Muslim Views, April 2014 by Muslim Views

JAMAD-UL-AKHIR 1435 l APRIL 2014

Vol. 28 No. 4

Community activism is answer to gangsterism says WCRLF MAHMOOD SANGLAY

HE solution to gang violence lies in change in mindset. Local communities should stop expecting the government to solve the problem. The solution lies in the hands of local communities. Imam Abdul Rashied Omar spoke on the gang violence in Manenberg in his Friday sermon, on March 14, at Claremont Main Road Mosque. We need a paradigm shift away from a reliance on the state to a social activism driven by civil society organisations to build safer communities, he said. He announced an initiative called the Safe Manenberg Campaign, which is an interfaith forum of local religious leaders to promote peace, safety and security. As chairperson of the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum (WCRLF), he addressed the volatile environment of the 16 000 learners enrolled at Manenberg’s 18 public schools. In February this year, at least four schools in Manenberg reported attendance of less than 50 per cent due to gang violence. He accused the local and national government of failing to curb gang violence. ‘Politicians of all stripes have forsaken their legal duty and moral responsibility to protect the children of Manenberg by cynical political jostling. ‘In the coming weeks, regrettably, the safety of the people of Manenberg will be reduced to a political football as political parties scramble to get votes,’ he said. Imam Omar shared his diagnosis of the problem with the congregation as a means of ‘re-energising a much needed discussion’ to combat gang violence. He said that Manenberg represents a ‘microcosm of the marginalisation and exclusion of people’ and that the ‘root causes of gang violence lie firmly in the apartheid policy of forced removals’ due to the Group Areas Act.

Rukshana Pascoe spoke after the Friday prayers at Claremont Main Road Mosque, on March 14. She said that children have shown that they can march to register protest against gang violence more effectively than adults. Photo MAHMOOD SANGLAY

‘It was built to accommodate 35 000 residents but, currently, has a population in excess of 70 000 inhabitants. It has the most triple-storey maisonettes on the Cape Flats, and an unemployment rate of over 60 per cent,’ said Imam Omar. He referred to Quranic admonishments relating to the sanctity of human life in 5:32, and added that the conscientious Muslim respects human life and does not remain silent in the ‘face of wanton loss of human life’. On a positive note, the khutbah ended with the narrative of the lives of two inspiring individuals from Manenberg, Craig Sampson and Ivy Booysen. Sampson lived with his mother in a Wendy house. With the support of teachers and a sponsor, he matriculated, studied commerce at UWC and, in 2013, qualified as a chartered accountant. Ivy is a reformed gang member with a history of verbal, physical and psychological abuse. Imam Omar related, ‘At the age of thirteen, she stabbed her stepfather with a knife, and her mother threw her out of the house.’ The only refuge for her in the streets was the gangs. However, even as a gang member she never abandoned school.

She matriculated and was awarded a scholarship to study animation at a local college. She is still studying and is determined to succeed as an animation specialist, and to give back to her community. Imam Omar asked the congregation to remember victims of gang violence, like nine-year-old Sadiq Stemmet, and to join the mosque in providing support for them. Sadiq was shot in the back in the crossfire during a gang fight in December, 2013, and is now wheelchair-bound. After the Friday sermon and prayers were concluded, Imam Omar invited the congregation to remain for a discussion led by two speakers. The first was Father Donovan Meyer of the Church of Reconciliation, in Manenberg, who said the role of the church is to restore the damage done to the spirituality of people. The second speaker, Rukshana Pascoe, is a Manenberg resident who is also the provincial co-ordinator of the Right2Know Campaign. She sounded a note of hope by reporting that she had organised a march for peace by children, which has had some effect, even temporarily, to bring calm to the violence-ridden area. She intends to continue this kind of campaigning to make a difference in Manenberg. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Radio 786-Sajbod reach settlement MAHMOOD SANGLAY

HE 16-year-long dispute between Radio 786 and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Sajbod) has finally been settled. The Islamic Unity Convention (IUC) that currently controls Radio 786 reached an agreement with Sajbod on March 31. Sajbod agreed to withdraw the complaint lodged in 1998 following the broadcast of what could be viewed as ‘nonsensical and anti-Semitic’ statements made by Dr Yakub Zaki in a Radio 786 interview. In a joint statement, the IUC conceded that the broadcast ‘may have caused offence and distress to members of the South African Jewish community’. Sajbod, in turn, conceded that Radio 786 did not intend to cause any offence or distress. Both the IUC and Sajbod claim that the agreement has vindicated their positions. Sajbod states that the legal battle could have been avoided had Radio 786 conceded 16 years ago that Dr Zaki’s views could be seen as offensive and a cause for distress. Ali Chiktay, secretary of the IUC, speaking on behalf of the group in control of Radio 786 says this response of Sajbod is ‘disingenuous to say the least’ because the IUC had made this acknowledgement at the inception of the dispute and extended an invitation to Sajbod

to respond to Dr Zaki’s comments on air, which they declined. He also said that the agreement ensures that the Sajbod complaint is withdrawn and that other pending complaints prior to 2009 are set aside. According to Chicktay, the agreement also averted a possible second Constitutional Court application with the same outcome as the first in 2007. The original application effectively compelled the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to hear a complaint they had already dismissed. The agreement, according to Chicktay, effectively saved Radio 786 and the IUC millions of rands. However, the historic settlement reached between Radio 786 and Sajbod came under threat by the split between the two groups calling themselves the legitimate representatives of the IUC, the licence-holder of Radio 786. Attorneys acting for Imam Achmad Cassiem, Mogammad de Vries, Faldiela Martin, Idris Surve and Nizaam Toefy say the agreement contravenes the resolution of the General Convention of the IUC taken in 1998 and 2006. Chicktay disagrees and says that the resolution in question affirms a principled position to defend freedom of expression. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Sanzaf hosts international zakaah conference AS part of its 40th anniversary programme, the South African National Zakah Fund (Sanzaf) will be hosting a major conference that will potentially be the largest gathering of Muslim organisations working in the field of zakaah. The conference will be held from May 17 to 19. See page 7 for details

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Muslim Views . April 2014

AS political parties and politicians enter the final, frantic vote-catching days before the 2014 South African general elections on May 7, there is much that is the same as during the last general elections in 2009, and a lot more that is different about the present political landscape. Similar to 2009, the vast majority of the South African electorate, namely the poorest sections of our populace, will again hoist the African National Congress (ANC) to power on the expectation of promises of a better life being fulfilled. This is not trivial nor is it to be chauvinistically dismissed in language that is patently racist and paternalistic. What this voting bloc should be signalling to the ruling ANC is that they have a massive obligation to deliver on the 1994 promises of a ‘better life for all’. As we have seen around the country over many years now, citizens are more bold in taking to the streets to demand what ought to be normal, daily, available resources needed to live in some measure of dignity. When informal settlements (a major blight on the South African ‘good story to tell’ canvas) near despicably rich ore-producing mines cannot even get clean water to drink, the contradictions in our society are all too stark. Labelling these protests as ‘servicedelivery’ protests masks the actual

issues. At the heart of these protests is a calculated citizen-making and citizenship-claiming moment, albeit as yet not organically linked in the various places around South Africa where protests are now a commonplace occurrence. What is different about the political landscape in 2014 is that the Tripartite Alliance (an alliance between the ruling ANC, the tradeunion movement and the South African Communist Party) has been decisively challenged on various fronts. The most visible, in terms of their red berets, are the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) under the leadership of a dauntingly charismatic Julius Malema. Banished from the ANC, his ANC Youth League disbanded by the ANC elders, Malema has added a strident, often surprisingly coherent analytical voice, to what was a staid ‘liberation movement party’ vote versus a ‘neo-liberal, capitalist’ vote, represented by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The EFF has resonated amongst South Africa’s alienated Black youth, who desire exactly what most of us desire: a decent school education, a chance at tertiary study, the chance to compete equally in the job-market, and an overall desire to continually improve their economic, social, political and other horizons. Malema and his redbereted EFF speak powerfully to this disenchanted group of South Africans, and their voice will surely grow stronger by the time the 2019 general elections come around. More profound, perhaps, since 2009, we have had unprecedented labour power being asserted on farms, by transport workers and, most significantly, on the mines. Marikana’s killings in August 2012 accelerated the undermining of the once-dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). The promise of a true socialist formation come 2019 is in the making. The gnawing hunger of the oppressed will drive this new movement.

Our editorial comment represents the composite viewpoint of the Editorial Team of Muslim Views, and is the institutional voice of the newspaper. Correspondence can be sent to editor@mviews.co.za

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Muslim Views . April 2014

Late Imam Haron to receive Order of Luthuli MAHMOOD SANGLAY

HE Order of Luthuli: Gold will be posthumously awarded to Imam Abdullah Haron on April 27. This was announced last month in an official communiqué to the family of Imam Haron from the Chancellor of Orders, Dr Cassius Lubisi, in the Office of the President. The award of a national order is the highest form of recognition that a country bestows on deserving citizens. The President, as the Grand Patron of national orders, awards them to recipients on behalf of all South Africans. The award to the Imam is unprecedented as it is the first time that the national government is recognising him as a ‘legendary liberation struggle leader’ sharing the vision and mission of Chief Albert Luthuli who was the first African recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1961. The award follows a decision three years ago by the Imam Abdullah Haron Education Trust (IAHET) to campaign for the highest national recognition with a view to preserving and building his legacy. Imam Haron was born on February 8, 1924 in Claremont, the youngest in a family of five, and he was still an infant when Asa Martin, his mother died. He married Galiema Sadan on March 15, 1950. He completed Grade 6 at Talfalah Primary School and thereafter pursued Islamic studies under Shaikh Abdurahman al-Alawi alMaliki in Makkah, and in Cape Town under Shaikh Abdullah Taha Gamieldien and Shaikh Ismail Ganief. In 1955 he was officially appointed Imam of Al-Jamia Mosque in Stegman Road, Claremont. Along with a close circle of friends he established the progressive Claremont Muslim Youth Association (CMYA) in 1958. In December 1960 he was appointed founding editor of

Muslim News. Imam Haron channelled his message of social justice via Friday sermons and public lectures during the late 1950s and 1960s. It was also in these sermons and lectures that he hit out at the regime’s apartheid policies. The Imam was detained by the apartheid regime’s Security Branch on the morning of May 28, 1969. He was held incommunicado for over four months (123 days). On September 27, 1969 the Imam succumbed to injuries sustained as a result of torture. The Security Branch said that Imam Haron had died as result of injuries following ‘a fall down a flight of stairs’. The Order of Luthuli is awardto South ed Africans who have made a meaningful contribution to the struggle for d e m o c r a c y, human rights, nation building, justice and peace, and conflict resolution. The Imam has been nominated for and designated to receive the highest category of this order, namely Gold, which is for exceptional contributions to the ideals of the order. The Bronze and Silver Order awards are for outstanding and excellent contributions, respectively. The formal process preceding the award involves completing a nomination form together with a motivation detailing the exceptional contributions of the nominee. The Chancery of Orders in the Office of the President invites nominations from members of the public, nongovernmental organisations, civic-based organisations and faith-based organisations for individuals deemed worthy recipients of the range of six orders in diverse areas of human endeavour. Imam Haron will be among scores of outstanding South Africans who have received the Order of Luthuli, including Ismail Meer, Ayesha Dawood, Kader Asmal, Albie Sachs, Ruth First, Dullah Omar, Amina Cachalia, Alfred Nzo and Matthew Goniwe.

This newspaper carries Allah’s names, the names of the Prophets and sacred verses of the Holy Qur’an. Please treat it with the respect it deserves. Either keep, circulate or recycle. Please do not discard. Muslim Views

Muslim Views . April 2014

DA confronted over party funding MAHMOOD SANGLAY

THE Al Jama-ah Community Party has been threatened with legal action by the DA for alleged violations of election legislation, including the publication of false and defamatory allegations in an election campaign pamphlet. The DA has also threatened to sue Al Jama-ah for plagiarising its symbols, colours and acronyms. The offending pamphlet depicts the logo, colours and acronym of the DA superimposed with the words ‘Don’t vote DA, It is Gharaam’ and the new logo of the City of Cape Town superimposed by the Star of David. Counsel for the DA notified Al Jama-ah to ‘remove and/ or desist Gangsterism

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

A brisk discussion followed with members of the congregation and invited guests. These included Cassiem Christians, chairperson of the Nyanga Cluster Community Policing Forum, Waheed Sookool, project co-ordinator of the WCRLF, and Jonathan Jansen, leader of Fusion, a community-based youth skills development organisation, in Manenberg. Also present was Don Pinnock, a photographer and author of two books on gangsterism on the Cape Flats, The Brotherhoods: street gangs in Cape Town and Gangs, rituals and rites of passage. Pinnock located the scourge of gangsterism in a social gender

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from distributing’ the pamphlets by March 31, failing which further action will be taken. AlJama-ah’s attorney, Zehir Omar, in response to the legal threat, agreed to comply with the DA’s demands. However, Al Jama-ah, in proceeding with its criticism of the DA, states that Palestine has become ‘an election issue’ and demanded answers from the DA on a number of questions related to Palestine, Israel and election funding. The questions include possible funding the DA received from donors who support Israel’s continued occupation of Palestine. In particular, Al-Jama-ah questioned the DA on whether it had received funding from Nathan

Kirsh, the South African billionaire who is a director of Magal, the main supplier of electronic fences for the wall separating Israelis from Palestinians in the West Bank. This enquiry by Al Jama-ah coincides with the call by a coalition of 60 South African civil society organisations to pressurise political parties to disclose the sources of their funding. The organisations include Corruption Watch, Media Monitoring Africa, Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance, Right2Know Campaign, Rape Crisis, SANGONeT, Muslim Youth Movement, the Union of Muslim Students Association, Claremont Main Road Mosque Congregation, the Sex Worker Education

analysis. For men or fathers, he says, the notion of masculinity occurs in a ‘demoralised’ space with high poverty rates, rising expectations and a globalised commodity culture that exalts middle-class lifestyles. However, they are forced to confront a gross disconnect between the ideal and the real. The ideal happens to be a ‘relentless stream of hegemonic notions of largely white, heterosexual masculinity staring at you from magazines and on billboards or beaming at you from television soapies or the movies’, says Pinnock. For many, the attainment of that ideal through violence and within a gang is a socially acceptable vehicle. According to Pinnock, women’s and mothers’ roles occur

through the cycle of genetic malnourishment. Poor diet and alcohol intake contribute significantly to the foetal, prenatal and postnatal environments of stressed organisms. He says that research suggests that the very early biological and sociological conditions of children, and their relationships with their mothers, play a major role in the health of developing children. The antisocial, hostile and unhealthy environment of suburbs in the grip of gang activity gives rise to a ‘cascade of antisocial behaviour in the next generation’, including the nurturing of social aggression, says Pinnock. Main Road Claremont Mosque is frequently a public forum for engaging social issues and a forum that is accessible to women and non-Muslims.

and Advocacy Taskforce, and the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum. The coalition says political parties and their private funders are subject to the ‘corruptive influence of money’ and that ‘such funding shapes our politics’. Hence, the forum demands, in the interests of transparency and accountability, that all political parties provide a ‘detailed breakdown of all private donations’ including individuals, trusts, corporations and foreign governments by April 10. The coalition intends hosting a workshop on this theme, in Johannesburg, on April 14. Further information on this campaign may be obtained at gsolik@gmail.com or 083 299 7717. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

He adds that the agreement with Sajbod in no way detracted from this position or from their resolve not to apologise for the 1998 broadcast. The IUC group led by Imam Achmad Cassiem in its legal correspondence to the other IUC group – a copy of which was sent to Icasa – has called on the latter to ‘give effect’ to the relevant resolution and not to ‘act in any unauthorized, unlawful and unconstitutional manner’. Icasa’s Complaints and Compliance Committee said in its response to the IUC led by Imam Achmad Cassiem that its dispute with the IUC group in control of Radio 786 is ‘not [a] matter that the Committee can be asked to deal with. Your organisation will have to deal with its own internal affairs.’

To Allah is our return: Zainab Nakidien passed away suddenly after a car accident on March 26, in Cape Town. She will be missed as a dedicated and loyal worker at Muslim Views but also as a deeply spiritual volunteer for the Madinah Institute, where she was fondly known as Aunty Zainab. She joined Muslim Views in the sales department in July, 2012, and is considered a renowned ambassador for the paper due to the earnest manner in which she engaged advertisers and readers of the paper. In the first quarter of 2013, Zainab took ill and was unable to work. However, her recovery enabled her to at least dedicate her time to her faith and voluntary work at the Madinah Institute till her last day. As a disciple of Shaikh Muhammad bin Yahya alNinowy, she thrived in the spiritual mission and touched everyone with whom she worked with her pleasant disposition. The female students at the institute saw her as a role model and were impressed by her deep spirituality and devotion. The Madinah Institute announced that an auditorium at the institute will be named in her honour. Zainab Nakidien is survived by four sisters, four brothers, three sons, a daughter and five grandchildren. Photo SALEEMAH JAFFER

Muslim Views . April 2014

Muslim Views

Muslim Views . April 2014

Sanzaf hosts international zakaah conference to mark 40th anniversary FARID SAYED

AS part of its 40th anniversary programme, the South African National Zakah Fund (Sanzaf) will be hosting a major conference that will potentially be the largest gathering of Muslim organisations working in the field of zakaah. The Southern African Zakah Conference will be held in Cape Town from May 17 to 19. The conference, which will bring together delegates from over 15 African countries, is being jointly hosted by Sanzaf, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI). An IDB expert facilitator will

lead the interactive programme, giving delegates an opportunity to relate their practical experiences of zakaah collection, distribution and administration. The conference is aimed at finding viable solutions to the challenges organisations face to establish a robust zakaah fund in their region.

GUESTS Confirmed guests include Professor Mustafa Omar Muhammad, International Islamic University, Malaysia; Professor Aliyu Dahiru Muhammad, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria; Professor Osman Ahmed Hassen Khieri, Director, Strategic Research and Studies Centre, Sudan; and Saudi-

based IRTI and IDB representatives, Dr Mohammed Obaidullah and Dr Nasim Shah Shirazi. The workshop-style conference will cover the following topics: • Identifying the poor and their needs; • Islamic approach to poverty alleviation and empowerment; • How to expand outreach; • How to distribute zakaah; • Credibility and governance of Muslim NGOs; and • Master class: How to calculate zakaah. The conference will be of particular relevance to existing organisations looking to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, and to new and emerging organisations seeking to address issues

As the official NGO partner of the 2014 Sunshine D/ Polar Ice Cream 10KM Big Walk, Sanzaf participated in a series of outside broadcasts in the lead up to the event. Mualima Yasmine Abdurazaaq (right) is seen here with children from the community who visited the Sanzaf office in Athlone where the organisation hosted Radio 786 for a Big Walk entry drive. Photo SUPPLIED

of poverty and community development utilising zakaah funds. In trying to encourage as many organisations to participate in this landmark conference, Sanzaf has managed to secure sponsorships to minimise the costs to participants. The packages range

from conference attendance only, to attendance and accommodation. For further details contact Sanzaf’s head of Marketing, Communications and Public Relations, Sakeena Bock, on 021 447 0297 or email: sakeenab@sanzaf.org.za

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Muslim Views . April 2014

Tanzanian mothers take on Kilimanjaro to raise awareness NASEEMA MALL

FIVE brave mothers conquered Mt Kilimanjaro in March, 2014, to raise awareness for the need for better healthcare in their country. Muslim Views spoke to the initiator of the venture, Mrs Waheeda Manji-Bharwani, a real estate developer and mother of three. ‘The motivation to climb Kilimanjaro was to push ourselves physically in the health realm and, complementing the health aspect of our climb, I formed an NGO in 2013 called Why PAUSE. ‘Our mission is about taking initiatives in promoting health education in Tanzania. ‘…The need for better preventative healthcare in Tanzania is huge, and creating awareness for a need for better healthcare education in rural Tanzania is vital because mortality rates are high, and giving a little information on health education goes a long way in saving lives before it is too late. ‘Hence the climb for Kilimanjaro also became an alliance with

Representatives of NGOs Why PAUSE, Fame and Afya Foundation raised funds for health projects in Tanzania by scaling Mt Kilimanjaro. From left: Hamidah Lalji, Nahida Esmail, Jamila Karim, Waheeda Bharwani and Suhaila Kermali. Photo SUPPLIED

two other NGOs called Afya Foundation (which sends medical supplies to developing countries such as Tanzania) and Fame

(which is a health clinic located in rural Tanzania that, over the years, has grown and now services 225 000 Tanzanians).

‘… The simple basic needs one takes for granted in the developed world such as hygiene, sanitation, pre-term delivery prevention care, benefits of a nutritional diet are aspects that Why PAUSE seeks to advocate and raise awareness about. ‘Educating the locals in these basic fundamentals will empower Tanzanians, and promote awareness for a stepping stone that is better in healthcare and prevent the on-going struggles of bacterial infections, spread of germs and, hopefully, even reduce deaths due to infant mortality. ‘For every year of schooling a mother receives, infant mortality declines by 5 to 10%.’ The other four women, Nahida Esmail, Jamila Karim, Hamida

Lalji and and Suhaila Fazel are Dar-es-Salaam-based professionals and mothers. ‘Giving back to the country in my own little way by trying to make a change to empower Tanzanians and, at the same time, to rejuvenate myself by trying what I did when I was a teenager! Nothing is impossible!’ exclaimed children’s author Nahida Esmail. Why Pause (a non-profit organisation) is calling you to join, pledge and/ or support a joint mission that Afya Foundation (www.afyafoundation.org) and Fame (www.fameafrica.org) have been working on over the past few years in getting medical supplies from North America, and sending them to the villages of Tanzania. In addition, Fame continues to assist the villages of Tanzania by setting up mobile medical centres and empowering local Tanzanians by educating them in medical schools. Please reach out to us with your contribution at contactus@whypause.org and/ or find us on facebook.

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Muslim Views . April 2014

AWQAF - promoting self-reliance and sustainability

Waqf: leadership and societal change MAJDI RYKLIEF and ADNAAN BAZIER

THE Quran, our criterion, provides the perfect starting point to unpack the concept of leadership. ‘It is He who made you (His) agents, inheritors of the earth; He raised you in ranks, some above others, that He may try you in the gifts He gave you, for your Lord is quick in punishment yet He is indeed Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.’ (Surah Al-An am: 165) As vicegerents on earth, human beings have been blessed with extraordinary abilities and faculties which, through proper use and deployment, could achieve amazing outcomes. The Quranic injunction indicates that humans are Allah’s representatives on Earth and, as He has provided us with various gifts (such as wealth, intellect, exper-

tise in various fields, and skills), we will be answerable to the Creator concerning their usage. Our Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said, ‘Each of you is a shepherd, and all of you are responsible for your flocks.’ This well-documented hadith, as reported in Bukhari and Muslim, indicates that all of humankind is a leader, and when in the position to lead, must do so in a manner that would gain Allah’s favour. As the commemoration of the birth and life of the Noble Prophet Muhammad (SAW) drew to a close recently, an opportunity is presented to reflect on the prime example of leadership that our beloved messenger (SAW) lived. The Quran states, ‘You have, indeed, in the Apostle of Allah, a beautiful pattern of conduct (model of behaviour) for anyone whose hope is in Allah

and the Final Day…’ (Surah Al Ahzab: 21). According to Dr Adalat Khan, it is through the study of the Seerah and Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) that Muslims will derive a brilliant model of altruistic leadership for all to emulate; a model that effected change and impact felt to this day. ‘The Prophet began his message with a handful of individuals, organised them into dedicated groups then into larger coherent organisations, until the process led to the setting-up of an Islamic state. This clearly required the development of a versatile leadership process of incredible complexity and effectiveness,’ wrote Khan.

Leadership defined The general understanding of leadership is the ability to influence change and enable others to

fulfil outcomes to achieve an objective. Robin Sharma, in a seminal piece on the concept, wrote: ‘Every one of us alive today has the power to inspire, influence and elevate each person we meet by the gift of a great example. And you need no title to do that.’ Effective leadership has proven to transform nations, societies, businesses, sporting teams and various other collective groups. We see that nations are honed through tough times, and NPOs are able to achieve their missions, through good leadership. Effective leadership within families develop children to become effective leaders themselves. Leadership, as a theory, has been studied for decades, and there seems to be no blueprint on how to be an effective leader. Having said that, the question

remains: are leaders born or made? One is inclined to believe that there are certain qualities in someone that suggests leadership potential. However, many leaders develop and get better as they proceed in life. What then does it take to be a great leader? Many scholars have contrasting views but the golden thread to leadership development is about being truly self-aware. This journey starts with the reclamation of self, finding your identity, pride and awareness. In the second part of this feature on leadership, we will look at waqf leadership and social change. Majdi Ryklief and Adnaan Bazier are volunteers at the Awqaf Foundation of South Africa (AWQAFSA).

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Muslim Views . April 2014

Oasis launches R3m bursary programme MAHMOOD SANGLAY

OASIS Crescent Trust Fund hosted the launch of its bursary programme at its head office, on March 8. The programme has been running for over ten years but this occasion was to celebrate its official launch. The event was marked by an investment of R3 million for 32 students undertaking studies in various disciplines. This investment is for their entire programme of study to complete their degrees or diplomas at their respective institutions. For the five years ending March 31, 2013, Oasis had committed in excess of R375 000 directly to students by means of informal financial support. Over R9,2 million had been committed to educational institutions for the same period. The annual investment by Oasis in this programme is expected to grow and attract a greater num-

Adam Ebrahim, CEO of Oasis Group Holdings, addressed beneficiaries and parents at the launch of the Oasis bursary programme on March 8, at its head office in Walmer Estate. He said investment in early childhood education plays a vital role in a more productive population, and as a driver of economic growth. Photo MAHMOOD SANGLAY

ber of applications from diverse fields. Nazeem Ebrahim, Deputy Chairman of Oasis Group Hold-

ings, said at the launch that Oasis is determined to augment its corporate social investment in education by ‘breathing fresh air into

young people’ and promoting leadership in South Africa. The event was attended by leading academics, educationists and investors. Eric Atmore, Professor of Social Development at UCT and Director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development said his centre is a beneficiary of a ‘largescale early childhood development programme’ of Oasis. This programme supports teacher training and educational equipment for the benefit of several thousand learners on the Cape Flats. Prof Atmore said the noteworthy merit of the Oasis bursary programme is the innovative approach of long-term financial support coupled with mentoring and on-going ancillary support to ensure young people take ownership of their own progress. This view was echoed by Glen van Harte, District Director for the Western Cape Education Department and manager of 200

schools in the province. Van Harte was programme director for the launch event, and had assisted Oasis with a concept document to strengthen the bursary programme and ensure that aspects such as tutorials are part of bursary support. Programme director Glen Van Harte was particularly excited that Oasis had decided to ‘go public’ after they had done this quietly for about ten years. He said this affords them the advantage of building a best practice model over years of experience so that the programme is more than just handouts for needy students, and includes other forms of support, supervision and mentoring. Prof Brian Figaji, former rector of CPUT, director of Nedbank and the Centre for Development Enterprise said he is struck by the way the company brings family values to bear on the programme, and that the directors manage a bursary programme personally.

Money at the end of the SARS tax-rainbow, PBOs told MAHMOOD SANGLAY

MAJOR NGOs are closing down due to a lack of funding for operational and project costs. This was reported by presenters hosting a series of workshops for the benefit of non-profit organisations (NPOs). Tax benefit workshops for NPOs are being presented in Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth, respectively, on April 8, April 15 and May 13, by Turning Point Consultants.

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The presenters of the workshops are Hoosen Agjee, Reza Amra and Ridhwaan Khan. In turn, they deal with a diverse range of issues relevant to the operations of the NPO sector, particularly the legal structures and administration relating to NPOs and the relevant tax environment. The premise of the workshops is that cohesion between pieces of legislation like the Income Tax Act and the New Companies Act provides an enabling environment

for NPOs to effectively and proactively seek strategic direction in fulfilling their obligations and benefitting from their rights. The presenters avoided an overly technical presentation but engaged technical issues where necessary, explaining the different ways in which PBOs can legally claim for costs to save money. One of the provisions is that the PBO must be registered in terms of section 18A of the Income Tax Act. A number of commonly-held

myths were also dealt with. An example is that PBOs are generally tax-exempt. The presenters provided cogent details of the conditions where tax exemption is applicable, and where claims on taxes such as VAT are possible. Some interesting facts were also brought to light in the workshop. Currently, 48 000 PBOs are registered with SARS. In the financial year ending in 2012, South African Revenue Ser-

vices paid R145 million to donors for 18A tax deductions. Agjee told the workshop that this amount should have been closer to R500 million. The key message of the workshop is that NPOs must see tax benefits as a means to benefit financially so that money is not unnecessarily lost to taxes. The Cape Town workshop was attended by thirty delegates from a wide range of NPOs, including a number of faith-based organisations.

Muslim Views . April 2014

Muslim Views

Muslim Views . April 2014

Wither the library?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PARDON the cliché but yes, ‘wither’. What else is to be expected when nothing is spared the juggernaut of commercialisation? Several years back, a Frenchman, looking on the cultural wasteland that Europe has become, dared to point out that ‘the rise of the mercantile caste spells intellectual night’. And, sadly, if anything, the goings-on in our poor local community with regard to the Islamic Library, and, I dare predict, the

much-touted Academia Library at Islamia College, have done nothing but prove him right! [As for Islamia College, I’ll leave in abeyance, for now, the question of the ‘ethics’ (and the legality even) of having a restaurant, and other non-school ventures intrude on the purdah of the girls-only school which is housed in the very same building.] Not that the money-men do not have their place in today’s society. No, but they are no longer in their right place; it takes more than the possession of lucre to be qualified to make the intellectual discernment necessary when setting out a fundamental service such as a

library. Shelves, furniture and books on shelves do not a library make though, nowadays, a visit on any typical day, to any library (private as well as public), would seem to give the lie to my contention. Well, what is the answer then? As with the much-lamented crisis in education so also with the ‘driedup’ state of affairs at the libraries, the answer is a qualitative one, and one to which there is no overnight answer. This, in its turn, may seem like an evasion to those who still believe in the will-o’-the-wisp of overnight solutions. But, consider this: if throwing heaps of other people’s

Muslim Views . April 2014 money at this or that problem has brought us to this, is more of the same going to yield any other result? Not that anyone else – even with the right qualifications (or any government or world movement, even) – can do anything to significantly reverse this trend. But, nonetheless, ‘to feel a disease, is to have it no longer’ (sic). To the technocrats, also, we have this question: do you see the evidence (leave aside for the moment your belief or what you hope for) that an increase in electronic media results in a qualitative increase in, not only ‘literacy’ – for, ‘better that a man not know how to read, than that he not know what to read’ – but in intellectual and cultural activity within the library itself; if not every day, then, at the very least, once a month? There is a word for a body that no longer shows any signs of life:

cadaver. And for those who need a little more convincing, consider the warning in the Quran about the donkey labouring under the burden of books on its back... For the Islamic library, and as one who was there in 1984 already, I’m not a little disheartened that there has been no forward movement as far as genuine intellectuality goes... M K Gamieldien Ottery East, Cape Town

Write to: The Editor e-mail: editor@mviews.co.za

Madrassa Tul Maymoenah Eat & Treat Sat 10 May 2014 • 7.30pm Westridge Civic Centre Mitchells Plain Contact Mualiem Ismaeel Brown Tel 021 376 3865 / 084 289 3600

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Muslim Views . April 2014

NCE the announcement of the victory of The Battle of the Trench, which occurred in April, 627 AD, had been made, it is reported that many of the Companions were so exhausted that they fell asleep in the streets of Madinah on their way home. Nabi Muhammad (SAW) had just returned home, laid down his arms and had taken a bath when Jibreel (AS), who seemed to be partly covered in dust, appeared to him saying, ‘You have put down your arms, by Allah, I have not put down my arms yet.’ He informed Allah’s Apostle that he and a group of angels were on their way to the tribe of Bani Quraizah and that Allah SWT wanted the Prophet to go there as well. The Prophet (SAW), without hesitation, let it be known that the Sahabah should gather there at Asr. The Saudi authorities, who have always maintained that it is bidah (an innovation) to visit the masajid at Khandaq, have decided to destroy the remaining masajid at the foot of Jabal Sala and replace it with one large mosque, which is already built and named Masjid Al-Khandaq (Mosque of the Trench). Masjid Abu Bakr has already been demolished, and Masjid Fatima only has a foundation still visible. The other masajid (Salman al Farsi, Umar, Ali and even Fath) are in various stages of neglect. Even though it is often referred to as the ‘Seven Mosques’, there were actually only six. Masjidul Qiblatain was often included in the six to number seven. Text SALIM PARKER

Stories from the Hijaz is sponsored by Al-Anwar Hajj and Umrah.

Masajid in the area of the Trench: The map illustrated by SAAID RAHBEENI, gives an idea of the location of the various masajid that were built in the area where the Battle of the Trench took place. As can be seen, the masajid were situated in a line running roughly north to south. At the time of writing, the masajid or remnants thereof were still to be found except for Masjid Abu Bakr which was demolished a few years ago. Muslim Views

Battle of the Trench

In this old photograph of the Khandaq area we can see Masjid Fath, Masjid Salman al Farsi and probably what used to be Masjid Abu Bakr and Masjid Umar. Photo courtesy SHAIKH FAIZEL GOOL and FAHDIEL OR

(Above) Masjid Umar is located opposite the new and imposing Masjid Al-Khandaq, on an island in what is now the parking area for cars and buses. Masjid Abu Bakr was situated somewhere between this masjid and Masjid Salman al Farsi. Photo SALIM PARKER

(Above) When Masjid Al-Khan situated on the

Muslim Views . April 2014

In the past, pilgrims would stop at each of the Trench masajid and perform two sunnah rakaats in those masajid which were open. Most of the old masajid have since been closed – and Masjid Abu Bakr demolished – and pilgrims are now expected to perform salaah in the new Masjid Al-Khandaq. Pictured here (top), we see a few pilgrims peering over the wall of Masjid Salman al Farsi, which has now been closed. In the middle photograph, taken a few years ago, we see a few pilgrims performing salaah in the masjid. In the other photograph (taken in February, 2014), we see that the masjid is now falling into disrepair. Photos SALIM PARKER

h: After the victory

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Masjid Fath: Despite the Saudi authorities’ attempts to discourage visits to the area, it is clear that there are still many pilgrims who visit the site where Nabi Muhammad (SAW) prayed for three days for victory over the Confederates, and where he (SAW) received the news that Allah SWT would Photo SALIM PARKER grant the Muslims victory.

one stands at the top of the hill, outside Masjid Fath and looks down, the new ndaq, which has been built to replace the small historic masajid in the area, is e left while Masjid Salman al-Farsi and Masjid Umar can be seen lower down. Photo SALIM PARKER

All that remains of Masjid Ali (far left) are a few broken walls and the floor of the masjid. The masjid is situated in a garden-like area which is usually locked. As can be seen from the map, it is situated near to the site of Masjid Fatima, which, nowadays, is just a floor with a low wall around it. Outside the entrance to the site of Masjid Fatima (left) are two blue boards placed there by the Saudi authorities, discouraging visiting the area. One of them reads: ‘Visiting the so-called Seven Mosques is something for which there is no evidence; rather it is an innovation if one believes that they have a particular virtue.’ Photos SALIM PARKER

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(Left) Standing outside Masjid Al-Khandaq and looking towards the highest masjid, which is Masjid Fath, Masjid Umar will be located diagonally behind and to your left. Further back, almost in line with Masjid Al-Khandaq you will find the entrance to the ruins of Masjid Ali, while the entrance to the area where Masjid Fatima was situated will be on the right (when facing those two gates). Masjid Fath bears that name as it is in that area where angel Jibreel appeared to the Prophet (SAW) bearing Allah’s promise of victory. Photo OSMAN KHAN Muslim Views

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Muslim Views . April 2014

Hell is hotter than hot tar CORCHING, unbearably and unforgivingly hot. Sometimes it is difficult to find the words to adequately describe the midday heat in Makkah. The temperature exceeded 40oC, the humidity was sky high and the harsh sun seared the skin. Add to that the millions who were present in the weeks just before Hajj was due to commence, all migrating to and congesting each and every shaded spot, the heat disseminating amongst the pilgrims amplifying the discomfort. As soon as anyone stepped out of their air-conditioned buildings, drenching sweat would suffocate them with an effect similar to that of being in a straightjacket in a furnace. It seemed that everyone was equipped with a bottle of water to replenish the rapidly accumulating sweat. We were in Makkah. Hajj was approaching and everybody wanted to perform their prayers in the Holy Mosque or in the immediate vicinity. Spray bottles abounded, and pilgrims smilingly sprayed all and sundry around them with the welcoming and refreshing mist. One sun-evading umbrella soon shielded three or four, and there were no qualms about squeezing in ‘just one more’ person into an already tightly packed shaded area in and around the Mosque. It was time for the mid-day prayers and it was already impossible to get into the Mosque itself. It is human nature to leave everything for the last minute; and the heat also induced pilgrims to stay in the comfort of their rooms for as long as possible until it was time for the actual prayer. Then, suddenly, hundreds of thousands converged to the few entrances. True, there was probably still a lot of space available inside but the Saudi authorities have learnt to prevent too many people from entering simultaneously. Huge cranes and massive structural projects also hampered the easy movement of people. Another strategy implemented was to reduce the time between the athaan (call to prayer) and the praying time itself. The imaam must also have

It is human nature to leave everything for the last minute; and the heat also induced pilgrims to stay in the comfort of their rooms, writes Doctor SALIM PARKER.

been mindful of the heat and that there were hundreds of thousands of elderly.

The prayers were always short yet never rushed. In previous years, I would hear the call, perform the wudu (ritual washing) and still get into the Mosque in time for midday prayers. This was despite still seeing patients till the athaan was heard. Our hotel was situated close to the Haram, and I could walk a few minutes down a wide road right to the Haram.

This road was in the full glare of the sun from early morning till late afternoon and, despite being flanked by tall hotel skyscrapers casting a little shade on either side, was essentially only used as a walkway and virtually never as an area to sit in. This year, I had resigned myself to performing the midday prayers outside the Mosque, mostly in some shaded area. Daily, I could feel the heat of the black, heat-absorbing tar somehow penetrating the thick soles of my sandals whenever I walked to the Mosque. One day, I actually had to perform the prayers in the road as I was quite late and all the shaded spots had been taken. I was wearing a large scarf over my head, and stood on a thick prayer mat. The prayer was over within a few minutes but by that time, I was sweating profusely and my prayer mat was hot. My feet were burning despite me standing on my thick mat and wearing socks. Nearby, I saw some plastic implements in the early stages of melting. I went back to my room and had a cold shower before seeing some patients. It was another of those hectically busy mornings and before I knew it the athaan for Dhuhr was calling us to pray in unison. I rushed to get done and, pretty soon, left the cool foyer of the hotel. The blinding and piercing brightness of the sun’s rays made me immediately reach for my sunglasses. My head was already covered with a scarf and I was wearing a white, heat reflecting kurtah. This did not prevent me from immediately feeling the heat. A few hundred thousand pilgrims

must have arrived overnight for, on this day the crowd in the road reached to just outside my hotel. I heard the iqama, the announcement that the prayer was about to commence. There was not a shaded area in sight and I headed for the nearest row of pilgrims. This was in the middle of the road, with the sun torching down on us. The last row started in a shaded area and extended into the middle of the road. The first person in the row had his left shoulder against the wall of the shade-providing building. I laid down my thick mat next to the last pilgrim and stood shoulder to shoulder next to him on his right side, in the direct sun. Within seconds, an elderly man had laid out his mat adjacent to my right and stood prepared for prayers. I could already feel the heat of the black tar penetrating my mat and socks but at least it was just about bearable. Just as the imam was about to start the prayers, a young man came to stand to the right of the elderly man. He had no prayer mat and faced the prospect of standing barefooted on the hot tar. In dire circumstances, one is allowed to keep one’s shoes on but the youngster removed his. Some of us in the row started squeezing to our left, in order to accommodate the extra pilgrim. The youngster literally took the older man’s mat out from under him and placed the rectangular mat, which was about a metre long, and half-a-metre wide, crosswise in front of them so that their hands and foreheads would be on it during prostration. However, they were now literally standing on hot coals. ‘The tar is hot!’ the old man protested. ‘Hell is infinitely hotter,’ was the youngster’s sage-like reply. I moved even more tightly to my left, which allowed the elderly man some space to put his left foot onto my mat. The prayer commenced and it was evident that the elderly man was so engrossed in prayer that he was unaware of the heat beneath his right foot. Or he was simply used to it. Not so the young man; he was clearly extremely uncomfortable and was tiptoeing on the spot. One of the cardinal rules of congregational prayers is that attendees must stand in a straight line. Our youngster could not bear the heat though, and virtually a few seconds later stepped forward onto the comfort of the elderly man’s mat. He was completely out of line and somehow even managed to prostrate on the fifty centimetre space of the width of the mat. The prayers did not last long and it was over pretty soon. The young man immediately rose and shot off into a nearby building. The elderly man turned and greeted me and smiled, his right foot by now somehow on my mat as we all subconsciously and continuously edged closer to each other. A call was made for the prayer for the deceased. We were all sweating profusely by now and yet most still decided to perform the prayer. ‘It is hot,’ the old man said. ‘Insha Allah it will be much cooler and pleasant where the deceased is going; surely their Hajj is accepted, even if we have not been on Arafah yet.’ Yes, Arafah beckoned, and Allah’s all-embracing Mercy was soon to shade and shield us against the hell of our own sins. Muslim Views

Muslim Views . April 2014

IPSA 5th Annual Wasatiyyah Symposium

Assad regime’s reliance on ‘sectarian solidarity’ In this edition, we publish extracts from the paper by ASLAM FAROUK-ALLI delivered at the International Peace College of South Africa’s 5th Annual Wasatiyyah Symposium which addressed the theme ‘Sectarianism: A Middle Way Reflection’.

Farouk-Alli pointed out that the ‘religious and the political intertwine in all sectarian conflicts and the violent conflagration in Syria is no exception’. However, for a deeper understanding of the complex nature of the Syrian conflict, his paper traced ‘the manifestation of the sectarian dimensions of the conflict, following the development of the heterodox Alawi community from a marginalised sect to its ascendance as Syria’s ruling class’. It focused on how sectarian identity has constantly been exploited by hegemonic powers like the Sunni Ottomans, the French colonisers and, most recently, the Asad regime. The paper suggested that the only escape from the sectarian minefield was the entrenchment of a strong Syrian national identity within the framework of equal citizenship, pluralistic democracy and the protection of minority rights. ‘This could,’ Farouk-Alli pointed out, ‘potentially limit the interference of outside parties but such an outcome is over-optimistic at the current juncture

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since vested interests outweigh internal peace and stability.’ In light of the length of the paper, we present his conclusion against the background of the observations in the introduction.

The Alawi dilemma and the search for a common Syrian identity When Hafiz al-Asad died on June 10, 2000, he bequeathed the country to his eldest living son, Bashar, and, with it, the deeplyrooted repressive state apparatus that he had so carefully built. In spite of early speculation on the possibility of a power struggle in Syria, the transition from father to son was remarkably smooth, and the party and army elite closed ranks, ratifying the process initiated by Hafiz al-Asad to establish his son as his successor. Bashar al-Asad fashioned his image as a moderniser who saw reform as a gradual process, and strove to win the appeal of the younger generation of Syrians without raising the concerns of the older generation, and thereby came to represent both continuity and change. [For a detailed account of the transition and its possible trajectories, see: David Lesch (2005), The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Asad and Modern Syria (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press)] Whereas the three decades of Ba’thist rule under Asad Senior could, in some respects, be seen as a necessary stage that left Syria

However, contrary to what Bashar al-Asad believed at the onset of the Arab Spring in December 2010-January 2011, Syria’s foreign policy posture and cosmetic reforms were not enough to save it from the protest movement that spread across the region like wildfire, as a new generation of Arab youth took to the streets demanding political agency and the right to determine their own destinies. with a stronger state that had broken down class and communal cleavages while producing a more diversified economy, the transition to Asad Junior was by no means the dawn of democracy. As Raymond Hinnebusch explains (Modern Syrian Politics, p 274), the political and economic liberalisation instituted by Bashar amounted to a mere decompression of authoritarian controls and greater access for the bourgeoisie to decision-makers; the regime’s legitimation of pluralism was really envisioned as a substitute for democratisation and not as its precursor. As such, the 2001 Damascus Spring – the brief mobilisation calling for the institution of democracy – was quickly nipped in the bud, even if the role of the

security forces under Bashar alAsad were, at this stage, much less obtrusive than before. In essence, Bashar’s rule was very much the perpetuation of the system of governance that was established by his father, with a modernising tweak here and there. The ‘populist authoritarianism’ of the father, alluded to above, became the ‘modernizing authoritarianism’ of the son which, according to Perthes, was an attempt to make the system work better so that it could survive and deliver development. [For more details, see: Volker Perthes (2004), Syria under Bashar al-Asad: Modernization and the Limits of Change, Adelphi Papers (London: Oxford University Press for IISS)].

But Syria’s fate, under both father and son, was inextricably tied to regional and international struggles in good part outside of its control. Nonetheless, the regime’s strong commitment to an Arab nationalist identity, its hard-line on Israel and its opposition to American Imperialism all contributed to maintaining its internal cohesion. These positions resonated with the Syrian street and the Arab masses in general, providing the regime with far more insulation against internal opposition than was the case with other Arab countries. However, contrary to what Bashar al-Asad believed at the onset of the Arab Spring in December 2010-January 2011, Syria’s foreign policy posture and cosmetic reforms were not enough to save it from the protest movement that spread across the region like wildfire, as a new generation of Arab youth took to the streets demanding political agency and the right to determine their own destinies. Starting in the Southern Deraa province, the protest movement spread across Syria and, as the regime’s reform façade collapsed, it quickly revealed its fangs, a posture that the Syrian people were all too familiar with but no longer intimidated by. CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Muslim Views . April 2014

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Muslim Views . April 2014

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

Unable to quell the uprising with force, and unwilling to reform, Bashar al-Asad was powerless to stop the country from spiralling into a brutal civil war. [For an account of the beginnings of the Syrian uprising, see: Fouad Ajami (2012), The Syrian Rebellion (Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press)] Once the floodgates were opened, Syria became a battleground for regional players seeking to assert their influence and, in a twist of historical irony, it was the Shi’ite Islamic Republic of Iran and its Lebanese Islamist proxy, Hizbullah, that came to the rescue of the secular Ba’thist regime, joining in the fray to keep Asad in power. In the midst of the struggle

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Bashar al-Asad’s future and that of his regime’s now lie in the hands of regional and international powerbrokers, and their immediate fate remains uncertain. Nonetheless, what has clearly been established by the Syrian uprising is that the political acquiescence of the people is a thing of the past. over Syria’s future, the Alawi community now faces the painful dilemma of seeing its fate being linked to that of the regime’s, which still strives to exploit sectarian solidarity to maintain its support base. However, the fissures in society are far too deep and the extent of the uprising has been far too pervasive. Bashar al-Asad’s future and that of his regime’s now lie in the hands of regional and international powerbrokers, and their immediate fate remains uncertain.

Nonetheless, what has clearly been established by the Syrian uprising is that the political acquiescence of the people is a thing of the past. As such, many Alawis have also begun voicing their opposition to the regime, calling for the establishment of a democratic dispensation and the building of a nation that encompasses all Syrians. Such an outcome at this specific juncture is at best still overoptimistic as the vested interests of outside parties in the current

global environment still outweighs the aspirations of the Syrian people fighting for freedom and liberation. What is, however, certain is that the fate of the Alawi community is not inextricably linked to that of the Asad regime. The transition from the oppressive minority white rule in South Africa to a democratic dispensation that embraced all of that country’s people stands out as a beacon of hope for Syria as well. The Alawi community is now

more than ever before a part of the Syrian social fabric and so, while Bashar al-Asad and his regime may have no role to play in the re-building of a better Syria, the Alawi community most certainly will. Aslam Farouk-Alli is a Research Associate at University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Centre for Contemporary Islam (CCI). He holds an M.Soc.Sci. in Religious Studies from UCT and an MA in Arabic from University of South Africa (UNISA). His research interests are religion and politics.

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Muslim Views . April 2014

Muslim Hands’ third Great Wall of China Trek for orphans SHAMEEM BRAY

JOIN Muslim Hands in this once-in-a-lifetime experience when we trek the Great Wall of China. Come with us this June as we climb the Great Wall over ten days. Like a gigantic dragon that winds across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, the Great Wall stretches approximately 6 300km from east to west across China. With a history believed to span over 2 000 years, it is still one of the most appealing to all from across the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance. There is a Chinese saying that goes: ‘You wouldn’t have lived a great chapter of your life if you haven’t been to the Great Wall of China.’ By joining us in trekking this great feat of human achievement, you will be raising funds that will, Insha Allah, go a long way in providing the security of education for Trekkers of last year upon completion of their adventurous fundraising trip. Photo ALI HAIDAR

many orphaned children in subSaharan Africa. The overwhelming majority of these children would otherwise have no access to any kind of schooling or education at all. Recognising this, Muslim Hands has been focused on the children of sub-Saharan Africa since 2003 in providing an accessible and high quality of education. Muslim Hands runs purposebuilt schools throughout Sudan, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia. In total, we have eleven schools in these countries and support over 4 420 impoverished children. All the facilities we offer the children are free and, as well as

having their school fees covered, children are given textbooks, exercise books, stationery and uniforms. Sponsored orphans are provided nutritional needs at school, medical check-ups and transportation if applicable. If you think you are up for the challenge and you can imagine yourself trekking along the Great Wall of China, you are just a few steps away from registration. By joining Muslim Hands, you can give these orphan children the education that they deserve. Register today for this adventurous fundraising event at www.muslimhands.org.za or call our information line at 021 633 6413.

Previous Muslim Hands participants looking ahead to their exciting journey. Photo ALI HAIDAR

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Muslim Views . April 2014

International Peace College South Africa (IPSA) held its annual graduation ceremony on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. Fifty students graduated from the One-Year Enrichment Programme and four students completed the Four-Year Programme. From left: Moulana Azizur Rahman Patel (HOD: Shariah and Islamic Studies); Dr Mogamat Hoosain Ebrahim (Head of Research); graduates Johannes Kgosi Abdur-Rashied Ndhlovu, Shadrack Mpho Abdu Shakoor Serati, Musa Mabe Motsitsi and Hafizah Rukayya Samsodien; keynote speaker, Dr Nuraan Davids (lecturer in Philosophy of Education, Stellenbosch University); Dr Abdul Kariem Toffar (Deputy Principal:â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Academic); and Shaikh Ighsaan Taliep (Principal). Muslim Views will Photo FRED BARKER publish a full report, including extracts from Dr Davidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; address, in the following edition.

MARXISMS IN THE 21st CENTURY: Crisis, Critique and Struggle was launched at the Book Lounge in Cape Town on March 6, 2014. A packed audience heard presentations from editors Michelle Williams, who chaired the event, and Vishwas Satgar (right), as well as a response from former South African Minister of Intelligence, Ronnie Kasrils. The Cape Town launch of Marxisms in the 21st Century was hosted by Amandla! magazine. The book, which is the first in a planned series innovatively exploring Marxist thought and implementation globally, and in South Africa, will be reviewed in Photo YUNUS OMAR the next edition of Muslim Views.

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Focus on Finance Muslim Views . April 2014

How the 2014/15 Budget affects you On Wednesday, February 26, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivered the fifth budget of the President Zuma Administration. HASSEN KAJIE, CA (SA), a director of NEXIA SB&T, based in the Cape Town office, and WALIED HEYNES, CA (SA), Technical Manager at NEXIA SAB&T, point out highlights of the 2014/ 15 budget that affects individuals, small, medium and micro business.

THE budget provides for personal tax relief of R9,25 billion for individual taxpayers. About 40% of the relief goes to South Africans earning below R250 000 per year. The amount individuals earn before they are taxed has also been increased for the tax year that runs from March 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015. Increases in the amount in respect of social grants are also welcome news for those reliant on this as a source of their livelihood. The budget also provides tax breaks to businesses, which is positive news for emerging small businesses.

Individuals The tax threshold – which is the amount individuals can earn before they are required to pay tax – has been increased as follows:

The rebate for individuals in respect of the tax payable has also been increased as follows:

The tax table for the tax year ending February 28, 2015 is as follows:

Hassen Kajie is a Director of the Cape Town office of Nexia SAB&T.

Other benefits to individuals include an increase in the medical tax credit in respect of medical scheme contributions to R257 from R242 for the first two individuals and R172 up from R162 for each additional dependant thereafter. The child support grant will increase from R300 to R310 a month in April, and to R320 in October. The old age and disability grants will increase in April from R1 270 a month to R1 350, and the foster care grant will increase from R800 to R830. The annual exemption on interest earned for individuals younger than 65 years is R23 800 and the exemption for individuals 65 years and older is R34 500.

Small Business Corporations The new tax rates for Small Business Corporations for the tax year ending February 28, 2015 are as follows:

It is proposed that the above graduated tax structure for small and medium businesses be replaced with a refundable tax compliance credit in the near future.

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Walied Heynes is Technical Manager in the Cape Town office of Nexia SAB&T.

Micro Businesses It is proposed that Turnover Tax for Micro Business up to R335 000 should be tax-free, and the maximum tax rate should be reduced from the current 6% to 5%. Other suggestions include scrapping the requirement for businesses to opt into the regime for three years and requiring annual, rather than biannual, tax returns.

Other The budget also includes an increase in excise duties or ‘sin taxes’ for the current tax year. The price of cigarettes is to increase by 68 cents per packet of 20; this increase is effective immediately. In recognition of recent increases in the imported cost of fuel, the general fuel levy increase is limited to an inflation-related 12 cents per litre on April 2, 2014, and the road accident fund levy will increase by 8 cents per litre. This will push up the general fuel levy on petrol to R2,25 per litre of petrol and R2,10 per litre of diesel.

This article is intended for information purposes only and should not be considered as a legal document. If you are in doubt about any information in this article or require any advice, please do not hesitate to contact Nexia SAB&T Tax department at 021 596 5400.

Muslim Views . April 2014

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Muslim Views . April 2014

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Changing your mind-set MEHBOOB BAWA

THE halls of the Nassau Auditorium at Groote Schuur High School reverberated with the sounds of tumultuous applause from students, teachers and other audience members as J2G’s transformational seminar came to a close on the evening of February 15. Moments before, team leader A G (Baboo) Phoplonker had closed his dynamic, interactive five-hour seminar with a version of the Frank Sinatra song ‘My Way’ rendered by Robbie Williams. The lyrics of the song speak of living the best life you can, living life your way and not succumbing to the whims of others. It certainly resonated with the audience who sang along and ended the seminar on a wonderfully passionate high note, pun not intended. Included in the presentation were interventions from guest speakers Hilaire Akolo and me, Mehboob Bawa. Akolo hails from Cameroon and was forced to seek exile in South Africa. As a journalist reporting on the injustices in his country, he was persecuted by the government and was forced to leave his family behind in search of a better life in the Mother City. Despite his challenges, he is now reading towards an MBA at

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J2G team leader, A G ‘Baboo’ Phoplonker, addressing the transformational seminar.

University of Cape Town. I shared with the audience my love for broadcasting and entertainment, and how I, too, pursued my dreams, despite facing many tribulations on my own journey. J2G (A Journey to Greatness) was started by Baboo – as he is affectionately called by his friends and colleagues – to bring about a mind-set change within society at large and, in this way, providing citizens of the world an opportunity to effect positive changes within their life. Baboo wants to ensure that everyone has the capability to enjoy life in a holis-

tically successful manner. He has achieved great success within the educational and corporate world by sharing his way of life with others. His philosophy is simple: be the best that you can be. Based on his own life experiences, Baboo has developed a series of courses that show users how to effect positive change in their lives. His Success Pack contains the entire course of nine dimensions covering every aspect of living a powerful dynamic life including ‘Heart and Mind’ meditations on CD and DVDs of live transformational events.

The event held at the Nassau Auditorium, entitled ‘Involve to Evolve’ is the latest course developed and designed by Baboo to show attendees that they too can overcome the challenges they face daily. The content of the presentation included stories of many wellknown philosophers, business people, sports stars and celebrities, all of whom had overcome their own personal trials and tribulations to achieve great success. Baboo’s question to his audience is: if the Almighty has made us all the same, why are we not as successful as others? As the evening unfolded, audience members of various faiths interacted with Baboo as he posed questions based on theories of Einstein, quotes from the various holy scriptures including the Bible and Quran. Students and adults alike discussed and debated with Baboo as he showed them examples of how to achieve success in their lives. One of the many highlights was the presentation of donations to Langa, Fairmont and Livingstone High Schools. Educators and learners of these schools received tickets sponsored by community members to attend the course.

Also, on the night, J2G donated a percentage of the proceeds of the ticket sales towards the upliftment of these schools. This part of the programme was co-ordinated by various team members including Zubaida Firfiray, Dilnawaaz Datay, Shuaib Mohideen and Razia Rawoot. Another member, Jameel Mohideen, was responsible for the lucky draw which saw an audience member win a tour for two around the Cape Peninsula. In keeping with the aim to empower all, Baboo gave team member Faziela Mohideen an opportunity to make her debut as the MC of the event. The comments of the audience on the night were exceptionally positive with many feeling very emotional and more convinced that they could truly be the best that they can be by following Baboo’s advice. You too can effect a positive change in your life. Simply attend one of the many events planned or get your copy of the Success Pack and share it with your family. Schools wishing to take advantage of the J2G Educational Plan will certainly empower their students and educators alike by having them attend a workshop designed specifically for their individual needs. Call Baboo on 083 412 9299 for more details.

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Muslim Views . April 2014

Thanking community for tremendous support SANZAF commemorates 40 years of service SAKEENA BOCK

ON March 6, 2014, the South African National Zakah Fund (SANZAF) hosted a 40th Anniversary launch khatamul Quran and dhikr programme at Masjid Ighwatul Islam, in Bridgetown. Moulana Hassiem Cassiem, Regional Chairperson, SANZAF, expressed his sincere appreciation and gratitude to SANZAF friends, family, co-workers, founder members, trustees, volunteers and the local community for their tremendous support. He added that some 40 years ago, a feasibility study and a blueprint for a zakaah fund were pre-

sented at a convention held in Braemer. A resolution was passed calling for the formation of the South African National Zakah Fund. While this was taking place in the former Transvaal and Natal, another initiative was launched in 1975. 2014 marks SANZAF’s 40th anniversary and, today, the fund has 28 offices throughout the country, and a staff complement of 113 employees. According to Sajid Dawray, National Chairperson, ‘Institutionalised zakaah is embraced by the Muslim community in South Africa as the preferred method of disbursing their zakaah, and a collective effort can be far more

effective than individual distribution.’ Across the country, khatamul Quran and dhikr programmes will be conducted at the SANZAF offices, in partnership with local communities. Ml Hassiem Cassiem also announced that SANZAF will be hosting a 40th anniversary commemorative dinner at Islamia College Hall on Friday, April 11, 2014, and an international zakaah seminar will be held from April 12 to 14, 2014, at Islamia Academia Centre. For more information regarding the zakaah seminar and the commemorative dinner, contact Isghaak Sydow on 021 447 0297.

THE South African National Zakah Fund (SANZAF) has launched the annual national Winter Warmth Campaign themed ‘help us help others’ to provide essential items to children, the aged and families in need across South Africa. SANZAF is working in partnership with various organisations and corporates to tackle child poverty and deprivation in South Africa. Reflecting on the campaign, SANZAF National Chairperson Sajid Dawray said, ‘There are

thousands of children growing up in poverty in South Africa. Some of these children are living in homes lacking the most basic amenities which the rest of us take for granted. ‘These children could end up going to school hungry, not having had a proper breakfast or go through winter without warm clothing or even a decent pair of shoes. Some even have to sleep on damp mattresses on the floor as they do not have their own beds. ‘This winter, we are working in partnership with the community to provide warmth to families in need.’ SANZAF Western Cape Administrator, Moulana Sarfaraaz Hamza said, ‘We are pleased that SANZAF is able to

make this contribution to 1 130 learners at Huguenot Primary School, in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain. ‘We envisage to roll-out the programme at five schools, reaching 5 000 learners in the Cape Flats area. This programme will have a positive impact on lowincome families with young children who have a serious material need in their homes. ‘Items awarded will improve children’s ability to eat, sleep and learn in their home environment. At this time of year, when families are struggling to afford to keep their homes warm and pay for necessary items to ensure children can sleep in a warm bed and eat a hot meal, our programme is more critical than ever.’

SANZAF launches annual Winter Warmth Campaign

Emerging ulama: SANZAF recently launched phase one of the Imam Development Programme, where eleven imams from various areas in the Western Cape are undergoing an intensive 12-month course which will enable them to develop their skills in business writing, communication and computer literacy. Pictured here are the participants along with SANZAF’s Abdurazaaq Razaaq and the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) Secretary General, Moulana Abdul Khaliq Allie. Photo SUPPLIED

Zakaah is an act of ibadah. Zakaah is to be distributed to recipients who qualify for it according to the Quran and Sunnah. Zakaah is an economic institution that generates a spirit of social responsibility, caring and compassion among people. Zakaah is not a charity given in sympathy to the destitute; it is their right. Allah says: ‘And in their wealth and possession (was remembered), the right of the (needy), he who asked and he who (for some reasons) was prevented (from asking).’ (Surah Thariyaat, verse 19)The South African National Zakah Fund administers the collection and distribution of zakaah, fitrah, sadaqah and lillah funds.

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Muslim Views . April 2014

From Consciousness to Contentment

Education: opening the doors JASMINE KHAN

HERE seems to be no disagreement that the state of education in this country is desperately in need of an overhaul. Between the government’s determination to pass learners through the system with the lowest possible pass mark, the teachers who are overburdened with clerical duties, and the parents’ inability to make a difference, the future looks bleak for this generation of learners. In speaking to parents to get their views, I found that there are different categories of parents. We have those who have no choice but to send their children to public schools because of financial constraints, and hope for the best. There are those slightly more affluent who do the research and find the public school with the best reputation and academic record. Speaking to the former group, the parents are impressed with the effort the teachers put into teaching their children and their willingness to make things easier for the parents who, in most cases, are not educated themselves and unable to assist the children. Parents in the second group pay between R3 000 and R4 000 per annum, and feel that their children are getting a quality education; the learners are reason-

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There are many Muslim parents whose children started out at an Islamic school, and they moved them to a ‘former Model-C’ school … ably well-adjusted and can hold their own in any situation. However, it must be said that a large part of this is due to the parent’s involvement in the child’s schoolwork, and the fact that the majority of these parents are themselves educated. Let us look now at two more categories of parents: the ones who can afford the rates at private schools, and here we look at Islamic schools and the ‘former Model-C’ schools. When asked why they send their children to an Islamic school the responses were as follows: ‘Because I wanted them to have a more Islamic approach on life, showing that one can become whatever you want but also be a good Muslim. The idea that Muslim schools function around the salaah is great. Most of our children’s development happens when they are at school, and I think having them surrounded by Muslim peers is a great start!’ ‘I felt that it would be great if they could get their madrassah education during school hours, otherwise the day is very long for them plus, they would have to be transported to another venue.’ It was at an Islamic school that the teacher

did not complete the prescribed work in Grade 10. When asked about this, and whether they were doing anything about it, the general consensus was: ‘It was very disappointing, I didn’t want to make too much of it as well because I don’t want my son to be victimised.’ ‘No I didn’t. This was not brought to our attention by the principal or teachers; I’m hoping that they have an intervention strategy.’ To the question of whether the standard of education is adequate, the unanimous reply was: ‘For a private school, no! Also, their support structure is nonexistent. I remember when I went for my first interview at the school I was promised that no additional tuition would be needed. ‘If the child lacked understanding in any subject, they would arrange extra classes after school at no additional cost. I have since enrolled my child in both maths and physics for private tuition – something I can least afford.’ There are many Muslim parents whose children started out at an Islamic school, and they moved them to a ‘former ModelC’ school where the fees can be as much as R40 000 per annum. The main reason behind this move is that parents feel that the standard of education is much higher.

They feel that Islamic schools are too clannish; at the other school, their children learn to interact with diverse groups; they learn to be tolerant of differences in race and religion, they are selfconfident and can hold their own in any strata of society. The Islamic school teaches the child academic knowledge whereas at the other school the child is educated to cope with life. In spite of the diversity of views, one fact stands out very clearly. In order to do the best for the youth, teachers and parents must work with the learners, however much they may feel already pressurised. In the past, the education system was dealt two severe blows, which goes a long way in explaining the situation today. The government closed the teacher training colleges and, as a teacher of 55 years experience pointed out, ‘Today’s teachers have not been shown how to teach; they come with academic knowledge and no skills. A case in point is the way children learn to write; they make a circle and add a stroke to make an a, b or d.’ The second blow was when the education department offered voluntary retirement packages some years ago. This resulted in a mass exodus of experienced teachers who could today have mentored the

young ones fresh from university. There is a difference between a teacher and an educator: an educator motivates and inspires the child to discover for himself so he can become a holistic, responsible adult. It is just as much the parent’s duty; children are entrusted to us by Allah and we will have to give an account of what we did, and did not do. Our children come into the world pure and unblemished, and whoever touches the child’s life will make a mark. Parents do not choose to have a child, that is the taqdir of Allah; yet they have to fulfil the responsibility by trying to do their best. Teachers, on the other hand, have made a choice. When a group of children walk into the classroom at the beginning of the school year, the teacher is there because he or she has chosen the profession of teaching. Teaching used to be a vocation, with some exceptions; this is no longer the case. There is no denying that teachers are under a lot of pressure and stress, and we empathise with the conditions under which they labour. However, it is their choice and, therefore, an amanah they have accepted. When a teacher rolls his/ her eyes when a child asks questions or says ‘for God’s sake’ when a child does not understand the lesson, should that person be standing in a classroom filled with young children? Parents who are made aware of things not being right in their children’s classrooms have the responsibility of addressing the situation, instead of hoping for the best. Let us now open all the doors, and work together. We may be working with young minds but we are also holding the very souls of our future.

Muslim Views . April 2014

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FOR ALL

Muslim Views . April 2014

A wake-up call Hospitals are terrible places; nurses wake you every few hours to take your blood pressure and temperature, writes Doctor M C D’ARCY. HE pain in my stomach was intense. I sweated. I writhed. I screamed. I begged to be taken to hospital. The gastro-enterologist admitted me to hospital. I was wheeled into a ward, given intravenous fluids and medication. The man next to me in the private, two-bed, ward screamed incessantly. He coughed, spluttered and spat. His doctor came, wrote up something, shook his head in dismay and muttered to himself. A private care-giver was more vocal. She loudly begged, badgered and cajoled the frail old man to be quiet and get some rest. He ignored her, spat some more, coughed louder and screamed that his son was a doctor. Through the mist of the potent painkilling Pethidine and antispasmodic, I wished the caregiver would shut up and just strangle the man. But my wishes were empty. And then, miracle of miracles, the night staff came on duty and the nursing sister-in-charge flew into my room, raised her hands in horror and shouted, ‘Who put you in here?’ Before I could answer, she grabbed the end of my bed and swung it right out of the room. Down the hall I rode and into a room at the end of the corridor. Peace at last, thank Almighty peace at… it wasn’t to be ‘at last’. The room was right next to the noisy kitchen. There was banging and clanging at every meal and, often, in between. Woozily I sighed; at least the screaming was gone. My sigh evaporated into despair. The man in the bed next to me jumped

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around in his bed. Swoosh, swoosh and again swoosh, he swished his legs from side to side every few seconds. The starched linen screeched till it sent me up the wall. I asked him to stop. He stopped. Then he started texting ream upon ream on his cell-phone, soon followed by some lusty phone calls. He was being divorced but there were two mistresses at the other end of the phone. I turned away. Sleep kicked in. Hospitals are terrible places; nurses wake you every few hours to take your blood pressure and temperature. Mercy and rest are not in their manuals. In their gossip, I heard that the old man in my first ward had died during the night, aged 103. With dawn, my neighbour’s phone fired on all cylinders. Midmorning, a mousy woman crept in. The bedside curtain was drawn but the conversation in whispers sounded suspiciously like ‘sweet-nothings’. She fled before noon. At visiting hours, a virago marched in, scowled at me and made a crude remark directed at me for not having conversed with said neighbour. How could I, sedated and in need of rest? It was best not to answer; the visitor’s loud voice could crack concrete. A few heavy breaths and she let go. She berated the neighbour for consorting with sluts of dubious morality. He was on the defensive. Then she gave him some bad news: he would not be compensated for his illness and absence from work. He grabbed his phone and let loose a stream of invectives I had not heard since the days of District Six when, on a Saturday afternoon, a bare-breasted, drunk woman screamed a challenge to all the local prostitutes to come out and fight. Like her, he concentrated particularly on the female areas south of the navel. Victorian ladies would have had the vapours and fainted; the virago just laughed. After tea, the gastroenterologist came and told me to stay another night.

Koples book in Afrikaans used in ‘Kitchen Madrassah’.

Azeemat for luck – my collection. Photo M C D’ARCY

My gut wrenches had subsided to minor cramps. All tests were normal. My neighbour was a policeman with problems. I fled. This wake-up call galvanised me into action. I had to get my will and papers in order and, even more urgently, I had to savour the sweet nectars of life I enjoyed most. Photography has been one of life’s blessings for me. Say ‘cheese’ photography, standing in front of the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal is well and good if you want to have background memories adorned with smiles and teeth but it has its limitations. To me, the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal, as objects of man’s finest creative hours, are infinitely more special. They have geometric shapes painted with history. They change moment to moment with sun and shade. In moonlight, they glow; it is then that their beauty thrills. My contention says that, whether day or night, photography can capture all their vicarious moods, keeping them forever alive and precious. My cupboards and albums burst with thousands of slides and photographs. They have recorded the dew on spider’s webs, the fighting-charge of Moroccan horsemen and the nimble fingers of ragged children deep in Kashmir, weaving the most beautiful carpets. My collection has recorded varied cultural heritages and ceremonies, particularly those of our immediate surrounds.

But, my lenses have also dwelt on the infinite beauty of the natural world and the skies. With time, they will have sentimental and historic value. I have to get them annotated and labelled. Recently, multi-lingual Dr Ann Siim, a Muslim researcher from St Petersburg, in northern Russia, paid me a visit. She was interested in the origin of Arab-Afrikaans. I was somewhat taken aback that a researcher from Russia would be interested in so obscure a facet of history as the historical development of Arab-Afrikaans and its role in the genesis of modern Afrikaans. She had been to a UCT conference and was interested in African languages. Dr Siim could read and speak both English and Afrikaans. My collection of old manuscripts and kitaabs (religious-books), some of which I had used during madrassah years, excited her. She lovingly pored over them as if they were a researcher’s caviar. Three hours of non-stop questions and banter drained me but she said in the end: ‘I got more out of this session than the whole conference.’ That was a thanks that put significance to my years of accumulating papers that most would have buried or burnt, as was the custom not so long ago. Fire and burial of historic documents and cultural ephemera (short-lived objects and fashion) poison objective history; keep them safe for the following generations. Books have stored the memory and the history of empires, writers and poets; without them we would be the poorer. Books have kept the windows to the past open for scholars and ordinary man. Modern technology is threatening the existence of the paper and parchment written word. But one should treat with caution rapidly changing techno-access to the creative word.

Photo M C D’ARCY

Differently coded computer word-processing has made many supposedly secure forms such as Wordperfect largely obsolete. Recordings on shellac, vinyl, wire, tape, compact disc (CD) and DVD will soon be superseded by flash-drives, and even that is threatened by ‘cloud storage’. Words on papyrus, velum and paper have had longer storage lives and readability than anything in the nebulous ether of computers. So, save your historic papers. Sadly, I’ve accumulated so many books that I need a string of reincarnations to read them all. But, I love them all. They are my trusted friends, and they’ve never talked behind my back. Books can, of course, record the good, the bad and the funny. I recently read The Court of the Caliphs of Bagdad by Hugh Kennedy (Muhammad ibn Jarir al Tabari was a prime source). Caliph Harun al-Rashid (766809), renowned for The Arabian Nights Fairy Tales, had a stepsister, Ulayga, who was a very good poetess. ‘Ulayga spent her life caught up in contradiction of her position. ‘She is said to have been pious and much preoccupied with prayer and study of the Koran. Poetry and song were her only pleasures and she would, we are told, not drink wine except during her periods, when she was banned from prayer.’ Also noted (p. 174) was: ‘In the early Abbasid period the Holy City of Medina, perhaps surprisingly, was the most famous centre for the training of singing girls, mostly slave girls.’ Fiction and fact can sometimes be difficult to tell apart. Reading must be accompanied by insightful assessment and questioning. It is common wisdom to wear a thinking cap, not some of the time but all of the time. One never knows when your wake-up call comes; be ready when it does.