the language of Black Consciousness and intersectionality in order to do so. When I speak of Blackness, I am referring to Steve Biko’s definition of Black, which includes all racially oppressed people of colour. Rhodes Must Fall has adopted this political identity in order to unify us as an oppressed people, and to ensure that the black pain and Black voices that have been continuously ignored and silenced are central to the struggle. Intersectionality on the other hand ensures that we recognise that people have other forms of oppression which intersect with their Blackness, such as gender, sexuality, or disabilities. We have seen that in the past, movements have failed in their treatment of women, in their exclusion and antagonism of queer and trans people, in their inaccessibility to the poor. And so we use intersectionality so that groups are not silenced and we do not have to choose between our struggles. There are critical lessons that we can learn as Muslims from what Black students have done here: Black Consciousness is a necessary tool to rid ourselves of the racism between black, coloured and Indian people within our communities, and recognise that, as Steve Biko outlined: (1) We are all oppressed by the same system; (2) that we are oppressed to varying degrees is a deliberate design to stratify us not only socially but also in terms
of the enemy’s aspirations. We are acting as barriers to justice when we are anti-black. In the same way, we cannot truly seek justice, as the Qur’an demands of us, without performing the jihad al nafs, our personal jihad, which must involve fighting our own prejudices and checking our privileges. Intersectionality is useful here because it shows that without a recognition of your own capacity to oppress others, any fight for justice is futile. A struggle must be truly inclusive or it will never be revolutionary.
What is truly violent is poverty, starvation, limited opportunities based on your race, gender or class status. Beyond these political lessons about Blackness and intersectionality, I want to share what I believe is another very important thing that Rhodes Must Fall has done, which is to redefine violence. My involvement in Rhodes Must Fall has allowed me to understand that the world is built upon false constructs which only recognise certain people as fully human- that is, if you are white, rich, male, cisgendered, heterosexual, able-bodied, among other privileges. One of these constructs is the notion of violence as is used by white supremacy and the gatekeepers of white supremacy such as mass media and Government, etcetera. We are told that people who burn tyres in the street are violent, that mineworkers protesting for a living wage are violent. This is because, to the colonial world, to resist and disrupt colonial power is violence. We need to reject this definition. Rhodes Must Fall subverts this logic through showing that true violence is the underlying system and what it produces. It cannot be the mere reaction to the system-
the reaction is self-defence. Therefore what is truly violent is poverty, starvation, limited opportunities based on your race, gender or class status. Subjecting Black people at UCT to a statue of a man responsible for millions of deaths and the continued oppression of black bodies is deeply psychologically violent. So I would argue that the supposedly violent, irrational responses to this greater, structural violence are rational reactions. Angela Davis explains this well when she says: “because of the way this society is organized, because of the violence that exists on the surface everywhere, you have to expect that there are going to be such explosions. You have to expect things like that as reactions.” The Qur’an recognises the true nature of violence as structural and embraces and prescribes resistance against it. We are urged to struggle against oppression until there is no more injustice. Revolutionary violence and resistance therefore is a truly rational, logical and just Qur’anic concept. We need to recognise that the most conscious among us are those already angry, and justifiably so, and are acting out in self-defence against a disturbingly violent system. To conclude, I want to emphasise that these discussions of Black Consciousness, intersectionality, and social justice struggles in general cannot be seen as separate from our Islamic lives. Surah 5, verse 8, of the Qur’an makes this clear where it says: O you who believe, Stand up as witnesses for God in all fairness. And do not let the hatred of people Deviate you from justice. Be just: this is closest to piety. We must always remain conscious that justice and the pursuit of justice, is fundamental and inextricably linked to our faith.
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