Muslim Views, July 2014

Vol. 28 No. 7

SHAWWAAL 1435 l JULY 2014

MV to host international Israeli historian MAHMOOD SANGLAY

ROFESSOR Ilan Pappe is a ‘new historian’ specialising in the history of Israel.

He will be the guest of Muslim Views and the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement in South Africa from July 31 to August 7. His visit comprises a series of public engagements in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.

Pappe, an Israeli Jew, will be speaking on a range of topics related to the history of Israel, how it impacted on the indigenous Palestinian population, and how this history speaks to the current events of the day.

Pappe is visiting South Africa for the first time and is expected to meet with several leading and high-ranking officials, including Ronnie Kasrils and possibly the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He is a strong supporter of the BDS movement and views it as ‘the most important campaign people who want to show solidar-

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ity with the Palestinians can undertake’, and that can produce ‘tangible results’ for isolating Israel internationally.

The idea of the speaking tour

by Pappe was conceived well before the current Israeli military assault on Gaza.

The tour by Pappe is therefore at a time of global condemnation of Israel for its indiscriminate attack on a confined population of 1,8 million Palestinians.

The conditions in Gaza are described by Palestinians as ‘beyond that of a prison’ and more like ‘a concentration camp’ as Israel continued its campaign that took almost 300 Palestinian lives at the time of going to press.

Pappe says that the present Israeli campaign is ‘another stage in a disorientated Israeli brutal policy’ driven mainly by the ‘logic of power and more power’.

According to Pappe, Israel has ‘no idea’ how to deal with the Gaza Strip, which was created when Israel expelled Palestinians in 1948 into the ‘most densely populated geopolitical unit in the world’. The population of Gaza is

resisting strangulation, which is a natural human response to repression.

‘Muslim Views regards the visit of an important historian like Pappe as an opportunity to publicly address the myths and the truth around the establishment of the apartheid state of Israel,’ said Shabodien Roomanay, convenor of the tour.

‘We are confronted with one of the most crucial human rights issues of our time and it is the mission of our paper to reflect relevant pro-poor, social activist content,’ Roomanay added.

While Muslim Views and the BDS movement are ensuring that the tour meets its objective of informing and educating the public about the history and current events in the Middle East, it is also an opportunity to boost support for the BDS strategy to isolate Israel.

‘This is also at a time of intensified awareness internationally of Israel’s latest violation of Palestinian rights. Pappe is expected to address audiences and social movements charged with outrage

and demanding action from the South African government,’ said Muhammed Desai, co-ordinator of the BDS movement in South Africa.

However, the tour is not exclusively a forum for advocates of Palestinian human rights. Zionists and supporters of Israel are welcome to attend any of the public forums to debate and challenge the views of the speaker.

At least one item, to be televised live by iTV, is designated to be a debate with a supporter of Israel. The organisers were engaging with the leaders of the Cape Jewish Board of Deputies in respect of a suitable speaker for the debate at the time of going to press.

‘I am touched by this honour to be hosted by people who stand for social and human justice,’ Pappe told Muslim Views.

Details of the programme of Pappe’s visit appear on page 4.

Joining the massive global protests to express outrage at the military savagery

by Zionist Israel, thousands of people marched on parliament in Cape Town on July 16. A memorandum demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to South Africa was handed over. The march was organised by the Muslim Judicial Council and Al Quds Foundation.

Photo ABDUL WAHAAB PATTERSON

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Ramadaan and Eid connected to social responsibility

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HE end of Ramadaan necessarily signals an annual milestone in the life of a fasting Muslim. The only exception is that of a Muslim whose fast was spiritually void, even though he or she bore the physical sensation of hunger from sunrise to sunset.

This exception underscores the significance of abstinence that transcends merely denying oneself food. Allah is in no need of our fast or any of our devotions. The need is ours as beings that ultimately depend on Allah for our physical and spiritual welfare.

However, our needs are complemented in the Divine plan by our responsibilities to one another and the rights we possess over one another.

When the fasting Muslim nears the end of Ramadaan, these rights and responsibilities abide through the phases of devotions while fasting, the celebrations at Eid and the days thereafter.

The legacy of our fasting is the growth and development of both the inner and outer self so that when we end the month of fasting, our Eid joy is truly meaningful, albeit somewhat ambivalent. On the one hand we celebrate the infinite mercies of Allah

that sustain us. On the other hand, we are saddened by the departure of the month in which His infinite mercies are supplied without bounds.

While fasting, we were compelled, even as we prayed for our individual selves, to absorb the inescapable reality of the imbalance of power in this world.

One reality is the distress of marginalised people in our own midst and in other parts of the globe. Our increase in taqwa cannot happen in isolation of an awareness of the state of humans around us.

When we fast, hunger is not an abstraction. It’s a real experience, albeit only during the hours of daylight, of the absence of something vital for human survival.

That experience is lived far beyond these hours by many people in local communities as well as in other parts of the world.

This is exemplified by a report in this edition of Muslims in Heideveld enjoying iftaar from the charity of non-Muslims. Without this act of humanity, these fasting Muslims would otherwise have remained without a meal beyond the time of iftaar.

In our experience of ambivalence at Eid we can ignore this inescapable reality only through deliberate indifference.

Even if the hunger of local communities in our very midst in this digitally connected world somehow escapes us, the massive poverty and vast disparity between the wealthy and impoverished in our local communities cannot.

Another inescapable reality, as we rejoice in Allah’s mercies, is the transience of the powerful in this world.

None of Allah’s favours for this world are eternal.

Our gratitude at Eid to Allah is based on a certainty that all power belongs to Him, and that atrocities like the massacre of the people of Gaza are due to the arrogance of mortals defying Allah’s laws.

Ramadaan and Eid become truly meaningful when our worship is complemented by our obedience to Allah through the fulfilment of our spiritual as well as our social responsibilities. Eid mubarak!

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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Who is Ilan Pappe?

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ROFESSOR Ilan Pappe was born in Haifa in 1954. He obtained his BA degree from the Hebrew University, in Jerusalem, in 1979, and a Ph.D from University of Oxford, in 1984.

He was senior lecturer at University of Haifa in the department of Middle East History and International Relations from 1984 to 2006 when he felt compelled to leave due to the intolerable erosion of academic freedom and fascist restrictions by the university management.

He founded and directed the Institute for Peace and Research, in Israel, between 1992 to 2000, and the Israeli Society for Multicultural Education, and chair of the Emile Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies from 1993 to 2006.

Pappe was appointed chair in the department of History in the Cornwall Campus from 2007 to 2009.

From 2007 to 2012 he was appointed co-director of the Exeter Center for Ethnopolitical Studies.

Since 2009, he has been founder and director of the European Center for Palestine Studies at University of Exeter. Pappe is also a fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at University of Exeter since 2009.

His research focuses on the modern Middle East and in particular the history of Israel and Palestine. He has also written on multiculturalism, critical discourse analysis and on power and knowledge.

He is the author of 15 books (translated to 13 languages) as well as 53 academic articles, 24 book chapters and he participated in seven major conferences.

Many of his writing and research projects were either about or with other leading academic activists like Noam Chomsky and Edward Said.

Books published The Idea of Israel, Verso, 2014.

Peoples Apart, I B Tauris, 2014.

The Bureaucracy of Evil, OneWorld, 2012.

The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinian Minority in Israel, Yale, 2011.

Across the Wall, I B Tauris, 2010. (with J Hil l) The Husyanis: The Rise and Fall of a Palestinian Aristocracy, University of California Press, 2010.

The Modern Middle East, 2nd ed, Routledge, 2010.

Gaza in Crisis, 2010. (with N Chomsky) Out of the Frame, Pluto Press, 2010.

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, OneWorld, 2006.

The Modern History of Palestine, One Land, Two Peoples. 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2006.

The Israel/Palestine Question, 2nd Edition, Routledge, 2006.

The Modern Middle East, Routledge, 2005.

The Modern History Palestine, One Land, Two Peoples, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

The Land’s Aristocracy: The Husaynis; A Political Biography, Mossad Byalik, 2003.

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.

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Unique forum to pressurise SA government on Israel MAHMOOD SANGLAY

AT least twelve civil society organisations gathered at a press conference on July 11 at the offices of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The press conference, chaired

by Mercia Andrews of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA), was attended by various print, radio and television media representatives.

The organisations represented were the PSA, MJC, Palestine Solidarity Front (PSF) at UCT and UWC, Kairos Southern Africa, Cosatu, Claremont Main Road Mosque, Ahle Sunnah Defence League (ADL), Muslim Students Association (MSA) Cape, Al Quds Foundation, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and War Resisters International (WRI).

The ANC Youth League was the only political party formation present.

The diversity of voices at a single forum issuing their respective statements is unprecedented and is an indication of the broadening of the local voices condemning Israeli atrocities.

The forum also made provision for the nuanced positions of the parties, especially with respect to approved methods of resistance to Israel.

The various statements by the organisations generally joined the international community condemning Israel’s policy of collective punishment, its occupation of Palestine and its violation of international law.

However, there is also broad consensus in respect of a call on the South African government to act against Israel in tangible ways

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and not simply by issuing statements that have zero effect.

The organisations broadly support the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign against Israel.

This includes sporting, cultural and academic institutions and comprehensive economic boycotts.

The sanctions are also designed to include the severing of diplomatic ties.

Professor Stellan Vinthagen of WRI, which advocates non-violent resistance, said the Israeli attack is well planned for clear political purposes, intended to derail any possibility of peace.

WRI said the murder of ‘three young men from West Bank colonies’ was a pretext for ‘breaking the terms of a relatively longlasting truce agreement between Israel and Hamas’.

Terry Crawford-Browne, of the PSC, said he had ‘just seen’ Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu who endorsed the PSC statement calling for a full military embargo on Israel.

The PSC also calls for the implementation of the decisions of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference in Durban in 2006, including the ban on all products of Israeli companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, and the ban on entry of Israeli settlers into South Africa.

Other interventions proposed by the PSC include prosecution of South Africans who have enlisted in the Israeli army, and divesting in South African corporations with holdings in stock deployed in Israeli war crimes.

An example is Caterpillar, which manufactures machinery

used in the demolishing of Palestinian homes.

The PSC regards all Israeli banks as ‘highly complicit in funding the illegal occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.’

A particularly powerful financial intervention proposed is the institution of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) sanctions against Israeli banks.

SWIFT authenticates interbank transactions and links approximately 10 000 financial institutions around the world.

Every bank has a SWIFT code and the letters ‘IL’ denote Israeli banks.

Kairos Southern Africa accused the government of failing to take tangible action in respect of the international and local BDS call.

The ecumenical grouping condemns all violence and says South Africa is lagging behind others in this respect globally and that this is a ‘source of national shame’.

Kairos demands that the government heeds the BDS call and the Cape Town Declaration of February 6, 2014.

This includes full adherence to the Rome Statute to deal appropriately with war crimes, and the adoption of the HSRC report, which found Israel guilty of apartheid.

Braam Hanekom of the ANC Youth League said it supported the statement by the ANC deputy secretary general condemning Israel. Hanekom also challenged the youth formations of the DA and the EFF to join its call for sanctions against Israel.

The Palestine Solidarity Front (PSF) was represented by

Muhammad Sami, the only Palestinian present at the conference.

He called on the South African government to stop making statements and to take firm action by expelling the Israeli ambassador.

‘This is not a war.

‘This is extermination.

‘Our inaction is what keeps Israel going,’ said Sami.

None of the organisations made any reference to the complicity of the United States in the crimes of Israel.

When questioned about this, Crawford-Browne responded with his ‘Russell Tribunal hat’ and said that the Russell Tribunal of 2012 in New York specifically held the USA accountable for supporting Israel in its violation of human rights.

The tribunal of 2013 in Brussels condemned the USA for its abuse of its right to veto at the UN through opposing resolutions against Israel.

The action agreed on at a meeting by the forum on July 10 was a protest march to parliament on July 16 in which a memorandum was to be handed to the government.

On July 16, thousands of people marched on parliament in Cape Town to protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza. The march was peaceful and the organisers handed a memorandum to a member of the International Relations parliamentary portfolio committee.

The memorandum demanded, inter alia, that the South African government severs diplomatic ties with Israel, ensures that aid reaches Gaza and prosecutes South Africans serving in the Israeli army.

The various calls around the world for action against Israel are mounting in diverse ways.

One of these ways is online protest.

On July 17, Avaaz.org launched a petition calling on six key banks, pension funds and businesses to pull out of Israel.

By mid-afternoon on July 22 over 1 100 000 signatures were recorded on its online petition.

Avaaz (meaning ‘voice’ in several European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages) is an online global civic organisation launched in 2007 to promote activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, animal rights, corruption and poverty.

Avaaz is considered ‘the globe’s largest and most powerful online activist network’.

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Israel’s incremental genocide in the Gaza ghetto ILAN PAPPE

Massive global demonstrations have been witnessed as people express their outrage at the latest round of Zionist Israel’s military savagery on Occupied Gaza in Occupied Palestine.

Photo GPS

IN a September 2006 article for The Electronic Intifada, I defined the Israeli policy towards the Gaza Strip as an incremental genocide.

Israel’s present assault on Gaza alas indicates that this policy continues unabated.

The term is important since it appropriately locates Israel’s barbaric action – then and now – within a wider historical context.

This context should be insisted upon, since the Israeli propaganda machine attempts again and again to narrate its policies as out of context and turns the pretext it found for every new wave of destruction into the main justification for another spree of indiscriminate slaughter in the killing fields of Palestine.

The context The Zionist strategy of branding its brutal policies as an ad hoc response to this or that Palestinian action is as old as the Zionist presence in Palestine itself.

It was used repeatedly as a justification for implementing the Zionist vision of a future Palestine that has in it very few, if any, native Palestinians.

The means for achieving this goal changed with the years but the formula has remained the same: whatever the Zionist vision of a Jewish State might be, it can only materialise without any significant number of Palestinians in it.

And, nowadays, the vision is of an Israel stretching over almost the whole of historic Palestine, where millions of Palestinians still live.

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The present genocidal wave has, like all the previous ones, also a more immediate background.

It has been born out of an attempt to foil the Palestinian decision to form a unity government that even the United States could not object to.

The collapse of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s desperate ‘peace’ initiative legitimised the Palestinian appeal to internation-

al organisations to stop the occupation.

At the same time, Palestinians gained wide international blessing for the cautious attempt represented by the unity government to strategise once again a coordinated policy among the various Palestinian groups and agendas.

Ever since June 1967, Israel searched for a way to keep the territories it occupied that year without incorporating their

indigenous Palestinian population into its rights-bearing citizenry.

All the while, it participated in a ‘peace process’ charade to cover up or buy time for its unilateral colonisation policies on the ground.

With the decades, Israel differentiated between areas it wished to control directly and those it would manage indirectly, with the aim, in the long run, of downsizing the Palestinian population to a minimum with, among other means, ethnic cleansing and economic and geographic strangulation.

The geopolitical location of the West Bank creates the impression in Israel, at least, that it is possible to achieve this without anticipating a third uprising or too much international condemnation.

The Gaza Strip, due to its unique geopolitical location, did not lend itself that easily to such a strategy.

Ever since 1994, and even more so when Ariel Sharon came to power as prime minister in the early 2000s, the strategy there was to ghettoize Gaza and somehow hope that the people there – 1,8 million as of today – would be dropped into eternal oblivion.

But the Ghetto proved to be rebellious and unwilling to live under conditions of strangulation, isolation, starvation and economic collapse.

So resending it to oblivion necessitates the continuation of genocidal policies.

The pretext On May 15, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian youths in the West Bank town of Beitunia, their cold-blooded slayings by a sniper’s bullet captured on video.

Their names – Nadim Nuwara and Muhammad Abu al-Thahir – were added to a long list of such killings in recent months and years.

The killing of three Israeli teenagers, two of them minors, abducted in the occupied West Bank in June, was perhaps in reprisal for killings of Palestinian children.

But for all the depredations of the oppressive occupation, it provided the pretext first and foremost for destroying the delicate unity in the West Bank but also for the implementation of the old dream of wiping out Hamas from Gaza so that the Ghetto could be quiet again.

Since 1994, even before the rise of Hamas to power in the Gaza Strip, the very particular geopolitical location of the Strip made it clear that any collective punitive action, such as the one inflicted now, could only be an operation of massive killings and destruction; in other words, a continued genocide.

This recognition never inhibited the generals who give the orders to bomb the people from the air, the sea and the ground.

Downsizing the number of Palestinians all over historic Palestine is still the Zionist vision. In Gaza, its implementation takes its most inhuman form.

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The particular timing of this wave is determined, as in the past, by additional considerations.

The domestic social unrest of 2011 is still simmering and, for a while, there was a public demand to cut military expenditures and move money from the inflated ‘defence’ budget to social services. The army branded this possibility as suicidal.

There is nothing like a military operation to stifle any voices calling on the government to cut its military expenses.

Typical hallmarks of the previous stages in this incremental genocide reappear in this wave as well. One can witness again consensual Israeli Jewish support for the massacre of civilians in the Gaza Strip, without one significant voice of dissent.

In Tel Aviv, the few who dared to demonstrate against it were beaten by Jewish hooligans while the police stood by and watched.

Academia, as always, becomes part of the machinery. The prestigious private university, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, has established ‘a civilian headquarters’ where students volunteer to serve as mouthpieces in the propaganda campaign abroad.

The media is loyally recruited, showing no pictures of the human catastrophe Israel has wreaked, and informing its public that this time, ‘the world understands us and is behind us’.

That statement is valid to a point as the political elites in the West continue to provide the old immunity to the ‘Jewish state’.

However, the media have not provided Israel with quite the level of legitimacy it was seeking for its criminal policies.

One can witness again consensual Israeli Jewish support for the massacre of civilians in the Gaza Strip, without one significant voice of dissent. In Tel Aviv, the few who dared to demonstrate against it were beaten by Jewish hooligans while the police stood by and watched.

Obvious exceptions included French media, especially France 24 and the BBC, that continue to shamefully parrot Israeli propaganda.

This is not surprising since pro-Israel lobby groups continue to work tirelessly to press Israel’s case in France and the rest of Europe, as they do in the United States.

The way forward Whether it is burning alive a Palestinian youth from Jerusalem, the fatal shooting of two others just for the fun of it in Beitunia or slaying whole families in Gaza, these are all acts that can only be perpetrated if the victim is dehumanised.

I will concede that all over the Middle East there are now horrific cases where dehumanisation has reaped unimaginable horrors as it does in Gaza today.

But there is one crucial difference between these cases and the Israeli brutality: the former are condemned as barbarous and inhuman, worldwide, while those committed by Israel are still publicly licensed and approved by the president of the United States, the leaders of the EU and Israel’s other friends in the world.

The only chance for a successful struggle against Zionism in Palestine is the one based on a human and civil rights agenda that does not differentiate between one violation and the other and yet identifies clearly the victim and the victimisers.

Those who commit atrocities in the Arab world against oppressed minorities and helpless communities, as well as the Israelis who commit these crimes against the Palestinian people, should all be judged by the same moral and ethical standards.

They are all war criminals, though in the case of Palestine they have been at work longer than anyone else.

It does not really matter what the religious identity is of the people who commit the atrocities or in the name of which religion they purport to speak. Whether they call themselves jihadists, Judaists or Zionists, they should be treated in the same way.

A world that would stop employing double standards in its dealings with Israel is a world that could be far more effective in its response to war crimes elsewhere in the world.

Cessation of the incremental genocide in Gaza and the restitution of the basic human and civil rights of Palestinians wherever they are, including the right of return, is the only way to open a new vista for a productive international intervention in the Middle East as a whole.

Ilan Pappe will be a guest of Muslim Views from July 31, 2014, for a one-week lecture tour. The author of numerous books, Pappe is professor of history and director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at University of Exeter.

Courtesy: electronicintifada.net

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Ilan Pappe South African lecture-tour programme MAHMOOD SANGLAY

MUSLIM Views and the BDS movement have compiled a national programme for the ‘new historian’ of Israel, Ilan Pappe.

After his arrival on July 31, Pappe immediately launches his programme with a talk at Stellenbosch University at a forum hosted by the ecumenical group Kairos Southern Africa on the topic ‘Deconstructing myths and truths about the land of Israel’.

On Friday morning, August 1, Pappe addresses a press conference, followed by a post-Jumuah talk at Masjidul Quds, Gatesville.

The evening is devoted to a talk at Community House in Salt River, hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Commitee.

The highlight on Saturday, August 2, is a two-hour debate to be televised live (from 8pm to 10pm) on iTV. The live forum will host 250 invited guests and will feature Pappe in debate with a Zionist or supporter of Israel. The name of the opposing speaker was not confirmed at the time of going to press.

On Sunday, August 3, a talk will be presented by Pappe at a mass rally at the Islamia College Hall, Imam Haron Road (formerly Lansdowne Road), Lansdowne.

The topic ‘Brand Israel: How Zionism was Marketed Successfully Over the Years’ is expected to draw massive public interest.

Monday, August 4, is dedicated to academic engagements and public talks at universities.

At University of the Western Cape, Pappe speaks in L20 in the Old Arts Building, at 1pm, on ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine: The Past and the Present’.

At University of Cape Town he speaks in the Kramer Lecture Theatre 1, at 6pm, on ‘The False Paradigm of Peace: One-State or Two-States Solution’.

Pappe departs for Durban on August 5 where he will be speaking at University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Pietermaritzburg, at 1pm, on ‘Israel and the Arab Spring’ and at Howard College Auditorium, at 6.30pm, on ‘The Forgotten Palestinians: the Palestinian Minority Inside Israel’.

On Wednesday, August 6, Pappe arrives in Johannesburg where he is expected to meet important academics and political figures such as Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Professors Adam Habib and Jonathan Jansen.

At 6.30pm he speaks at University of Johannesburg on ‘Divorcing Zionism from Judaism’.

The tour ends on August 7 with a lunchtime talk at University of the Witswatersrand on ‘Is Israel an Apartheid State?’

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ISIS and Al-Qaeda: Pandora’s Box and the Second Coming SHAFIQ MORTON

‘PANDORA’S box’ is an artefact in Greek mythology. It was actually a jar given to the character, Pandora, which contained all the evils of the world. The jar was something that should never be opened because, if you did, you would not be able to put anything back.

Unfortunately, in the Muslim world – especially in North Africa and the Middle East – Pandora’s box has been opened.

External meddling by foreign powers in places such as Syria and Iraq have seen Pandora’s toxic contents – Kharijite, nonSunni Islam – spilling out and infecting the region.

The Khawarij are, historically, an infamous 7th century sect that declared both the fourth caliph, Sayyidina Ali, and the disputing Ummayad, Mu’awiyyah, unbelievers for resorting to human arbitration.

Literalists of the most extreme ilk, they believed that everything could be ruled directly from Quran, and had exaggerated notions of sin and jihad.

An indication of their overwhelming ignorance (dare one say boorish stupidity?) was that only 600 verses in the Quran, out of about 6 000, deal with akhkaam, or rulings, and well over 80% of all juridical rulings in Islam have resulted from ijtihad, the efforts of qualified scholars.

The Khawarij, who are known in Arabic as the ‘ones who secede’ (from Islam), murdered Sayyidina Ali with a poisoned sword in 661 CE. They were eventually put down by force.

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In the late 18th century, a Saudi scholar, Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab, revisited Khawarij notions by cherry-picking from the controversial 12th century scholar, Ibn Taimiyyah, to innovate a ‘new’ Islamic creed.

The Islamic sciences of spirituality – including the four legal

schools of thought that governed religious affairs and the theology of Divine Oneness – were either crudely reduced to gross literalism or discarded.

Giant scholars such as Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn al-Arabi were declared unbelievers, or innovative deviants, as were all Sufis and

Shiah.

In modern Khawarij eyes, Islam had been reformed in the mould of jihad. But in the eyes of the vast majority it had been deformed in the eyes of a lunatic for Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab had summarily discarded over 1 000 years worth of academic endeavour.

The innocent victims of Al-Qaeda’s vigilante politics and misapplications of shariah have been the youth.

Photo SHAFIQ MORTON

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Scholars of Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab’s era, including his own brother, condemned his beliefs and warned the public against him.

Just like the Khawarij, anyone who disagreed with Ibn Abd ulWahhab’s primitive ideas was declared kaafir, and their blood was deemed halaal.

This then, is a very brief summation of the primitive theology of the Al-Qaeda and jihadist groupings that have beset the ummah with so much fitnah, or destructive mischief, in the past 30 years.

If history had been left alone, there is a possibility that the Khawarij ‘revival’ could have withered on the bough.

Most Muslims are moderate; they live in the real world; they are of the middle way and, like most people, have always been absorbed in the challenges of dayto-day worshipping and living.

But there are four critical historical junctures that have militated against the demise of SalafiWahhabism, the name by which modern-day Kharijism has been known since Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab’s death of old age in the early 19th century.

Firstly, the Prophet himself had predicted in a sound Tradition that great dissension, akin to the horns of the devil, would emanate from a region called the Najd, Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab’s birthplace.

This Tradition has proved 100% true with the Najd region, near modern-day Riyadh, having produced numerous false prophets and religious pretenders.

Secondly, it was only when a tribal chieftain, Ibn Sa’ud, saw a political use for Ibn Abd ul-Wah-

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Just like the Khawarij, anyone who disagreed with Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab’s primitive ideas was declared kaafir, and their blood was deemed halaal. hab’s beliefs that Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab enjoyed any social acceptability.

Realising that this crude, quick-fix notion of Islam could hold the primitive desert tribes together, Ibn Sa’ud entered into a pact with the preacher.

He (Ibn Sa’ud) would look after power, and Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab would concern himself with matters of belief. To cement this relationship, Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab married into the family. This arrangement endures to this very day. All the muftis of Saudi Arabia come from the loins of Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab.

Thirdly, space does not allow for the bloodthirsty evolution of Wahhabism and its massacres in Taif and Karbala. This is where the Saudi tribesmen, on their way to power in the Hijaz in loincloths, used the covers of the mushaf – the holy texts – to make sandals.

When they took power in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, they trashed the historic graveyards, claiming that honouring the dead was polytheism.

However, what really gave the Wahhabi movement impetus was the advent of oil wealth in the 1930s. Oil wealth meant that the Saudi dynasty – a self-declared monarchy – could spend billions of dollars on propagation and drown out the already moribund Islamic media with its nonsense.

Fourthly, the simplistic, reductionist credo of Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab – which we have to understand was used primarily as a political tool – became an attrac-

tive, short-term socio-political solution for ‘modernist’ scholars facing the daunting prospect of colonisation after the fall of the Ottoman caliphate in 1923.

This political aspect of Wahhabism as a vehicle of societal change through the incorrect notion of jihad being a sixth pillar of the religion, is the root of all the malevolence we face today in Nigeria, Yemen, Asia, Somalia, Syria and Iraq.

In the late 1970s, these forces were harnessed by the Reagan administration to be used as proxy fighters in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Thus the modern mujahid was born, not a creation of Islam but of western political expediency.

After the conflict, when the mujahidin were all dressed up with nowhere to go, Al-Qaeda (literally meaning the ‘data-base’) was born.

Without doubt, the innocent victims of Al-Qaeda’s subsequent vigilante politics – and vengeful misapplications of Sacred Law – have been the youth; a youth enraged by the impotence of its parents, the rule of its despots, the betrayals of the ‘Arab Spring’, the lack of opportunity, military occupation and burgeoning global issues such as food security and climate change.

Without stooping to conspiracy, it is a hard fact that supports the idea of the ummah suffering from a worldwide contagion, a contagion in which the one-eyed, self-declared caliph always seems to be the king in 21st century Islam.

Probe on Iswa closure hindered MAHMOOD SANGLAY

THE Islamic Social Welfare Association’s (Iswa) application for liquidation is underway, according to a report in Muslim Views in May this year.

However, the closure of the NPO is fraught with controversy over the alleged embezzlement of R114 000 for which no one was formally charged. The CEO of Iswa, Rushdy Siers, could not explain why no steps were taken against three members of staff implicated in the alleged embezzlement.

Siers also declined to explain why two outstanding queries related to the registration of a mortgage bond and the sale of a property belonging to the Iswa Trust reported in the May edition of Muslim Views had not been resolved.

The sale of the Iswa Trust property at 11 First Avenue, Belgravia, is subject to query due to a discrepancy in which the deed of sale was signed before the trustees were authorised to act in this capacity.

Aniel Jeaven, the attorney responsible for the conveyance of the property, at first told Muslim Views that this may mean the sale is void, and that he may have to apply to have the registration of

the sale set aside. The property was sold to Fatima Gangraker who is the current registered owner.

When asked if he had acted to address a discrepancy which may render the sale void and for which he may be ultimately responsible, Jeaven told Muslim Views that he had been instructed by his clients not to disclose any further information.

Another query relates to a mortgage bond that was raised in 2006 in the name of the Iswa Trust with Albaraka Bank in respect of a loan for R250 000 on the First Avenue property. None of the trustees at the time had authorised the bond application, nor were they aware of it.

When notified of this query, Siers told Muslim Views in May that he would peruse the records at the bank to determine who had signed to authorise the bond application.

However, two months later, Siers bluntly says ‘there’s nothing wrong’ and declines to discuss the matter further.

Iswa has delivered a vital public service for 28 years. Its closure, especially under such controversial circumstances, demands full accountability and transparency in the public interest.

As the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, penned in his poem, The Second Coming: ‘Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world/ The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/ The ceremony of innocence is drowned…’

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Israeli conscientious objector attends WRI conference SHIREEN MUKADAM

THE War Resisters International (WRI) triennial conference was held this month in Cape Town. It was the first time the conference was held on African soil.

From July 4 to 8, over 200 participants from 63 countries, 22 of them African, converged at the City Hall.

Sahar Vardi (24) is an Israeli conscientious objector and was one of the participants. She grew up in Jerusalem.

‘I was active in anti-Occupation protests from the age of 12 so by the time I was supposed to be drafted [into the army] it wasn’t even a question for me, having personal relationships with Palestinians and just being able to see Palestinians as comrades in the struggle.’

Sahar said that the Israeli education system taught that Palestinians are a threat, and the reason you join the (Israeli) army is to counter that threat. But Sahar was able to see that Palestinians are not a threat to her at all, which was part of her decision not to join the army.

Another part of her decision was influenced by ‘the huge gap between what my education system and the world around me tried to perceive reality to be, and what you actually see when you cross the Green Line into Palestinian neighbourhoods’.

She grew up in a home where she always knew her family was against the occupation. It was her visit with her father to the village of Nueman in 2003 (during the Second Intifada) that was a turning point for this young woman.

Sahar was 13 when they visited

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Israeli conscientious objector, Sahar Vardi, was one of the participants at the War Resisters International conference held in Cape Town this month.

Photo YAZEED KAMALDIEN

the Palestinian village and participated in planting olive trees, changing water pipes and painting buildings in the village.

Sahar stayed in touch with the village residents, and a year-anda-half ago, they called to say they had a problem.

The village has its own checkpoint. The checkpoint keeps them in the Jerusalem part of the fence but the residents are West Bank identity holders, which means they’re isolated from the world.

One day there was a sick horse in the village so residents took her out to the vet. When they tried to bring the horse back in, the soldiers said, ‘I’m sorry, she’s not on the list.’

Witnessing incidents like these, which have nothing to do with security, had an impact on Sahar.

‘Because it was a critical polit-

ical moment – when Israel began building the fence – my father and I both went through a radicalisation process through that village, and through seeing more and more of the daily realities of Palestinians.

‘It was a moment in time when you could see the occupation manifesting itself through a cruel and brutal way.’

This visit to the Palestinian village when she was only 13 was the beginning of her understanding of the hardship which Palestinians face, and of how much of what the military does is not about security or defence.

‘It was the beginning of an eyeopening experience which hasn’t yet ended,’ said Sahar. ‘I don’t think we as Israelis can ever really understand what it means to live in an occupation.

‘We can see it, can feel certain aspects of it…but I can’t understand it because I go through a checkpoint, I smile, no one asks me for identification because I’m white.’

Sahar is concerned about the effects of militarisation on society.

While she acknowledges militarisation has the biggest effect on Palestinians who live under it, she also draws attention to the consequences on Israeli society, specifically on the culture system.

In Israel, the best contribution you can make to your society is through military service. ‘Your citizenship or loyalty is based on your military service.’

Another grave area of concern to Sahar is her country’s militarised economy; one of Israel’s biggest exports is military trade.

‘That means our whole economy is dependent on that, which means we have to maintain the occupation to maintain the good name we have in the international arms industry.

‘The Israeli occupation continues because we can sell these weapons because someone else is going to buy them and use them somewhere else.’

Coming to the WRI conference, where she was able to connect with and speak to activists from around the globe, has led to Sahar’s realisation that armies in different countries use the same tools to recruit soldiers, and to create a societal culture where soldiers have impunity.

How can nonviolent action assist the Palestinian struggle?

Sahar believes that nonviolent resistance is a very strong and important tool that Israel doesn’t know how to deal with, which is

‘probably the best proof that it has a chance to work’.

She adds, ‘Israel is terrified of it. They don’t know what to do because you can’t shoot everyone that is calling for something nonviolent. There is an international community that allows Israel to do a lot of things but it does have a red line.’

Speaking after the conference, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, former Deputy Minister of Defence who led the local organising committee of the WRI 2014 conference, said what most inspired her was the spirit of solidarity for peace.

‘The conference attracted both young and old, passionate people prepared to sacrifice, even if it means taking from their own resources,’she said.

What was unique about this conference was that it wasn’t just a talk shop, the participants are activists.

‘Even though I’m not in the government, it leaves me with a lot of hope. We can achieve a just peace, which attracted me to the liberation struggle,’ said MadlalaRoutledge.

She reflected on Omar Barghouti’s opening remarks at the conference. He said that when he joined the anti-apartheid movement, he didn’t believe that apartheid would be demolished in his lifetime but he still felt a human obligation to stand with those who are suffering.

‘Even if it doesn’t deliver any results, it’s important to follow your conscience and stand for people who are suffering due to injustice, in order to overcome the bad and replace it with light,’ said Madlala-Routledge.

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Chohan speaks about implications of imams as Muslim marriage officers YUMNAH RICHARDS

IT was a chilly evening in Salt River. She was dressed in a knitted poncho and a warm, friendly smile.

The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Fatima Chohan, presented a talk at Darul Ielm Institute on the implications of imams as Muslim marriage officers.

She was a guest lecturer as part of a madrassah course titled ‘Marriage in Islam: Beyond the Walima’. Despite the course being aimed at madrassah attendees, it was well advertised to the broader public.

Just recently, the Department of Home Affairs embarked on a programme whereby they appointed over 200 imams as marriage officers who could ensure that South African Muslims register their marriages under the Marriage Act of 1961.

Fatima Chohan, a main driver in this process, outlined the details of the programme.

Essentially, the Department of Home Affairs started a programme with mainstream Muslim organisations in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

It was intensive, comprising a two-day seminar, followed by a study period for the imams and then, finally, an examination in which they had to score 70% or above to be accredited as marriage officers.

The department intends to

branch out to Gauteng this year and, by the end of the programme, reach every province in South Africa.

What about the Muslim Marriages Bill then?

Unfortunately, this bill developed by the Department of Justice has not been passed yet, given the disputes about Muslim-only judges mediating between Muslim couples.

Since Muslim marriages are still not legally recognised by the South African government, the Department of Home Affairs had a problem: their newly updated system had a database which was inaccurate.

Thus, Chohan and others initiated this programme to appoint Muslim marriage officers. The marriages registered by these officers will have legal consequences.

Previously, those who wished to accord legal status to their Muslim marriages could embark on a civil marriage after their nikah but these being either ‘in community of property’ or an ante-nuptial contract had no real Islamic principles attached.

Thus, this regime in which imams are registered as marriage officers allows couples to formulate a marriage contract governed

by Islamic principles.

After the programme with the imams from the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, six contracts have been drawn up as templates for prospective couples.

This shows the ever present-variation within the Muslim community, and promotes freedom of belief.

Chohan emphasised that the Department of Home Affairs is particularly interested in age, mental ability and foreign status of the spouses in order to protect South African citizens but have no specific interest in the details of the marriage contract.

The marriage contract however, has to be notarised by a notary, which is usually an attorney.

Thus, a few Muslim attorneys have agreed to participate in notarising Muslim marriage contracts at a reduced fee.

The list of imams registered as marriage officers, the six template contracts and the list of Muslim attorneys willing to participate will be available on the United Ulama Council of South Africa’s (UUCSA) website: www.uucsa.org.za.

The Deputy Minister’s talk was comprehensive and balanced. It provided insight into this topic that is vaguely understood, and the confused questions reflected this.

One such question – which was to be expected – was that relating to polygamy.

Currently, the registered imams as marriage officers are not allowed to marry someone twice.

This means that if a registered imam has married two people, he

may not marry the husband to another wife while he is married to the first wife.

This is due to the 1961 maract, which forbids riage polygamy.

However, an imam that is not registered as a marriage officer may marry the husband to a second wife. Thus, the first marriage will have legal consequences but not the second marriage.

Consequently, Chohan cautioned that if one intends to have more than one wife, it is best to have none of the marriages officiated by a marriage officer to ensure justice amongst all wives, as demanded by the Quran.

Other common questions came from married people wanting to have their marriages registered by a marriage officer now, subsequent to marriage.

Chohan responded by saying one may do so but it is advisable to seek legal advice beforehand given that wealth and property may have been accumulated already.

Being engaged to get married in a few months, I was happy and relieved to hear that we, as an engaged couple, now have the choice to draw up an Islamic marriage contract which could have legal consequences.

I’ve heard many, many stories about women who are displaced from their homes after getting divorced or who apply for a faskh but are rejected for months while

being victims of abuse.

In other cases, people have denied being married after 20 years of marriage to escape responsibilities.

Thus, it was refreshing to know that we could devise a contract to protect both of us, and that represents our commitment to mutual consultation.

It also gives us a chance to talk about and work through the difficult questions before starting our marriage.

Chohan related a quote from the late Dullah Omar who said, ‘Don’t wait until the crisis happens, rather solve it way before it happens.’

This new regime is wonderful because nobody is forced into marrying in a certain way.

If a couple feels that they prefer their marriage not to be solemnised by a marriage officer or that they don’t want a marriage contract, they are free to make that choice.

But it does offer options to everybody.

Thus, those who want their Muslim marriages to have legal consequences now have that choice.

The Department of Home Affairs is commended for their efforts and I hope that this programme reaches every corner of South Africa.

Yumnah Richards is a final year Bsc student at University of Cape Town.

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Compassion: the path to righteousness DR MOGAMAT HOOSAIN EBRAHIM

IS there something wrong with Muslims today?

Why have we lost that spirit which transformed ordinary persons into leaders of civilisation in the past? Have we lost that compassion set out by the Prophet (SAW) and his Companions?

Islam provides a major contribution in building a global community where man can live in peace and harmony. The West has the notion that religion is the cause of violence and wars throughout history.

On the contrary, those wars and violence are motivated by greed and power. All belief systems have one thing in common: believing in a Supreme Being Who is compassionate.

Compassion is used in the beginning of every chapter of the Quran, except chapter nine – ‘In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.’

The Quran also mentions in chapter seven, verse 156: ‘… I afflict with My chastisement whom I please, and My mercy encompasses all things…’

Divine mercy is particularly intended for those who keep their duty and who believe in the divine revelations given to Muhammad (SAW).

The Prophet (SAW) said: ‘None of you will be a true believer until he desires for others what he desires for himself.’

Foremost in the teachings of Muhammad (SAW) was the lesson of duty. He emphasised man’s duty to Allah, his duty to His creation and his duty to humanity.

… Nabi Muhammad (SAW) didn’t only reach people on a religious level but also on a secular or political level He spoke of love and compassion. He inculcated supreme conviction in the hearts of his followers that lived and died for the principles he preached.

Professor Karen Armstrong says: ‘Islam came to spread compassion among the tribes, and consequently among the nations of the world. Compassion is very well testified when Allah ordered the Prophet (pbuh) prayers five times a day and not fifty times.

This also indicates another aspect of compassion and that is to be moderate in order to be tolerant.’

Yet, violence and terrorism that we’re currently experiencing are attributed to Muslims. Disagreements among sects and factions, each denouncing the other intensely, have shattered the livelihood of Islam today.

Innocent adults and children are being slain daily due to extremism/ radicalism/ fanaticism. We all know that the West is responsible for the turmoil in the Middle East.

The inhumane Zionist regime of Israel is murdering our innocent brothers and sisters on a daily basis.

So, how is it that in light of this, we, as Muslims, are still fighting and killing each other?

We are supposed to be nations of peace, standing together and defending our religion. In spite of this, most of the violence today among a culture or a religion is taking place in Islamic nations.

How come we find it so immensely difficult to emulate the example of the Prophet (SAW)?

The author Michael H Hart, wrote The 100: A ranking of the most influential persons in history. In it, he lists Nabi Muhammad (SAW) as the most influential person in the history of mankind.

He states that Nabi Muhammad (SAW) didn’t only reach people on a religious level but also on a secular or political level. I believe this was the case due the Prophet’s distinct ability to understand people and situations through compassion.

It is also evident that among the younger generation of Muslims, some stray away from religion. While they do not articulate their dislike of it in so many words, they often show signs of hesitation in accepting that which is undoubtedly prescribed by the noble Quran.

It is not religion that is the useless force in the world of Islam, it is the changed conception of religion and the consequent non-

observance of the duties it imposes upon Muslims that has brought about helplessness and lack of sincere faith.

Islam inculcates and demands sincere belief in all it teaches; and genuine faith which that emanates from one’s heart cannot be obtained by force or violence.

Do we have a contradiction?

Currently, we are vigorously engaged in proclaiming our conviction in the religion of Islam and the noble ideals enshrined in its principles. But it is one thing to be a convinced Muslim and quite another to act in accordance with that conviction.

Conviction loses its value if it does not infuse an enthusiasm for action. Non-observance of these duties would obviously break down compassion as a fundamental principle. This is the response to an often-posed question of what is wrong with the Muslim world.

During the period of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Muslims were allowed to take up arms under the following conditions: l To counter and banish those who attack Muslims without just cause. The right of selfdefence is allowed even by modern international law and all the nations of the world exercise this right. l To establish freedom of conscience. It is the duty of Muslims to fight for the protection of others, even if they are nonMuslims, being persecuted for their religion. l For the protection and safeguarding of all places intended for the worship of Allah be

they Christian churches, Jewish synagogues or Muslim mosques.

On a positive note, Professor Karen Armstrong said that after the September 11 attacks, the Muslim communities in the West have been exposed to a lot of suffering inflicted upon them. This is, according to her, ‘too far from the golden rule of compassion’.

As a reaction to this injustice towards the Muslims, cities in different parts of the world have developed campaigns in order to promote community compassion among its residents. Muslim youths are extensively participating in these campaigns, specifically in Amsterdam, Holland and Seattle, USA. However, it is sad to conclude that in Iraq and Afghanistan where there are predominantly Muslims, compassion is non-existent.

The world is currently focused on Iraq, where a militant group named ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), are in the process of conquering all the major cities in Iraq, imposing their extreme Wahhabi rule.

They are doing this by force and want to create a new Sunni emirate. Muslims are killing Muslims.

Where is the Compassion?

Where is the righteousness?

Where is the true Islam?

While all this is happening, some of the kufaar are sitting back and rejoicing.

Dr Ebrahim is Head of Research and lecturer in Sirah, History and Religious Studies at International Peace College South Africa (IPSA).

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One more good reason to stay close to the Quran TAHIRAH JAYES

THE UK government’s ‘antiterrorism’ strategy, known as PREVENT, is cutting into every sector of Muslim life in Britain, resulting in divisions and fear – as well as the arrest of over 700 young Muslims between the ages of 15 and 24 in the past year alone.

Independent advocacy organisation CAGE warns that the policy’s wide scope makes legitimate Muslim behaviour and activities unlawful, and bodes a threat not only to Muslims but to all those concerned with social justice. Through its broad, politically driven and unchallenged definition of ‘extremism’, PREVENT appears to be an attempt by the UK government to covertly define what constitutes legitimate Islam and what doesn’t.

‘This is what PREVENT has always been all about,’ says Asim Qureshi, research director at CAGE. ‘It’s always been a social engineering programme to legitimate the government sponsored version of Islam only.’

It targets an Islamic outlook that is concerned with the world and which questions the effectiveness of neo-liberal democracy to deal with our global challenges. PREVENT has covertly shut down events organised by mainstream Muslim organisations where issues like Palestine and Guantanamo Bay have been under discussion. ‘Large portions of people in the UK have no idea that PREVENT even exists,’ said Qureshi. ‘Most of these organisations do not want to come out and say that PREVENT offices have stopped us from holding an event, for example. They don’t want the community to feel that there is a policing issue around their organisation.’ This makes the policy very difficult to challenge or

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obstruct. PREVENT’s broad definition of ‘extremism’ includes indicators including certain expressed opinions, increased religiosity in dress, and support of certain causes. The strategy makes much of the ‘early detection’ of ‘extremism’, meaning that misconceptions or rejection of UK foreign policy, distrust of Western media and perceptions that government policy is discriminatory, are all stated indicators in PREVENT policy that can lead to a Muslim being reported and even arrested for ‘extremism’.

‘The apartheid regime had many similar mechanisms to criminalise thought,’ he said. ‘If you look at the life of someone like Steve Biko, it’s quite obvious that they were using very similar tactics and techniques in order to criminalise dissent.’

Qureshi said there was not enough debate on the definition of ‘extremism’ prior to the policy being ratified and implemented.

The policy was quickly adopted at a traumatic time for Britons, post 7/7, where a certain accepted narrative around current events was easily posited and accepted. PREVENT was reinvigorated in 2013 and largely sold to the public by politicians claiming that Britons going to fight against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria would be more likely to commit ‘terrorist attacks’ when they returned home – a claim that CAGE has consistently stated to be false based on proof that Britons who fight in Syria do so out of a concern for human rights and social justice, both core elements of their ‘Britishness’.

PREVENT has also targeted Muslim charities who support the Syrian people. This approach to Muslims by the UK is unprecedented. ‘During the conflict with Libya, we didn’t see this same type of rhetoric taking place in terms of a blowback against the UK,’ said

Qureshi. ‘In the same way, if we think of British soldiers who are fighting with the IDF in the occupied territories – Jewish British citizens – there’s no debate or discussion about them being involved in war crimes.’ CAGE describes PREVENT as a politically motivated programme and not a counter-terrorism strategy. One of the reasons why it has succeeded in being implemented is that Muslims themselves have too easily bought into the accepted Western driven narratives that prevail in the ‘war on terror’. ‘We’ve been a bit politically naive,’ he said. ‘We haven’t questioned some of the underlying assumptions about who Muslims are and what they believe in.’

The result, according to the CAGE report entitled ‘The PREVENT Strategy: A Cradle to Grave Police State’, is a policy which is no longer about stopping politically motivated violence – which is driven by frustration and anger at Western support of corrupt governments and not ideology – but rather on defeating Islamic ideology itself, by instating an Islam that is neo-liberal friendly, and fragmented.

‘They want us to just sit and do dhikr in our homes,’ he said.

According to the CAGE report, teachers, doctors, police officers, civil servants, including firefighters and local government officials, are being trained and indoctrinated with a neo-conservative understanding of Islam and Muslim political struggles.

This training is ostensibly presented by ‘experts’. ‘It’s almost like we are becoming government informants,’ one nurse told al-Jazeera.

Suspicion has even infected the Muslim community, said Qureshi.

‘They are putting this fear into the community that if they associate with one another then, somehow, that could be a problem

because [there’s an implied message] that you don’t know who another Muslim is really, and so everyone is always potentially a suspect.’

One of the most disturbing aspects of PREVENT is its ability to infiltrate schools and affect the lives of young Muslims. Through its report, CAGE shows how almost 700 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have been apprehended in the past year through PREVENT’s Channel programme, which is the ‘action’ arm of PREVENT. Mothers have been encouraged to report ‘terrorist’ tendencies in their children. A voluntary code of conduct will also be released for madrassahs in the UK, which ‘will be supportive of the government’s preventing-extremism strategy’.

Since the advent of PREVENT, CAGE has heard numerous reports from Muslims that projects, ostensibly commissioned in the interests of the community but funded by PREVENT, were in fact intelligence-gathering exercises for the police. More haunting have been mapping exercises of Muslim organisations, under the guise of ‘Muslim needs research’, that were in fact used to profile these groups to fit into notions of Islam put forward by PREVENT. In one London borough, CAGE reported that citizens working with youth were told to add information to databases and highlight which youths were Muslim – and they were even asked to provide information to police about which streets Muslim youths could be found on.

‘One youth leader alleges his refusal to provide intelligence led to the police spreading false rumours and trying to smear him and his organisation,’ reads the CAGE report. The mechanics of thinking behind the PREVENT policy itself is shrouded in secrecy with little or

no response to emails or questions, said Qureshi. There are no mechanisms to challenge decisions, nor is there a review policy to scrutinise how it is applied. ‘Whilst the PREVENT strategy nowhere recognises foreign policy and Western interventions as a motivator or cause of violence, it uses grievance and comments made about injustice, oppression and foreign policy as evidence of a propensity to future violence,’ reads the CAGE report.

This sets a dangerous and unchallenged precedent for social justice organisations and human rights activists, and threatens one of the core values of Islam, which is social justice. Most importantly, constant harassment of youth and families is divisive and, in some cases, might in fact increase propensity to violence.

‘They don’t want Muslims to have that concern and affection for other Muslims who are suffering around the world,’ said Qureshi.

PREVENT strikes at the heart of the transnational identity that Muslims have, and confuses or shrouds the core principles of Islam which offer genuine alternatives to an aggressive global neo-liberal system. CAGE has identified PREVENT as the leading blueprint for ‘counter-terrorism policy’ across the world, and it has already been adopted in the United States.

Birmingham resident Mahmood told CAGE: ‘We’ve seen draconian legislation introduced, and that means we are surrendering our civil liberties. Where will this end? ... We are sleep-walking ourselves into very serious times.’

CAGE is building awareness and constantly highlights and challenges PREVENT. Find out more about the PREVENT programme on www.cageuk.org or read the full report on www.cageuk.org/report.pdf

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Conference a milestone in development of Prophetic medicine DR MUJEEB HOOSEN

THE Ottoman city of Ankara, Turkey, hosted the first International Congress for Prophetic Medicine on June 24 and 25, 2014.

The congress was accomplished by the collaborative efforts of the Natural Health Institute of Istanbul (NHI) and Muhder with support from the Turkish government.

NHI primarily focuses on the scientific research, awareness and practice of complementary and traditional medicine (C&TM) in Turkey.

Muhder is an organisation dedicated to highlighting the contribution made by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to humanity by removing misconceptions surrounding his personality, and by providing scientific validation to his holistic advices.

This conference marked a huge milestone in the development of Prophetic medicine globally.

Prophetic medicine, better known as Tibb an-Nabawi, was the foundation to Islamic medicine that flourished during the ‘Golden era of Islam’.

It is a form of traditional medicine which developed as a result of the Prophet’s (SAW) words and actions relating to all matters of health, hygiene, disease, the treatment of disease and the care of patients.

It is a branch of knowledge that places utmost importance on the preservation of health. It covers preventive and curative medicine, mental and emotional wellbeing, spiritual cures (ruqyah) and medical treatments.

It integrates body, mind and the soul in the quest for optimum

Professor Rashid Bhikha (left), chairman and director of the Ibn Sina Institute of Tibb, based in Gauteng, and Dr Mujeeb Hoosen presented papers at the first International Congress for Prophetic Medicine held in Ankara, Turkey. Photo SUPPLIED

health. Tibb an-Nabawi provides guidance on holistic health that is universally applicable to patients, at any time, and under all circumstances.

The World Health Organization (WHO) health strategy for traditional medicine 2014-2023 recognises C&TM as an essential component of healthcare in most countries, which is often underestimated.

Specifically, the potential contribution of T&CM to health, wellness and people-centred health care.

T&CM’s primary objective is health preservation and disease

prevention through patient education and individualised healthcare.

WHO proposes an integrated healthcare system of scientifically supported T&CM and allopathic (western/ conventional) medicine to overcome the current global healthcare dilemma.

Today, there is a global resurgence of C&TM within communities and within the medical science fraternity as age-old concepts are re-interpreted in light of the rapidly increasing scientific research.

The International Congress for Prophetic Medicine aimed to go

back to the roots of Tibb anNabawi, and critically analysed it’s approach and practice for modern times in terms of sociology, medicine, ethics and religion.

Some heated debates concerning Tibb an-Nabawi from different perspectives were explored as well as a look at its significance and vitality for healthy societies in the world.

Research papers presented scientific validation of herbal remedies such as the use honey and therapies such as cupping.

The principles and practice of Tibb an-Nabawi in terms of nutrition, preventative medicine and healing through acts of worship were explored.

Modern medical ethical topics like stem cell therapy, gene use, organ transplantation and cosmetic surgery were also discussed in light of Islamic law.

Many aspects of the Prophet’s (SAW) daily rituals and habits like Quran recitation, fasting, ablution, personal hygiene, praying and eating etiquettes were appreciated from a scientific perspective in terms of healing for the body and mind.

The highlight of the conference included opening speeches of support by the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Prof Dr Emrullah Isler, Minister of Health, Dr Mehmet Muezzinoglu, and the President of Commission for Health, Family, Work and Social Issues, Prof Dr Necdet Unuvar.

The event enjoyed widespread

media coverage, which included Turkish TV providing online live feeds on the research papers presented, which were translated into Arabic, Turkish and English.

Invited guest presenters included international clinical researchers, academics and practitioners of both allopathic (western/ conventional) medicine and C&TM. Country and university representation included that of Saudi Arabia, Germany, Turkey, UK, Algeria, India, South Africa and others.

South African guest presenters included Prof Rashid Bhikha (CEO of The Ibn Sina Institute of Tibb) and Dr Mujeeb Hoosen, a researcher and lecturer of Tibb an-Nabawi.

Prof Bhikha presented a paper entitled ‘Prophetic Medicine: Healthcare for All Ages’, which highlighted the fundamental principles of Tibb an-Nabawi.

Dr Hoosen’s paper, entitled ‘Temperament – the missing link in modern preventative medicine’, focused on the concept of individualised healthcare.

The South African contribution was well received and, as a result, Prof Bhikha and Dr Hoosen were invited to join the collaborative efforts of an international team of researchers who aims to promote the practice of Tibb an-Nabawi through evidence-based medicine.

The vision is to present healthcare solutions to all of mankind.

‘And We have sent you (O Muhammad) as a mercy for all of creation.’ (Quran 21:107) Dr Mujeeb Hoosen is a lecturer and researcher of Unani-Tibb Medicine at University of the Western Cape.

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Stand Up and Be Counted campaign!

The Muslim Directory App for South Africa has successfully loaded over 900 masajid and musallahs, and is being updated continuously.

Muslim census in SA THERE have been three official censuses since South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994; the first in 1996, the second in 2001 and the third conducted in October, 2011. In the last two censuses, religion was omitted, hence, there is no data on the Muslim population in South Africa.

The South African population in 1996 was 40,6 million, increasing by 10,4 per cent to 44,8 million in 2001. The population grew by 15,5 per cent, or almost 7 million people, in the space of ten years, to reach a total of 51,7 million in 2011.

The estimated population of Muslims in the 1996 census was 1,5 per cent, i.e. a mere 600 000.

If we take the same percentage and apply it to the 2011 census, our estimated Muslim population will be in the region of 775 000, which by all accounts seems unbelievably low. According to one source, there are over 200 000 Muslims of Malawian origin in KZN.Since 1994, there has been an influx of Muslims from various parts of Africa and Asia, hence, the Muslim population has grown substantially but the numbers are unknown.

Why is this data important?

If we have this data, we can leverage this information and negotiate with local, provincial and national government on various issues concerning the Muslim community: l SAHUC will be able to negotiate with the Hajj Ministry to increase the Hajj quota for South African Muslims if we are able to show that our population is more than 1,5 per cent to 2 per cent of the South African population. l Our Halaal authorities can be empowered to negotiate with various stakeholders on Halaal issues.

Hence, the need for this data is critical and urgent.

Stand Up And Be Counted campaign The campaign to do a statistical count of all Muslim males was launched by Muslim Directory App during the month of Ramadaan. Called Stand Up And Be Counted, three counts of all Muslim males in each masjid/ musallah during the month of Ramadaan: 27th Night of Ramadaan, the last Friday of Ramadaan and on Eid day. This would give the developers of the app three sets of data from which they can extrapolate the number of women and children. This data will be a reasonably good ‘guesstimate’ of the Muslim population in South Africa. The counting process goes through the follow-

ing steps: 1. Update the list of masajid, musallahs and eidgahs with contact details.

2. Contact each of the above to get their commitment to undertake the project.

3. Appoint an enumerator as the contact person to coordinate the counting process.

4. Draw and communicate a simple instruction manual on how the project will be implemented.

5. Data will be submitted to a central office and computed.

The application is available on any Android or iOS device from the links below: iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/za/app/m uslimdirectoryfree/id531028280?mt=8 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps /details?id=com.muslim.directoryprolite The developers of the app, Muhammed Omar and Mohamed Amra, are calling on all imams and masjid committees to support this campaign ‘as it will most certainly strengthen the ummah in South Africa in many ways, Insha Allah. ‘We believe that this national campaign will be the first united campaign where all Muslims will support and participate and, Insha Allah, be a forerunner for other similar initiatives.’

For further details contact by email: info@muslimdirectoryapp.co.za

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The Durban Beach Shelter needs your help HUSSAIN VADACHIA

A SRI LANKAN national, Mr Deen Mohamed, established The Durban Beach Shelter 17 years ago.

On arrival in Durban, he was mugged and robbed of all his possessions on Durban’s Esplanade.

He was left traumatised and broke. That night, he had to sleep on the beachfront pavement with no food or bedding. On both sides of him were locals also sharing the pavement using cardboards as blankets. He decided there and then that this was a calling for him to find a shelter for these homeless individuals.

With the help of a few businessmen, he managed to locate an empty building in the Point area.

A deposit was raised and, subsequently, The Durban Beach Shelter was established. He asked his family in Sri Lanka to send him some funds, which they did.

Over the years, over ten million people have stayed and moved on from this shelter. For a small daily operational fee of R25, the Durban Beach Shelter provides meals and sleeping quarters to the homeless.

The shelter, which is open to all, is managed according to the Islamic ethos. All meals served are strictly halaal, and many have embraced Islam voluntarily after witnessing the generosity of the Muslims. Males and females are accommodated on separate floors. Married couples are given their own rooms and no alcohol is allowed. The shelter also offers training in skills such as baking, sewing, woodwork and computer literacy. Many have secured employment with their training

and have subsequently returned to their families thereby becoming self-sustainable. Presently, the organisation has been served eviction papers by the landlord. The management team has been ordered to vacate the building and are, ironically, now on the street and homeless after providing meals and shelter to millions over the past 17 years. This is, indeed, a sorrowful predicament to be in after performing a selfless service to the homeless. A spokesperson for the management team has called for support from the community. ‘Once again we, with heavy hearts, make this earnest appeal to the community to contribute generously to help us resettle these individuals and, in so doing, continue with this needed service to much humankind. The Al Ansaar Foundation, South African National Zakah Fund and the Al Imdaad Foundation have made sincere pledges to assist. However, this will only materialise once the Durban Beach Shelter is firmly resettled in its new premises.

The banking details of The Durban Beach Shelter are: For cash and cheque deposits only: Absa; Branch Code: 632005; Account Name: Durban Beach Shelter; Account Number: 407341-2216; Reference: 786-00072105 For electronic transfers only: Albaraka Bank; Branch Code: 800-000; Account Name: Durban Beach Shelter; Account Number: 786-000-72105 For more information, contact Mr Deen Mohamed on 083 527 3512 or Mr Reuben Dhary on 081 709 5604.

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Muslim Views . July 2014

Health File

Stopped smoking in Ramadaan? Kick the habit forever

Smelling the fresh crisp morning air will take on new meaning after stopping smoking.Photo RIAZ ISMAIL

Many smokers either stopped smoking in Ramadaan or cut down. Dr RIAZ ISMAIL, President of the Islamic Medical Association of South Africa, gives guidelines to kicking the habit.

‘I SMOKE because it’s a habit’ or ‘I smoke because I am stressed and it relaxes me.’ Not one smoker has ever given me a coherent answer to why they light up and foul their lungs.

Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled.

This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs. The most common method of smoking today is through cigarettes.

A cigarette burns at 700 degrees Celsius at the tip and 60 degrees in the core. This is like having a braai on your lips 20 times a day and your lips and lungs are being slow cooked. This heat breaks down the tobacco to produce various toxins, and one of the key ones is nicotine.

Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances. When you use tobacco products, nicotine is quickly absorbed into your bloodstream. Within ten seconds of entering your body, the nicotine reaches your brain. It causes the brain to release adrenaline, creating a buzz of pleasure and energy.

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more cigarettes in order to get the nicotine’s pleasurable effects and prevent withdrawal symptoms, which explains why smokers say that smoking is a cure for stress and it relaxes them.

In essence, the mind-altering effect of the nicotine leads to that sensation. Why is this different to tik or cocaine, I wonder? To tell smokers that they are addicts is somehow seen as acceptable because it is only cigarettes.

It is known that smoking causes cancers of the mouth, throat and lungs, and this is just starting at the top of the list. The more you smoke in a day and the longer you have smoked, the higher your risk of cancer.

What effects does it have on the family?

The buzz fades quickly though, and leaves you feeling tired, a little down and wanting the buzz again. This feeling is what makes

you light up the next cigarette.

Since your body is able to build up a high tolerance to nicotine, you’ll need to smoke more and

Passive smoking or secondhand smoking causes many of the same diseases as direct smoking.

These include heart disease, lung cancer and lung diseases. Let’s break that down into lung cancers, breast cancer, renal cancer and brain cancer.

Perhaps cancer is so frequently heard these days that no one fears it anymore. But it causes death and significant morbidity.

Children have an increased rate of middle ear and respiratory infections in the homes of smokers. Babies exposed to smoking have an increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

‘Those who cause harm to believing men and women with-

out any reason do a great sin.’

(Quran 33:58) Why then endanger the lives of others, especially those you love?

So that’s the physical risk. Are there any others you might ask?

The economic impact on families in this day and age is severe. A smoker who smokes 20 cigarettes per day, spends on average R33 per packet. That is R231 per week and R12 012 per year.

This is enough to pay for electricity for an average household for at least a year or 1 200 loaves of bread. Who in this day and age can afford to burn money?

Islam is clear. Allah says in Surah al-A’raaf, ‘And He makes good things halaal for them and bad things haraam.’ (7:157) So smoking can either be permissible and good or prohibited and evil. All physicians agree, smoking is harmful for you.

Allah says in surah 4, verse 29, ‘Do not kill yourself. Allah is merciful unto you.’ It can therefore be seen that smoking goes against the teachings of Quran.

How can Islam help you quit?

One of the dangers of tobacco is that it is so addictive. It causes a physical response in your body when you try to give it up. Therefore, quitting is often difficult.

However, with the help of Allah and your personal commitment to improve yourself for the sake of Allah, and for your own health, it is possible.

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Niyyah – make your intention It is first recommended to make the firm intention, from deep in your heart, to give up this evil habit.

Trust in Allah’s words: ‘...When you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah for Allah loves those who put their trust in Him. If Allah helps you, none can overcome you; if He forsakes you, who is it – after that – who can help you? In Allah, then, let believers put their trust.’

(Qur’an 3:159-160)

Change your habits Secondly, you must avoid situations where you

Set your lungs free.

are used to smoking, and people who do so around you.

For example, if you have certain friends who gather together to smoke, make a choice to stay away from that environment for the time being. At a vulnerable stage, it is too easy to relapse by having ‘just one’.

Remember, tobacco causes a physical addiction and you must stay away completely.

Find alternatives Thirdly, drink a lot of water and keep yourself busy in other endeavours.

Spend time in the mosque.

Play sports. Pray. Spend

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Photo RIAZ ISMAIL

time with your family and non-smoking friends.

And remember the words of Allah: ‘And those who strive hard in Our Cause, We will certainly guide them to Our Paths for verily Allah is with those who do right.’

(Qur’an 29:69) Speak to your doctor; there are some medical interventions as well.

Why not make your niyyah to stop smoking like you made your niyyah to abstain from food and drink during the day in Ramadaan? Allah is Most Merciful and is able to strengthen your resolve if you truly want to stop.

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Muslim Views . July 2014

Interfaith solidarity for social justice SHIREEN MUKADAM

THE athaan sounded. The donkeys stood still against the dry, brown landscape of the town of Renk, north-east of South Sudan. In the shadows of the donkey, someone knelt down to the ground, praying.

‘That witness was very powerful,’ said Reverend Alan Storey.

Sudan was the land where Storey was introduced to Islam in a way that inspired him.

‘It was the first time I was working in a country where the majority of people are Muslim, and I was totally struck by the five-times-a-day prayer,’ says Storey, Reverend of the Central Methodist Mission, at Green Market Square, Cape Town.

This year, he is observing the month of Ramadaan for the first time. ‘You can know about Ramadaan, you can read about it but if you really want to understand it, you have to enter into it.’

Storey is not the only nonMuslim observing Ramadaan. He has also encouraged his congregation to join him. According to Storey, in order to understand another’s religion, you need to enter into the tradition of others, on their terms.

What inspired him to call others to this practice? ‘I completely believe God is present in it in powerful ways that will surprise us.

‘Ramadaan has something incredibly important to teach everyone. Not least to do it in a country where some people are forced into Ramadaan … every day of their lives because of poverty.’

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Social justice activist, Reverend Alan Storey, protesting outside Parliament Photo SUPPLIED against restrictions on freedom of speech.

Storey is a social justice activist. Born in Johannesburg in 1968, his father, Reverend Peter Storey, was President of the South African Council of Churches and

founder of Gun Free South Africa.

From a young age, Storey was exposed to what was happening under apartheid. ‘My understand-

ing of God is that He doesn’t love some people more than others.

He doesn’t only love those who believe. He doesn’t only care about people who pray. He values everyone equally.

‘If that is my understanding of God, I need to work for a world that honours that truth.’

God has no favourites, believes Storey.

He compares the apartheid system to one of favouritism – of one race over another. ‘Favouritism scars you.’

It allows one to believe one is superior, and the other to believe he is inferior. Both groups internalise their superiority and inferiority, respectively.

Despite the demise of apartheid two decades ago, today there is favouritism of rich over poor in South Africa. ‘The system that benefitted me, has made life difficult for others,’ reflects Storey.

As he was growing up, Storey was conflicted between a calling to become a teacher or a minister.

When he was 19, he travelled to Australia where he worked as a labourer.

His epiphany came one day, while digging the foundations for a boardwalk there. ‘I realised I can be a teacher with a different topic to teach. I could become a teacher of a way of living; that brings life to myself and creation.’

As a young man, Storey knew that he would not fight in the military. For him it was unjust, a means by which the laws of the land were being enforced.

When he returned to South Africa, he was involved in the End Conscription Campaign (ECC).

He was arrested in 1990 and was the last conscientious objector in South Africa to be prosecuted. His case was the first in which the state dropped charges against a conscientious objector.

It was the same year Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

He worked as assistant minister at a church in Rustenburg before studying theology and philosophy at Rhodes University.

It was while working in Welkom as assistant minister in a church that he established the Bana Ba Modimo (Children of God) shelter. The children said, ‘People call us street children but we are not from the street, we are from God.’ Thereafter, Storey started the Calvary Methodist Church, in Midrand. His church partnered with the nearby Ivory Park informal settlement, next to Thembisa, and the congregation grew from 50 to 800 people over the eleven years Storey spent there.

Since he moved to Cape Town five years ago, he has been actively involved in Gun Free South Africa, and bringing an end to discrimination in the church based on sexual orientation.

Speaking at Claremont Main Road Mosque after taraweeh prayers, on the topic of the importance of interfaith solidarity for social justice, Storey said, ‘The world is not working. If we continue living life in the direction we’re living, there will be no life on this planet in the near distant future.’

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Using the analogy of a family, Storey described a scenario where the parents are going away and leave food and money for their four children. ‘We’re leaving more than enough. All we ask is that while we are away, you behave amongst yourselves as if we are here.’

At first, the children behave but, after a while, the eldest child begins to take more of the money for himself. ‘I have more responsibility than you, I do more than you so I deserve more money,’ he says to justify his behaviour.

The second-eldest child could stand on her own feet. But the two youngest siblings struggled; they didn’t have enough food to eat. The youngest child got very sick with pneumonia, and died.

When the parents came home, they asked the eldest, ‘Why did you think that we love you more than your youngest sis-

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ter? What made you think you could use the resources that we left for all of you, just for yourself?’

Storey explains the relevance of this analogy. ‘We all believe there is one Creator, the parent of us all, therefore making us siblings, regardless of what you or I believe. The parent has one desire for us: to share what the parent has generously left for us.’ He added that throughout history we find some providing reasons to justify taking more, while others die.

This is why, according to Storey, interfaith solidarity around social justice issues is so important. ‘Unless we work out the equal distribution of goods, there will always be conflict. For so many, religion has been the cause of conflict or exacerbates conflict.’

He said his decision to observe Ramadaan this year was as a result of relations across the interfaith divides. Although only 20 people in his congregation agreed to join him in fasting, Storey said, ‘It’s 20 more than last year.’

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Bani Quraizah’s fate sealed SALIM PARKER

Sa’d ibn Mu’adh was a majestic man and was held in high regard by the Muslims. He was large of stature, of heavy and strong build.

When he arrived at the camp to deliver his judgement about the fate of the Jewish tribe of Bani Quraizah (whose treachery was now well known), the Prophet (SAW) said, ‘Rise in honour of your liege and lord.’

The Muslims all rose and greeted Sa’d. A great task awaited him and he took it seriously.

Sa’d was well-versed in the events of warfare and was, along with Umar, not keen to let the hostile prisoners of the Battle of Badr be spared or ransomed.

He was aware that many of those who had been captured by the Muslims at Badr had returned at Uhud and again at the Battle of the Trench.

The Bani Nadir had previously been exiled from Madinah on gracious terms as far as warfare was concerned but had returned as part of the enemy, making up a significant number of the Confederates at the Battle of the Trench.

The thought crossed his mind that if the Bani Nadir had been executed rather than exiled, the invading Confederates would have been half in size and the Bani Quraizah would not have considered committing treason.

Sa’d was also part of the envoy that had tried to discourage the Bani Quraizah from breaking their pact of peace with the Muslims and was acutely aware of their devious and treacherous nature when they assumed that the Muslims would certainly be defeated.

He had to judge for the survival of the ummah, not simply out of remembrance of the good relationships his clan, the Aws, had with the Jews.

‘Father of Amr, the Messenger of Allah has appointed you to judge the case of the Confederates,’ the Muslims said to Sa’d.

‘Do you swear by Allah and make by Him your covenant that my judgement will be the verdict upon them?’ Sa’d asked.

They replied that it was the case.

‘And is it binding on him who is here?’ he asked, glancing in the direction of Nabi Muhammad (SAW) but not looking directly at him.

The Prophet (SAW) also replied in the affirmative.

Sa’d then delivered his judgement. ‘The men will be slain, the property divided and the women and children made captive,’ he said.

The Prophet (SAW) concurred with the verdict, saying, ‘You have judged with the judgement of Allah from above the seven heavens.’

The Jewish men were kept in the camp while the women and children were taken away and housed in the city of Madinah.

The men spent the night in the Muslim Views

City of Peace: The serenity that is experienced in Madinah today came at the cost of many lives. The Prophet’s (SAW) vision of a religion of love, peace and tranquillity was tempered by the realisation that the non-Muslims were determined to eradicate Islam. His kindness and tolerance towards enemies, such as those captured at the Battle of Badr and the Jews that were exiled to Khaybar, led to renewed onslaughts by them against the Muslims. Thus, in the interest of the ummah and the preservation of Islam, after the treachery of the Bani Quraizah, Nabi Muhammad (SAW) had to respond in a manner that the enemies would understand. His actions had to be such that they would ensure that the non-Muslims would not again betray the Muslims.

Photo SALIM PARKER

camp and recited the Torah and attempted to encourage each other to remain firm in their faith.

The next morning, Nabi Muhammad (SAW) ordered long, narrow and deep trenches to be dug in the marketplace.

These were to be the graves of the traitors. Small groups of the Bani Quraizah men were placed alongside the trench and were executed there.

Ali, Zubayr and the younger Companions were tasked with carrying out the executions, completing each beheading with the single stroke of a sword. Most texts indicate that about seven hundred men of the Bani Quraizah were executed.

Many critics have commented on the above episode.

In the context of the constant onslaught against the burgeoning Islam, a stern message had to be sent to the enemy, despite the message of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation that Nabi Muhammad (SAW) was advocating.

If the Muslims lost any of the battles, wholesale massacres would have ensued and all the Muslims eliminated.

Some texts allude to the fact that even the Bani Quraizah were not surprised by the decision and that their own scriptures refer to such types of punishment.

In Deuteronomy 20:12 it is stated: ‘When the Lord thy God hath delivered it unto thy hands, thou shall smite every male therein with the edge of the sword but the women and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoils thereof, thou shalt take unto thyself.’

A strong message was thus sent to the Jews of Khaybar.

The Bedouins in the areas surrounding Madinah also noted that the Muslims would not hesitate to retaliate against treachery and would not easily renege on existing pacts.

It has to be borne in mind that the executions were not aimed at Jews but rather against a treacherous tribe that happened to be Jewish.

There was never an issue of race or religion involved.

The other seventeen Jewish tribes that resided peacefully in Madinah neither objected nor attempted to intervene in the matter as they considered it a purely tribal and political matter; something that occurred frequently in the Arabian Peninsula.

A number of Arabs who belonged to the Kilab tribe were implicated with the Bani Quraizah and were also executed.

The Prophet (SAW) dearly wanted to not let any blood be shed unnecessarily but, in a primitive society where violence and killings on such a scale was the norm, the pragmatic reformist notion of forgiveness was an alien one.

The other Jewish tribes continued to live on peaceful terms with the Muslims for many years.

The Quran reassured them of the Muslims’ respect for the people of the book, provided it was reciprocated.

‘Do not argue with followers of previous revelations other than in a most kindly manner – unless it be such of them as are bent upon evildoing – and say, “We believe in that which has been bestowed upon you for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that we all surrender ourselves.”’ (29:46) The women, children and property were divided amongst the Muslims who took part in the Battle of the Trench. A number of them were ransomed by the Bani City of the Prophet: Madinah, the city which Muslims yearn to visit, could have been lost to the Confederates due to the deceit of the Bani Quraizah. Sa’d ibn Mu’ath, who had close ties with the Bani Quraizah, had to make far-reaching decisions about their fate after their treacherous actions during the Battle of the Trench, which could have led to the defeat and massacre of the Muslims.

After the battle, in Madinah, the City of Peace and Light, he took the decision to have all the men of the Bani Quraizah executed – a decision which, although contrary to the spirit of forgiveness that Nabi Muhammad (SAW) propagated, was sanctioned by our Nabi.

Photo SALIM PARKER

Nadir at Khaybar.

Nabi Muhammad (SAW) chose Rayhanah as part of his share to be his slave.

She was a lady of immense beauty, and though she was at first reluctant to embrace Islam, she soon realised the immense wisdom of the new religion, and accepted the Shahada.

When the Prophet (SAW) heard this news, He offered to set her free and marry her.

She gracefully declined, saying, ‘O Messenger of Allah, leave me in your power, that would be easier for me and for you.’ She remained in his service until she passed away about five years later.

After delivering his judgement, Sa’d returned to the Prophet’s Mosque.

He asked Allah to let him live if he had not accomplished what his Creator had willed him to do, otherwise Allah should let him die.

A few days after the end of the Battle of the Trench, Nabi Muhammad (SAW) saw Sa’d unconscious, and earnestly prayed to Allah to end his suffering.

Sa’d woke up, and acknowledged hearing the prayer of the Prophet (SAW). A few hours later, Sa’d passed away.

Sa’d was a heavy man so the carriers of his bier were amazed

by how light he felt.

They mentioned this to Nabi Muhammad (SAW).

‘I saw angels carrying him,’ was the reply.

The bier was placed next to the burial hole, and the Prophet (SAW) led the funeral prayers, a multitude of men and women standing behind him.

After they had placed the body in the grave, Nabi Muhammad (SAW) turned pale and exclaimed, ‘Subhan Allah!’ (Glory be to Allah) three times.

Each and every one repeated this glorification.

A few moments later, he uttered the cry of victory, ‘Allahu Akbar!’ (God is Great) When asked why he had turned pale initially, he replied, ‘The grave closed in upon your companion, and he felt a constriction.

‘If any man could escape it, Sa’d would have escaped. Then Allah gave him blissful relief.’

Sa’d feared that he had judged incorrectly in the case of the Banu Quraizah. The fact that Nabi Muhammad (SAW) had lauded his decision, and that Allah had granted him relief in his grave, indicate to us mere mortals that there was indeed profound substance in his judgement.

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

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Although the tents of the hujjaaj are cramped and stuffy, in contrast, the medical Photo SALIM PARKER tent on Mina is spacious and cool.

Comforting the discomforted HE first day of Hajj was stiflingly hot on Mina.

The spacious medical tent had superb air-conditioning and, besides the doctor, two nurses and the assistant on duty, was relatively empty.

Though many were sick during the course of the day, they had all presented at different times and there were never more than three patients at any time in the tent, which could probably house at least five more.

The medical team gelled well, and a system had been fine-tuned over a few years where patients were rapidly assessed, treated and reassuringly sent back to their tents.

Our aim was always to encourage the patients, in their state of ihraam, to immerse themselves, in the company of millions of others, in prayer and supplication.

Youmul Tariwiya, the first day of Hajj, is the day of fetching water and quenching the thirst.

The heat progressively increased the hujjaaj’s thirst, and liquids were present in abundance.

Arafah being just a day away,

T

This year was hot, extremely hot, and the airconditioning in the women’s tents did not work, writes Doctor SALIM PARKER.

exponentially increased the desire of the pilgrims to be closer to their Creator than at any other time of their limited time on earth.

Our patients had to return from our comforting and cool medical facility to their own tents.

Mina is the largest temporary city on earth and for 360 days of the year it is an empty expanse of tents accumulating dust and damage.

A few days before Hajj, it is a beehive of activity as cleaning, maintenance and repair teams frantically try to undo the accumulated wear and deterioration.

Inevitably, some aspects are overlooked, and every year we see issues that affect the comfort of the pilgrims.

One year, there were gaps in the roofs of the tents which

allowed unexpected rain to flood the insides. On another occasion, the sanitation had been woefully inadequate and led to many pilgrims being disgruntled. One year, the food and beverages arrived very late.

This might seem like an ideal time to ask everyone to sabr, to have patience and build resilience to life’s obstacles.

However, a completely different picture emerges when the late arrival of the food leads to a diabetic who has already taken insulin going into a coma due to low sugar levels or an elderly person who has taken a water tablet due to heart failure is unable to use the completely blocked ablution facilities.

This year was hot, extremely hot, and the air-conditioning in the women’s tents did not work.

Also, there was not an inch between the mattresses of the pilgrims, with the sizes of allocated spaces having noticeably shrunk over the past few years.

The claustrophobic, steamy and overcrowded atmosphere amongst women of different tem-

peraments and in various stages of menopause led to a few bouts of irritation becoming increasingly audible and at least one heated exchange of words.

It was after one such incident that the patient was brought to the medical tent.

She, apparently, was known to be highly strung, was sweating profusely and had just endured a verbal assault after she had tried to get as close as possible to a half-functioning air conditioner in her tent. This action had aggrieved a few others whose space and relatively cooler area she had encroached upon.

She was about forty-years-old and was breathing quite fast when one of the nurses examined her. It was just after midday. I was dispensing some medication to another patient at the time, and was sharing a few jovial moments with him.

Our routine always included doing the basics, such as measuring the temperature and taking the blood pressure of the patient.

‘She is having another anxiety attack; she had a few already,’ her group leader who accompanied her, explained. ‘We just let her rest in a quiet, cool area and she recovers. Your tent seems ideal for that,’ she added as she herself relaxed in the coolest part of our facility, sipping ice-cold juice. ‘I think I’ll stay here, it is very relaxing,’ she smirked.

The patient seemed to be breathing a bit better and had cooled down by now. ‘You can go back to the tent,’ the group leader, now quite at ease and outstretched on a comforting mattress, instructed the patient.

‘I can’t go back there, it is too hot and I cannot breathe in there,’ the patient implored.

‘It is part of the test of Hajj,’ the leader replied, she herself making absolutely no attempt to join her suffering charges.

‘Our patient is going nowhere,’ one of the nurses replied. ‘But, please, as you are very healthy, we would like you to leave the medical tent as it is for the sick,’ she subtly instructed the leader while glancing in my direction.

This clearly did not go down well. ‘She is coming with me, Mina is not a holiday resort,’ the leader said.

I have the utmost faith in my nursing colleagues, and rushed to her when I heard the urgent tone in her voice. I quickly looked at the figures she had recorded: dangerously high fever, massively elevated blood pressure.

I looked at the patient; she was not just breathing fast, she was struggling to breathe. She was on the verge of getting a heat stroke and needed urgent attention.

‘Everyone out,’ I instructed the two male patients whom we had The tents on Mina are cramped and, in the heat, could become quite uncomfortable.

Photo SALIM PARKER

finished consulting, ‘and get her husband here, now,’ I said to the leader, who, even though she knew me, was taken aback by my sudden authoritative and very clinical and cold manner.

We do not become cold and authoritative. In emergency situations we try logic, structure and standard procedures to dictate our actions so that mistakes are minimised.

The patient’s chest was very tight so we nebulised her.

Her temperature was high so we removed multiple layers of clothing and sponged and fanned her down.

She also had an evident infection, which we treated with antibiotics.

We managed to have her settled quite quickly and, soon, I started taking a more detailed history. No, she had never had anxiety attacks in her life before; she was told by someone in her group that she had had one just after arriving for Hajj a few weeks earlier and everyone assumed it to be so.

Yes, she had asthma as a child but had not suffered any attacks in the last decade.

We explained to her that she had most likely got asthma attacks precipitated by the dust as well as an infection.

‘I need to go back to my tent,’ she said once she felt better.

‘You are welcome to stay here as you are clearly sick,’ one of the nurses said.

‘I have to explain to the ladies whom I might have offended when I tried to sit under the air conditioner, that I was really sick,’ she explained.

We told her that she was welcome to rest with us if necessary.

‘I do not want to go to Arafah tomorrow with them thinking that I was out of line,’ she replied.

One of the nurses went with her and explained to those in her tent that if she had such symptoms again, they should bring her for medical attention immediately. She also encouraged them to be a bit more tolerant towards those who might feel discomfort due to the heat.

I saw her late that evening in deep but happy conversation with those immediately around her. I was attending someone in the same tent who was confined to a wheelchair and, after I was done, went to her. She was breathing comfortably but, more importantly, she was radiating contentment.

‘I am ready for Arafah,’ she smiled, and all her newfound friends concurred that they all were. It was still stiflingly hot in the tent but, somehow, the ladies had worked out a system where a spot was reserved for those suffering from discomfort to simply relax for a short while before the next one took a turn.

‘Yes, you are all ready for Arafah,’ I thought.

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AWQAF - promoting self-reliance and sustainability

HAROON KALLA

EID-UL-FITR means the return of the annual celebration of the conscious purification of the mind, soul and body attained during Ramadaan, the root word of which means becoming altered from a former state.

Ramadaan is a blessed opportunity for us to practise jihad e-akbar as the major internal striving for the control of our ego, emotions and our personal and social behaviour.

The last two constitute jihad easghar, expressed by paying compulsory and voluntary ‘taxes’ as a means to redistribute wealth for social justice. Through fasting we can transcend the baser material attachments of life and attain the ultimate bliss of spiritual life.

We, through fasting in unison, practise worldwide unity, which is derived from touheed, as the galvanising principle of spiritual unity.

The dynamism of this unity through changing external conditions or dunya imbues Islam with a rich inherent diversity of interpretations of a living ‘way of life’ that leads human beings to a blissful akhirah or life after death.

The Holy Quran and Sunnah are the only basis of touheed, the unity of Muslims (Quran 3:103); unity of Muslims, Jews and Christians (Quran 3:64); and unity of humanity (Quran 40:13).

All 1,7-billion of us, daily greet one another with the greatest salute of peace, which affirms touheed and externalises the internal peace of heart.

This peace tolerates the diversity of interpretations and encourages peace and tolerance by the very nature of the implied message in the greeting ‘that you will be

Muslim Views

Eid, peace and fitrah

protected from my tongue and hand’.

Heterogeneous schools of Islamic thought manifest its diversity. This results in a heterogeneous unity of purpose or as unity in diversity.

The enemies of Islam exploit Islam’s great capacity for interpretations to sow divisions through narrow misinterpreted sectarianism, which afflicts, at least, 16 Muslim countries.

The real purpose of the exploitation is to prevent the true manifestation of the Islamic way of life and all that it has to offer humanity.

AwqafSA pleads to all Muslims to avoid falling into the trap of sectarianism, and to build and practice unity in action. Peace of heart and peace in dunya are sacred duties. Peace assures everyone safety from the harm of tongue and hand. (Muslim: 431) The power of peace is immeasurable and swathes everyone in the benefits of universal values of a positive life that culminates in a peaceful death.

Peace imparts the goodwill of tolerance and mutual respect and prevents living a negative life that ends in a negative death. It prevents violence and extremism, a resolution on which the United Nations recently adopted.

Peace begins in individual hearts. Violence and extremism begin in the minds of powerful politicians who represent the war industry. We should avoid becoming the blind instruments of war but become the conscious instru-

ments of peace.

Those who feel marginalised by more relevant schools of peaceful thought should have the spiritual maturity to respect them while disagreeing with them.

Diversity is the inherent beauty of dynamic Islam, which adapts to, and transcends, the evolving world. Dynamism is the formidable internal logic of Islam.

Every Muslim is obliged to be the physical embodiment of that dynamism as an expression of ongoing ibadah, or worship, and natural state of fitrah, or purity.

The payment of fitrah as a tax on Eid day is an affirmation of that natural state of fitrah, into which all human beings are born. (Sahih Bukhari: 1292)

DIVERSITY Diversity is not division but healthy differences with an underlying similarity.

We are obliged to nurture the growth and development of Islam through our physical being and sacred consciousness. Every elder, parent, teacher, alim, imam and peer is obliged to devolve the message of peace on the youth and children to ensure the eternal continuity of Islam.

We have to live not by finite but infinite time, faith, truth and patience. (Surah al-Asr) Youth and children are the nursery of peace.

Islam encourages freethinking within an usul, the framework of reference of the Quran and Sunnah.

In 1716, Shaikh Noorul Mubeen was brought in chains and

imprisoned on Robben Island.

After his escape, he taught the practice of Sufism to slaves, which included freethinking as the freedom of the mind from the burdens of slavery.

It was the first organised and systematic form of freethinking, which is today included in the South African Constitution. We are proud to have brought qualitative thinking in South African history, which is filled with evidence of mental diversity and heterogeneity.

In Britain, recently, the Muslims, as a single ummah, acknowledged the right of all schools of thought to coexist in peace and harmony, and declared mutual respect for all the schools.

All Muslims, particularly the ulama and imams, are obliged, in line with the principle of touheed, to lead us out of the cul de sacs of creeping sectarianism into freethinking and mutual respect.

We cannot blemish the good names of political prisoners and slaves who brought Islam to South Africa since 1668.

We can never be observers of history, rather, we are participants therein. Either we make history or become history. They, through the genius of ibn Khaldun in the 14th century, created the philosophy of history.

In the 7th century, they created the art of biography, based on the living example, approbations and sayings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who was a divinely blessed exemplar to humanity.

We need to project ourselves as

ambassadors of peace in South Africa and the world.

We need to harness every milligram of Islamic energy as transformers of society and as agents of positive change. This is prophetic living at its best, as imperfect and fallible beings. It is also daily living in a state of ibadah as a humble means to live in a state of fitrah.

Accordingly, we need to mobilise all our human, material and financial resources in order to spend them for the pleasure of Allah, through unity of common purpose that gives meaning to our inevitable death.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, ‘Whosoever believes in Allah and the final day must honour their neighbours’ needs.’ (Sahih Muslim: 78) Let us move forward in the cause of Islam and local and global peace and justice, free of child, spouse and substance abuse, and free of poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, crime and social mal-development.

To this end, AwqafSA’s vision is Communities’ ‘Empowering through education, skills development, entrepreneurial leadership development, planting leadership values, and sustainable poverty eradication programmes, in partnership with government, business, NGOs, civil society organisations, public institutions and environmental agencies.

Please join Awqaf SA in this journey, humbly, to contribute to the development of the rainbow nation of South Africa; a society where social justice is not only a goal but a reality underpinned by peaceful coexistence.

Eid Mubarak to you and your beloved families.

Haroon Kalla is Chairperson of the Council of Mutawalees, Awqaf South Africa.

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Study of Islam at UJ Conference Reports

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During June, about 80 post-graduate students on Islam and more senior scholars from all over the world flocked to Granada, Spain, to attend two separate conferences over a three-week period, with two full joint days of discussions between the participants of each. Here follows a report on each.

Critical Muslim studies in Granada ALEX ABBASI

‘Your foundations are lasting.

Your columns countless, like the profusion of palms, in the plains of Syria. Your arches, your terraces, shimmer with the light that once flashed in the valley of Ayman. Your soaring minaret, all aglow, in the resplendence of Gabriel’s glory.’

- From The Mosque of Cordoba, a poem by Muhammad Iqbal FOR two weeks in early June 2014, a collection of scholars, students and activists gathered from around the world to be in critical, contested and compassionate dialogue concerning urgent Muslim, interreligious and global human community issues.

The two-week international conference on ‘Decolonial Struggles and Liberation Theologies’ was held in one of the epicentres of Islamicate civilisation’s past, Al-Andalus, and jointly sponsored each year by the Centre for Intercultural Dialogues (Spain) and University of California Berkeley.

Seminars were held by widely recognised scholars of Islam and decolonial knowledges, such as Ramon Grosfoguel, Farid Esack, Asma Barlas, Salman Sayyid, Tariq Ramadan and Asma Lamrabat.

Classes took place in the city of the last Islamicate polity of AlAndalus, Granada.

From the common Granadan

Spanish saying, ‘no pasa nada en Granada’ (there are no worries in Granada), to the famous lyrics of Iqbal’s poem cited above, having the conference in the historic space of Andalusia acted both as a deep reminder and as a breath of fresh ruh (divine spirit) for many dedicated to reviving Islam’s positive social message during our painful and bewildering times.

The structure of the programme was intensive, diverse and challenging.

While the overarching aims of the programme was to ‘open the space for the analysis and investigation of Islam not only as a spiritual tradition but also as an epistemic decolonial perspective’, the summer school became something much more meaningful for many of the participants, especially the Muslim students.

As a Muslim who has attended the programme two years running, it offers a rare space to diligently work through and envision alternative solutions for some of the most important issues facing the ummah, and has significantly shifted my own critical consciousness.

In addition to attending four or five seminars a day, the discussion amongst the scholars and fellow participants would often last late into the night, as we conversed under moonlight rays bouncing off the castle walls of the historic Islamic architectural masterpiece, the Alhambra Palace

of Granada.

The first week consisted of seminars focused on various interpretations of Islamic feminisms, in addition to Critical Muslims Studies and the history of Al-Andalus.

Dr Ramon Grosfoguel, of University of California Berkeley, focused on a critical analysis of world history since the fall of the Islamic polity in Granada in 1492.

Dr Salman Sayyid, who has frequented UJ for lectures in the last couple of years, also lectured on topics concerning the field of Critical Muslim Studies, such as the politics of Islamophobia, discourses and Muslim nationalisms.

ISLAMIC FEMINISMS Throughout the week, there was a strong emphasis on investigating Islamic feminisms and muslimah engagement with the Quran and activism.

Dr Lamrabat, Director of the Center for Feminist Studies in Islam, at la Rabita Mohammadia des ulemas du Maroc’, in Morocco, presented on decolonial Islamic feminisms and muslimah intellectual engagements with the Quran, in addition to sharing her experiences of challenging the ulama in Morocco to be more gender conscious and inclusive.

Professor Barlas, from Ithaca College, in New York, shared her work on such topics as female Quranic hermeneutics and critiques of Western liberal femi-

nisms.

Zahra Ali, a PhD Candidate at Institut français du Proche-Orient (France), examined critiques of liberal Islamic feminisms and presented her sociological work on the contemporary women’s movement in Iraq.

Professor Farid Esack, of University of Johannesburg (UJ), gave several talks on topics ranging from Islamic theologies of liberation, ijtihad/ tafsir/ Quranic hermeneutics, and lessons learned from being a Muslim communally engaged in interreligious jihad and solidarity.

UJ is quickly gaining an international reputation for being a centre for the study of Islam, liberation and decolonisation, and Esack’s particular focus on liberating co-praxis (what he might define as jihad through communal ummah-like dedication) was a spark for many of the Muslims at the summer programme who find it challenging to engage the traditional Islamic sciences from a contemporary activist approach.

The second week of the programme included several days of panel discussions concerning radical Muslim reform, in conjunction with Dr Tariq Ramadan and his affiliated summer school/ organisation The Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE). (See the report by Safiyya Surtee.)

The mixture of the Critical Muslim Studies camp and CILE produced critical (and at times

heated) dialogues concerning the various ways Muslim reformistminded scholars engage such topics as gender, ‘traditional’ Islamic knowledge and philosophy / theology.

Other presenters during the second week included PalestinianAmerican Muslim activist Dr Hatem Bazian and Dr Munir Jiwa of Berkeley, Houria Bouteldja of the French decolonial political party ‘The Indigenous of the Republic’, Jewish decolonial thinker Santiago Slabodsky, and Dr Nelson Maldonado-Torres of Rutgers University rounded out the week by putting us in conversation with non-Muslim theologies and decolonial theories, all in an effort to demonstrate that if there is any place cross-cultural and interfaith dialogue should start from, it should be on the margins of society, and from a position of being convicted by a Creator who calls us to action.

The programme’s expensive price tag and at times unorganised flow of activities/ operation were recognised issues within the programme.

By the end of the conference though, most participants’ occasional gripes had been soothed by the healing magic of Granada, as well as hope gained from experiences and plans made with fellow scholars, activists and students.

Alex Abbasi is an MA Candidate at Harvard University and currently Studying Arabic at University of Johannesburg.

Granada with Tariq Ramadan and CILE SAFIYYA SURTEE

THE Centre for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), founded by Professor Tariq Ramadan together with Nura: Centre for the Study of Intercultural Dialogue, and the European Muslims Network (EMN), convened for a summer school in Granada during June 2014 under the theme of ‘Critical Contemporary Issues’.

It was the first summer programme for the CILE centre, under the leadership of Ramadan, which held its conference for postgraduate students in Islamic studies over five days.

This included a joint two-day session with another, somewhat more extended programme happening in Granada at about the same time. (See conference report

by Alex Abbasi.)

The conference heard leading scholars such as Dr Ramon Grosfoguel, Dr Hatem Bazian and Dr Muhammad Moctar al-Shinqiti deliberate over historical and political issues in the Islamic tradition.

As a participant and presenter in the CILE summer programme, where several issues related to Islamic ethics and law were debated in the historically significant city of Granada, the conference provided excellent mentorship opportunities with the teachers.

Case studies were presented in biomedical ethics by Dr Muhammad al Ghaly (Qatar), gender

Safiyyah Surtee and Dr Chauki Lazhar at the CILE summer school’s gender panel.

Photo SUPPLIED

activism by Sehija Dedovic (Bosnia), migration by Dr Ray Jureidini (Australia) and Islam in Europe by Ibrahim Ezzayat (Germany) and Dr Ahmed Alibasic (Bosnia).

There were also sessions on methodology for Islamic legal reform and political theory, which focused on spreading a ‘new movement and school of thought’, which remained true to the values and ethics of Islam while responding to current global issues, as well as challenging the systems within which these issues have arisen.

One of the five days was dedicated to migration issues in relation to Islamic ethics. Jureidni presented his case studies focusing on migration problems in the Arab Gulf region.

Extra sessions on the historical Muslim contribution to Europe, tours of the Alhambra Palace and visits to the Granada Grand Mosque and Islamic Centre were part of the intensive programme.

My own presentation, which I shared on a panel with Sehija Dedovi , founder of the Bosnian women’s faith-based organisa-

tion, Nahla, dealt with current gender challenges in Muslim discourse.

I focused on critical questions which remain unanswered in gender discourse, as well as highlighting South African gender activism around the issues of sacred spaces and Muslim marriages.

Dedovi addressed concerns for women’s organisations isolating themselves in their activism, both from the male-dominated religious authorities and mainstream society.

Dr Chauki Lazhar (Belgium), a professor at CILE, also addressed some of the patriarchal interpretations of Islamic texts by classical Muslim scholars.

Ramadan, the founder of CILE, presented over the five days on a methodology of ‘Radical Reform’, ethical considerations for Muslims in Europe as well as political realities in relation to Islamic references.

The programme included two public lectures with Ramadan, Professor Salman Sayyid and Dr Hatem Bazian.

The public panels put in conversation scholars from vastly different approaches on a common theme ‘Islamic political ethics through a decolonial frame’ and ‘Imagining the future, politics power and the state’.

While Ramadan approached the topics from within the Islamic tradition, Bazian preferred to look into the effects of the mod-

‘... critical questions remain unanswered in gender discourse...’ ern colonial project on the Islamic imagination, and Sayyid on the interplay between culture and politics.

The conference concluded with the establishment of a network of CILE participants, committed to spreading the ‘new movement and school of thought’ for critical and radical Islamic reform.

The conference was an invaluable experience for me, particularly in the opportunity to dialogue and network with so many different scholars and participants from all over the world, as well as to delve into issues within the Islamic legal paradigm, an area of research that is currently expanding rapidly with regards to gender justice.

As an academic and a community activist, this kind of exposure is critical to ensuring that the direction of the gender discourse in South Africa is aligned with and in conversation with global Muslim issues.

Safiyya Surtee is an MA candidate in the Department of Religion Studies at University of Johannesburg.

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A little goes a long way HALEEMAH HANWARE

THE blessed month of Ramadaan is about decreasing the physical intake of food and increasing the spiritual; that is, food for the soul. We do this through supplication to the Almighty, and good deeds.

What better deed can be done in Ramadaan than to feed the less fortunate? The increase of charity is encouraged during this month.

As we experience the pangs of hunger, we can’t help but empathise with those who do not know where their next meal will come from.

There are many community organisations that are doing good work during Ramadaan and beyond. One such organisation is

the Saabri Ashrafi Relief Fund.

The organisation is based in Cape Town and strives to address the challenges of widespread poverty.

The organisation was started 15 years ago by Mustaq Brey and his sister. They started with 100 parcels and now send out more than 500 000 parcels across the Western Cape, as well as George.

The Saabri Ashrafi Relief Fund works in conjunction with relief organisations such as Sanzaf, Mustaddafin and Nakhlistan.

When I interviewed Mustaq, what he said struck a chord with me. He said, ‘Haleemah, this Ramadaan we sent out the first food parcels to our Christian brothers and sisters.’

I replied, ‘I assume you did this to clear the misconception that

Muslims only care about other Muslims, and to wipe away the stigma that has been attached to us worldwide?’

Mushtaq smiled and nodded in agreement.

Our success in this world depends on our humanity, on how selfless we are towards the next human being.

The result of this act of kindness was that ten Christian brothers came forward to contribute towards the Saabri Ashrafi Relief Fund.

Ramadaan is a stepping stone for us to continue our good deeds throughout the year. Monthly projects by the Saabri Ashrafi Relief Fund include assisting in various masjids, Islamic education institutions, day hospitals

Non-Muslims reach out to needy Muslims during Ramadaan MAHMOOD SANGLAY

HEIDEVELD Community Care (HCC) is a new initiative in the Cape Flats township but with a unique strategy.

It is not a faith-based organisation but its focus, at least for the month of Ramadaan, was to feed Muslims in poverty and without food for iftaar.

According to Vanessa Adriaanse, who founded HCC earlier this year, it became clear before Ramadaan that the feeding project she had initiated would need to support many fasting Muslims in the township who have no food for iftaar.

She was approached by Muslims for food with which to break their fast.

Thus, the feeding project (or ‘mass boeka’) was launched on the first day of Ramadaan with the help of other members of the community. Tables with dates and beverages are prepared and provision is

made for Maghrib prayers at the time of iftaar.

According to Ghalieb Essop, about 300 people are provided with meals every evening, of whom 250 are Muslim.

Adriaanse and Essop say the contributions for the meals come from the local community although they are in search of bigger and more regular sponsors.

‘It is devastating when a Muslim asks for food at night after fasting the whole day,’ says Adriaanse.

HCC is also planning to prepare Eid parcels for children who have no clothes and shoes for Eid. According to Adriaanse, the initiative may become a permanent feature of life in Heidveld.

They are at present in discussion with the masjid in Waterberg, Heideveld, with a view to continue the project after Ramadaan.

Anyone interested in supporting HCC in its work may contact Vanessa Adriaanse at 078 311 8892 or Ghalieb Essop at 082 394 8891.

and soup kitchens.

Food hampers are also distributed annually on significant Islamic periods such as Eid and Muharram.

If you wish to donate or get involved, visit the website at www.sarf.co.za for more information.

The Prophet Muhammad

Volunteers assisting the Saabri Ashrafi Relief Fund with the packing of hampers for distribution to the needy. Photo NISAAR PANGARKER

(SAW) said: ‘The believer’s shade on the Day of Resurrection will be his charity.’ (Al-Tirmidhi, hadith 604)

Lectures on Islamic finance at UCT THE first in a series of lectures on Islamic finance, organised by the University of Cape Town Muslim Students’ Association, takes place on Sunday, August 3, 2014, from 10am to 1pm.

Registration is at 9.45am at the venue, UCT Upper Campus, Leslie Social Science 2B. The fee is R20.

The topic for the first lecture is Riba and will cover the following aspects: definition; riba in the Quran; types of riba; historical critique (includes riba and Christianity as well as Judaism); interest and usury; the difference between a sale and usurious transaction; Islamic savings accounts and conventional savings accounts; what to do with interest monies; riba in trade; the status of jewellery in terms of usury.

For those who are interested, the Islamic Contract Law textbook will be available at R230.

For more information, Amina Adams may be contacted at 071 460 4176/ adamsamina201@gmail.com

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Muslim Views . July 2014

Absa Islamic Banking sponsors National Quran Memorisation Competition THE 9th National Quran Memorisation Competition took place at Nizameye Masjid, in Midrand, on Saturday.

Sponsored by Absa Islamic Banking, competition participants included some of the top hifdh students from across South Africa, who demonstrated their ability to recite by memory from randomly selected sections of the Quran to the competition panel.

On average, each student recited 90 verses of the Quran to a panel of three judges, including Qari Ayub Ishaq, Qari Basheer Ahmed Patel and Qari Rasheed Ahmed Dabelia – all of whom are from the most senior reciters of the Noble Quran worldwide.

Out of a total of 18 candidates, the following students were the chosen winners in their respective categories, and will participate at the International Quran Memorisation Competition finals in Makkah: 5 Juz Category: Ighsaan Basordien 10 Juz Category: Muhammad Bhamjee Full Quran Category: Adeeb Harneker Absa Islamic Banking has a long-held association with the competition and this is the fourth year that the bank has officially sponsored the event.

Uwaiz Jassat, acting head of Absa Islamic Banking, says: ‘Absa Islamic Banking has a clear sense

of its business purpose: to help individuals, communities and businesses prosper and grow. We are proud to be associated with the National Quran Memorisation Competition, as it holds a special place in the heart of the community which Absa serves.’

In 2012, the first independent research into the attitudes and behaviours of Muslims related to Islamic Banking was conducted in South Africa by TNS Surveys.

The research revealed the importance that Muslim parents place on introducing their children to the concept of shariahcompliant banking, the underlying principles of which are guided by the Quran and Hadith.

Absa Islamic Banking sees its sponsorship of this youth-focused

event as a means to support the aspirations of Muslim parents.

Jassat concludes: ‘Absa acknowledges the personal sacrifices that these students have made to compete at such a level of excellence. They are the pride of their families and communities and the bank is committed to supporting their endeavours through this sponsorship.’

Attendees at the event included the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Mohammed Enver Surty, Mohammed Almadhi, Ambassador of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, representatives from the Religious Attaché of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, members of the diplomatic corps and senior leaders of the Muslim community.

In each picture, the winner is accompanied by Mohammad Almadhi, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Pretoria, and Dr Khalid bin Ali Al Ghamdi, Imaam and Khateeb of the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Top left: 5 Juz – Ighsaan Basordien of Cape Town; top right: 10 Juz – Muhammad Bhamjee of Nelspruit, Mpumalanga; above: Full Quran category – Hafidh Adeeb Harneker of Cape Town.

Photos Supplied

SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE

People expressed their outrage at the latest round of Zionist Israel’s military savagery on Occupied Gaza in Occupied Palestine with massive global protests. Here demonstrators line Klipfontein Road, opposite Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, in solidarity with Palestine.

Photo GPS

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Muslim Views . July 2014

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Ayesha Bibi Dawood has returned DAN MOSHENBERG

AYESHA Bibi Dawood passed away and was buried on Sunday, June 1.

Her biographer, Zubeida Jaffer, put it succinctly. ‘Ayesha Dawood, one of a few remaining leaders charged with Treason with Madiba in 1956. The funeral leaves her home in Durban Road, Worcester.

She leaves behind a daughter and son and six grandchildren.’

She leaves behind a story that needs to be told and understood, a story of an Indian woman in a rural town in the Western Cape.

Ayesha Bibi Dawood was born in Worcester, in the Western Cape, on January 31, 1927.

Her father was an Indian merchant and her mother a Malay woman from Calvinia.

Dawood tells the story: ‘It all began like this. I used to read the daily newspaper, Die Burger, and the Cape Times, for my father. I started hating the apartheid laws, especially the Group Areas Bill

and the Pass Laws.

‘In 1951, came the call from the trade union movement, supported by the left, to stage a one day strike on 7 May. I then decided to throw in my weight against these unjust laws.

‘I went to the trade union office in Russell Street and volunteered to help organise the strike.’

In Worcester, that one-day strike was a raging success, a success many credit to Dawood’s organisational prowess.

For one day, just over 16 000 ‘coloured’, African and ‘indian’ people said a resounding and unified ‘No!’ to the removal of the ‘coloured’ people from the common voters rolls and to the 9 000 ‘whites’ of Worcester.

Bibi Dawood had arrived.

From there, Bibi Ayesha Dawood kept on keeping on. In 1952, she co-founded the Worcester United Action Committee, and helped turn Worcester into a centre of the Defiance Campaign and of regional trade union organising.

In 1953, she represented the Committee of Women, in Copenhagen, and then visited and spoke at factories, meeting halls, union halls and elsewhere.

She also visited her family in India on that trip.

In 1955, she was charged with incitement and spent nine months in jail. In 1956, she was one of the 156 charged, with Mandela, in the Treason Trial.

In 1961, Ayesha Dawood married Yusuf Mukadam, an Indian who had met her during her stay in India. Mukadam was a worker in the Royal Navy.

So taken with the young South African woman was he that, six years later and after numerous failed attempts, he jumped ship in Durban, made his way to Cape Town and then on to Worcester.

Soon after, Mukadam was arrested as an undocumented resident, and Dawood was told that she had one choice, to become an informant.

She refused, and, in the delicate and discrete language of the

day, was ‘served’ with an exit permit that permanently ‘endorsed’ her out of the country.

The young couple and their two children journeyed to Mukadam’s village, Sarwa, where Dawood knew nothing and no one.

Mukadam spent much of the rest of his life as a migrant worker in Kuwait.

Dawood organised women in the village.

At one point, they wanted her to become chairperson of the local committee of the Congress People’s Party. Although she declined, her house remained a local organising and community centre.

And throughout, Ayesha Dawood knew that one day the apartheid regime would fall and she would return. She prepared.

She taught her children Afrikaans as well as English.

In 1990, the return began. First her two children, Gulzar and Shabiera, were issued South African passports. In 1991, Ayesha

Dawood returned home – in every sense.

Her story is captured in Zubeida Jaffer’s Love in the Time of Treason.

Many have expressed their sadness as well as their gratitude to the 86-year-old committed activist and veteran; one of the million sparks that set and constituted the decades-long struggle.

Let’s celebrate her version of her own story: ‘My story is just an ordinary story depicting a particular phase in history.’

Imagine the joy of Ayesha Bibi Dawood as she returned home, to her home. Imagine the joy, and then remember it really happened, thanks to her struggle combined with that of so many others.

Rus in vrede Ayesha Bibi Dawood. Hamba kahle. Rest in peace.

See images of Aunty Bibi at www.zubeidajaffer.co.za.

Courtesy: Women In and Beyond the Global (http://www.womeninandbeyond.org)

Shaikh Sierauj Willenberg 1961-2014

A life devoted to the Quran MAHMOOD SANGLAY

SHAIKH Sierauj Willenberg passed away suddenly on April 26 this year at the age of 53 due to a heart condition. He was popularly known as the principal of Madressa tul Khayr, the school for the visually impaired.

The school was officially launched in 2002 and Shaikh Willenberg joined the institution in 2009. It is at this time that he mastered the art of teaching the Quran in Braille at the school.

The school is a project of Hospital Welfare and Muslim Educational Movement (HWMEM) and provides Islamic education to 22 visually impaired students ranging in age from 16 to 74 years.

It is the only institution of its kind in the Western Cape and classes are free of charge.

Although this was Shaikh Willenberg’s last occupation, he was also involved over the years in a range of other activities dedicated to the Quran.

‘His contribution to both the privileged and not-so-privileged learners in the community will be sorely missed,’ says Mohamed Omar of HWMEM. ‘This is with reference to the sustained home visits in which he would teach Quran privately to adults in their homes.

In addition, Shaikh Willenberg was a hifdh teacher at Dar alUlum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah, in Strand.

‘Such was his love of teaching the Quran that when he was approached to take over the reins from Hafidh Abdul Karriem, who went abroad in 2009, he consented without hesitation. Shaikh Willenberg was a soft-natured individual much loved by all, especially our students,’ Omar added.

Shaikh Abdullah Awaldien, Imam of the Hidayatul Islam Masjid, in Kensington, recalls a life of deep friendship and camaraderie with Shaikh Willenberg.

He says he and Shaikh Willenberg grew up and went to school together in Bridgetown. ‘We were like brothers,’ reminisces Shaikh Awaldien.

(Above) Shaikh Sierauj Willenberg is seated on the far left in this photograph, next to his closest friend Shaikh Abdullah Awaldien. As a member of Jamaa’atul Khatmiel Quraan, he was associated for years with some of the best-known and revered huffadh in Cape Town. They are, standing from back, left: Hafidh Achmad Solomon, Hafidh Shaikh Ismail Londt, Hafidh Dr Razeen Gopal and Hafidh Hoosain Dalvi. Seated: Hafidh Imam Sierauj Willenberg, Hafidh Shaikh Abdullah Awaldien, Hafidh Imam Mogamad Salie Davids, Hafidh Shaikh Mogamad Saliegh Abadie, Hafidh Imam Abduraghman Salie, Hafidh Shaikh Fouad Gabier and Hafidh Aslam Abrahams. The photo was taken in 1998 and Jamaa’atul Khatmiel Quraan was established in 1940.

Photo HAJJI SULAIMAN ABRAHAMS

Shaikh Sierauj Willenberg in a recent photograph taken from his Facebook profile page.

Both were students of Shaikh Mogamad Saliegh Abadie, who is popularly celebrated as the single teacher who has trained and taught most of the leading contemporary ulama at the Cape.

Shaikh Willenberg’s father was also a student of the great shaikh and served as the latter’s personal assistant. When Shaikh Willenberg’s father passed away, he was taught hifdh till he completed the memorisation of the Quran.

Shaikh Awaldien’s narrative evokes a series of personal reflections on Shaikh Willenberg that are inextricably connected with the legacy of the Quran at the Cape.

Like many of our ulama, the life of Shaikh Willenberg is an integral part of the rich and unique history of local Quranic learning and teaching. The honoured tradition of passing on cumulative knowledge through generations of great teachers and leaders is at the heart of this narrative.

According to Shaikh Awaldien, Shaikh Willenberg never studied abroad. He studied locally and was trained by the likes of Shaikh Abadie.

Shaikh Willenberg accompanied Shaikh Abadie to Durban in 1980 where he served as an imam at Grey Street Masjid for a few months. Upon his return, he continued his hifdh under the tute-

lage of Shaikh Fouad Gabier.

Another role Shaikh Willenberg played was as assistant imam to Shaikh Ebrahim Gabriels at Masjidu-Rawbie, in Mitchells Plain. Shaikh Awaldien fondly recalls how his friend, during the latter’s employment as a clerk at the municipality, used to be in attendance in the municipal truck while his subordinates were busy with service delivery tasks.

The popular, iconic image of Shaikh Willenberg is one of him revising his hifdh while sitting and waiting in the truck.

Tougheed Esau, a student of late Shaikh Willenberg, is now effectively fulfilling the role of principal of Madressa tul Khayr.

Their association started ten years ago when Shaikh Willenberg was teaching at Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah, in Strand.

Four years later, Shaikh Willenberg asked Esau to assist him with teaching the Quran in Braille

at the madrassah.

‘He played a big role in my life.

Most of my life I grew up without a father. He was like a father to me, a very soft, humble person.

He was upset only when it involved the Quran, like any disrespect for the Quran. His love for the Quran was great,’ Esau told Muslim Views.

Shaikh Willenberg was married for 30 years. Zarina Willenberg says, poignantly, that the indelible memory she has of her husband is his recitation of the Quran every morning after Fajr.

The emotion in her voice conveys the profound impact of this void now, in this sacred month.

His journey in this life was, by all accounts, with the Quran and this is the impression he left with those closest to him.

Shaikh Willenberg is survived by his widow, Zarina, their two daughters, two sons and three grandchildren.

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Muslim Views . July 2014

MOULANA Ihsaan Hendricks, pictured below, President of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), and Director of Al Quds Foundation, has been appointed as head of Imamate at Masjidul Khalil, in Hazendal, Athlone, with immediate effect.

Issued by the Mosque Management Committee

Family loses father HUDAH LEVENDALL

MOGAMMAD Sallie Slarmie, was involved in a car accident on March 22, 2014, in Hanover Park, and passed away as result of the accident.

May Allah forgive him and grant him Jannatul Firdous, Insha Allah. May Allah make him among the guided ones, raise his status and make his grave wide and full of light.

May the Almighty grant sabr in our hearts, Insha Allah.

From his wife, Azeeza, son, Waleed, daughter, Hudah, two grandchildren, Aakhirah and Mika’eel, and son-in-law, Kiyaam, in Ocean View.

Muslim Views

Free Hajj book

IF you are going on Hajj this year, you can get a free copy of Haj by Dr Ali Shariati, of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The book explains the deeper meaning behind the rituals, making one’s Hajj much more valuable.

Collect your free copy at Stonefountain College, Kenilworth Branch, opposite Kenilworth Centre, between 9 am and noon, on weekdays.

A copy will only be given on presentation of proof of pilgrimage accreditation as a limited number of books are available.

Muslim Views . July 2014

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Muslim Views

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Muslim Views . July 2014

Masjidul Quds hosts interfaith iftaar as gesture of unity LEADERS from different religious denominations gathered at Masjidul Quds, in Gatesville, Cape Town, in a symbolic gesture of peace, love and unity for iftaar (breaking of the fast) on Sunday evening, July 6, 2014.

The Chairman of the masjid’s Exco, Hajji Faizel Royker, extended a warm welcome to all the guests and said, ‘The event aims to bring people of different religions together and to celebrate our differences as part of our nation-building in this diverse country.’

The gathering started with an opening prayer by Shaikh Sadullah Khan who also briefly explained the significance of this sacred month.

The resident Imam, Shaikh Abduragmaan Alexander, said that the gathering was long overdue. ‘Ramadaan is a time for love and peace and to awaken the divine in man.

‘The world is bleeding and followers of different faiths view each other with suspicion and hatred. Hence, this gathering should be seen as a stepping stone where we can form a united front and work towards world peace and harmony.’

For Bishop Dennis Abrahams it was the first time he entered a masjid. He has practised in the Christian ministry for more than 40 years and commented: ‘I did not know what to expect but this gathering was a life-changing

experience, and what I realised here today was the one thing we have in common is our love for Almighty God – the same God we all come from. I am humbled by this moment.’

Mr Tony Ehrenreich (Cosatu Western Cape Secretary), who also attended the function, said, ‘Religion could be the weapon to fight the scourge of gangsterism and drugs. We should nurture and cherish that power.’

Professor Max Price (UCT Vice Chancellor) said, ‘I was privileged to be in the mosque.

Mosques don’t automatically invite non-Muslims. It is a privilege to be here and share the beauty and spirituality of it.’

Ashvin Narshi too said that

this was his first time inside a masjid in his 30 years as a Hindu priest.

Gurujee Narshi said that the Hindu religion was often ‘left out’ because it was perceived that its practices include the worshipping of idols, which most religions are against. ‘Today the message goes out that God is love, and through all faiths that is the message that we will try to give out to the world.’

The occasion was concluded with a vote of thanks by Hajji Sataar Parker (Chairman of the Board of Trustees). He thanked all the distinguished guests for gracing the function and assured that this event is the first of many to come.

He also thanked the masjid committee members for their loyal commitment and dynamic teamwork in making the occasion a great success. Dr Abdul Wahab Barday led the guests on a 15minute tour of the main mosque, which accommodates more than 2 000 men, and an upstairs balcony where the women pray, and the ablution blocks.

The masjid also has a media and sound room where sermons and prayers are recorded, and all items are on sale at the masjid’s gift shop.

Masjidul Quds also hosts the Islamic Library, which plays a pivotal role. The evening ended with a supper, interaction and well wishes.

Mrs Mymoena Sayed: Taught at Heatherdale Primary School and was a co-founder and principal of Habibia Junior Madressah, which she served for 31 years. She established two similar schools, one in Kimberley and the other on the Virgin Islands.

Photo SUPPLIED

Shaikh Amien Fakir: Noted Islamic scholar and author of the highly acclaimed books Al Mufeedah, Risaalatul Haj and Al Bustaan. He has been the Imam at Siddiqui Masjid, in Elsies River, for the past 52 years.

Photo SUPPLIED

Mr Abdus Shukoor Kays: Author, senior journalist and editorial board member of Muslim News, poet, playwright and critical thinker; banned for five years by the apartheid regime. He edited the best-selling book I Am A Photo SUPPLIED Muslim.

Hajji Abdullah Gangraker: Businessman and philanthropist; former member of the Groote Schuur Teaching Hospital Board for 27 years. He served the SA Morba Social Society for 34 years and the Athlone Mehfil for 40 years. He has been a supporter of the SOS Children’s Home for many Photo SUPPLIED years.

Imam Yusuf Pandey: Imam at MasjiRashideen in Mowbray for 37 years; Chairperson of the Crescent Observer Society of South Africa for 37 years; leading liaison person in the performance of Hajj for thousands of pople.

Photo SUPPLIED

THE Masjidul Quds Institute, based in Gatesville, Cape Town, is to honour five individuals with its Lifetime Community Service Awards.

The recipients have been selected for their dedicated service to scholarship, leadership, philanthropy, media and education.

They will be honoured on Saturday, August 9, at Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Muslim Views

Muslim Views . July 2014

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Muslim Views

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Muslim Views . July 2014

Gift of the Givers book to be launched A LOCAL publishing house, Bookstorm, will be publishing the Gift of the Givers story.

It is expected to be launched later this year and will be available in all major bookstores.

Gift of the Givers, which was founded by Pietermaritzburgbased medical doctor Imtiaz Sooliman in 1992 on the instructions of his Sufi shaikh, has gone on to disburse over R1 billion worth of aid to 41 countries.

It currently manages 21 major projects inside South Africa.

As Africa’s only home-grown humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers has received over 85 awards – including four from presidents – for its work.

The author of the book –

Muslim Views

which will be entitled Imtiaz Sooliman and the Gift of the Givers, A Mercy to All – is Shafiq Morton, a well-known Voice of the Cape presenter and awardwinning journalist.

Morton, who is the author of Notebooks from Makkah and Madinah and Surfing behind the Wall, My Palestinian Story, says he was taken by surprise when approached by the publisher to write the book.

‘It was a bolt from the blue but it was a project I could not resist.

The Gift of the Givers story is so rich, so textured and so riveting.

It represents a triumph of the human spirit in adversity.

‘And, in spite of the situations it deals with, the Gift of the

Dr. Imtiaaz Sooliman.

Photo SHAFIQ MORTON

Givers story is one of immense hope.’

Morton says that the biggest challenge in writing the book was

sifting through the overwhelming amount of material on Gift of the Givers.

‘There was no way everything could be in the book so it was a question of fleshing out moments that reflect the whole picture of what Gift of the Givers is about.

Fortunately, I’ve been on a number of its missions, and that helped,’ he said.

Morton said that initial responses from bookstores and those who have read the story, have been encouraging. ‘We are all looking forward to the launch.’

Muslim Views . July 2014

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Muslim Views

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Muslim Views

Muslim Views . July 2014

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Muslim Views . July 2014

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Muslim Hands Orphan Sponsorship Scheme

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You may contact Muslim Hands on: 021 6336413 or: muslimhands.org.za

Muslim Views

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Muslim Views . July 2014

Popular television show revamped AN NUR, The Light first went on air on June 10, 2006. Eight years later and close to 400 episodes of TV, the show will be undergoing a major facelift.

Regular favourites and some exciting new content will fill up the weekly 24-minute slot.

Over the years, viewers kept asking for a longer programme and the SABC has heeded this call.

Come Saturday mornings at 11am An NUR, The Light – South Africa’s only Muslim magazine style show – will be lighting up the screen in a brand new halfhour slot on SABC 3.

A new home, a new time slot and an extended time.

Muslim Views

Weekly inserts will focus on book reviews, the latest apps and technology to make life simpler, and original songs or poems with the focus on Islam.

The research team has been hard at work finding stories that will dissect, disseminate, probe and challenge the thoughts of its loyal viewers.

An NUR has continually produced content that’s been talked about, heard about and, above all, seen as the eyes and ears of the Muslim community in South Africa.

Its programme content has innovated rather than imitated, and brought many firsts to the TV screens of Muslim South Africa.

There will be interviews with celebrities, clergy, sport stars, government ministers, business people, rich, poor, old and young.

Issues that affect the Muslim community will be placed in the

spotlight. Weekly inserts will focus on book reviews, the latest apps and technology to make life simpler, and original songs or poems with the focus on Islam.

The monthly ‘QnA’ feature remains and will be joined by a wellness and healthy living segment.

Once a month there’ll be an events calendar informing viewers

of happenings in their neighbourhood.

Lames Du Toit returns to share recipes of old favourites as well as innovative ideas to try out.

There is also a segment aimed at those who love to travel. The programme will journey to some familiar places and discover hidden gems.

An NUR, The Light will continue being a focal point of discussion for Muslims in South Africa.

Story ideas are most welcome and may be emailed or sent in via the social media platforms.

Don’t miss it! An NUR, The Light every Saturday at 11am, only on SABC 3.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Our humanity is in the balance

THE West’s worst moral and political disaster since the Nazis is coming to a climax. And just as many politicians and institutions paid for the failure to stop Hitler, so many will pay dearly for allowing the Middle East to self-destruct.

The dismemberment of Iraq and its people continues unabated. The contrast between the course of action being followed in Africa versus the West’s inaction in Iraq reveals the bankruptcy of the West’s foreign policy posture.

Watching as tragedies unfold across the world, where the poor, women and children bear the burden of conflicts borne of greed, unchecked corruption, the desire for consolidated power by corporate elites, corporate negligence, duplicity or malfeasance, profiteering and unchecked aggression are an affront to human nature and justice.

Our humanity is in the balance while the international community’s propensity for engaging in talk, talk and more talk about mass atrocities while doing little to nothing to truly provide any sort of protection for the victims.

In Iraq, acts of extreme violence, the perpetrators and the victims have been reduced to mere statistics and caricatures. As the death toll rises and the bloodshed shows no signs of stopping or even slowing down, it becomes harder to remember the reality of what is happening.

Each bomb, air strikes, not only kills, it also chips away at our humanity, taking away the sympathy and outrage that senseless murder of innocents should speak.

Farouk Araie Johannesburg

Work for peace Dear friends ON the blessed occasion of Ramadaan 1435 and the approach of Eid-ul-Fitr, please accept blessings and greetings from the Progressive Jewish community.

The month of Ramadaan enables the faithful to reflect on their lives and to take responsibility for their actions in front of the Holy One, blessed be He. In the Jewish tradition, this is the role of the High Holy Days, for which observance begins in the early morning during the month Elul.

There was once a tradition of reciprocity among North African communities that Muslims visited their Jewish neighbours during Ramadaan for the feast of iftaar.

The situation has changed distressingly since those days.

It seems that the relationship between Jews and Muslims has been severely damaged by the conflict in the Middle East. Muslims and Jews tend to regard one another principally in the light of that conflict. At the very least, it is always in the background as a source of potential dispute.

I believe that the Almighty is great and wise. He calls us to witness the suffering in His world, to pray, to purify our hearts, and to bring peace and justice on earth.

Each person is expected to perform in accordance with his or her capacity.

Jews and Muslims share the confidence that the Almighty, HaShem, is merciful in all His deeds.

It seems that another round of violence is about to start in our beloved land, the cradle of the Abrahamic faiths. There is no doubt in my heart that many people are deeply saddened when they follow the news from that region of conflict.

We are influenced by those events. That is only natural.

There is an aspect of the situation that hardly ever attracts the attention of the media. This is the dedicated effort of the many peace activists in both Israel and Palestine.

I can testify to their commitment from direct personal experience.

Even in the most taxing moments, this encounter continues.

Last month, Jews, Muslims and Christians gathered to embrace the walls of the city of Jerusalem, built

by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century.

Our hearts and prayers are with those who strive for the relief of suffering and for reconciliation. May their endeavours be successful and abundant.

In this rainbow nation, in which Jews and Muslims share citizenship, a way of life and memories, we can try once again to invoke the African tradition of Ubuntu. Many bridges already exist, in schools and in neighbourhoods, in shopping centres and in museums.

When people interact, they should judge each individual as a whole human being, without resorting to labels that carry emotional connotations.

In my congregation, there are quite a few members with Muslim relatives, some of them very close.

Because we are Progressive Jews, we affirm that we are proud of our inclusivity.

In this holy Ramadaan, may we cherish one another with pure hearts. May we pray for peace, embrace peace and embody it.

Amen, so be it.

Rabbi Sa’ar Shaked, Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue Parktown, Johannesburg

Muslims did not vote ANC DEMOCRACY is said to be the voice of the people, and this may have been true in the recent South African elections.

As a Gauteng observer (attendant at meetings and monitoring the media) of the democratic transition in South Africa post 1994 and with a particular focus on the Muslim community, the following became very apparent: Cliques of Convenience: This has become a sickness in our society, which aids and abets corruption where the Clergy associates itself unreservedly with the ruling party, despite their conspicuous absence in the struggle years.

Campaigning: The ruling party used the occasion to focus its past achievements amongst others as a lead negotiator in the democratic transition and its foreign policy stance on Palestine.

It drove this message with the complicity of Muslim media (Radio and TV) who are supposed to be independent.

They used scare-mongering tactics about how your institutions of masjids and madrassahs will be affected!

In fact, the ulama fraternity imported an ‘international consultant by the name of Yawar Baig’ to advise why Muslims in South Africa should vote for the ruling party.

Incidentally, Mr Baig is from India, where corruption rules, and he has been rather silent about Indian atrocities in Kashmir, when the likes of Arundhati Roy has been outspoken.

This myth about masjids not being allowed in DA-run wards must be exposed.

In Johannesburg, post-apartheid masjids have been built in DAwards (Greenside, Robertsham, Houghton and Sandton), necessitating going through the normal town planning processes.

The desperation of the ruling party to capture the Muslim vote became apparent when it rushed

through the Muslim Marriages Bill (sic), hosted a Palestinian delegation and made posthumous awards to leading Muslim personalities.

The reality is that those Muslims in the Western Cape voted Blue!

The aftermath of the election turned out as follows: Going on traditional Muslim populated areas, it is very apparent that Muslims did not vote for the ruling party!

Their reasoning may have very little to do with past sentiments and foreign policies and more to do with issues that define their day-to-day reality in current day South Africa.

Their reality is not scripted in Gaza but on the Cape Flats!

They voted for the betterment of their futures whence they have influence and control rather than an affirmation of their past.

Many in the younger generations cannot condone mistakes continuously being made bonding their futures and seek a way out. They live in a culture where the world salutes action!

But what is most concerning is that the very Muslim Media, which was born out of a democratic dispensation has gone utterly silent on discussing the unexpected result at the ballot! This says a lot about their own journalistic credentials.

F Cassim Houghton Estate, Johannesburg Editor replies: Muslim Views carried in-depth analysis of the general elections in its May 2014 edition with special focus on the performance of the three major political parties.

Seeds of hatred ALHAMDULILLAH, this year has seen several seminar meetings organised by ulama to identify and address the issue of sectarianism among Muslims.

Notable among those warning against this scourge of sectarianism and killing of Muslims (and often non-Muslims too) by Muslims is Imam Dr Abdul Rashied Omar of Claremont Main Road Masjid.

Also, not a week passes that Moulana Aftab Haider of the Ahlul Bait Islamic Centre does not remind us against these anti-Islamic practices.

Sadly, for most of the rest of the ulama and Muslim institutions, it appears to be more of an academic exercise.

Those prominent ulama from our best-known ulama bodies who made tentative steps towards understandings of acceptance of our differences have allowed themselves to be manipulated to retreat into the laager of strait-jacket thinking.

Except for two articles in Muslim Views, none of the important findings and awareness warnings have found its way to hundreds of thousands via the mimbars and one of our two radio stations, probably for fear of being labeled ‘Shia friendly’.

Bigotted peer pressure, lucrative job retention, societal status and fear of ostracism appear to have held sway over truth and justice.

And still they say, ‘We fear none but Allah.’

Last month, we had just passed the landmark ‘Rua’ (lailatul bara’at) which, without all the disputed nehmas, is reputedly renowned for one essential element i.e. that the doors of forgiveness is open to all except two categories of people.

The mushriks are excluded for obvious reasons we can all fathom and understand. The second category is Muslims who harbour and engender hatred, vindictiveness, divisiveness, sectarianism etc towards other Muslims.

The afore-mentioned leads directly to the brutal killings we witness on a daily basis, especially in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and parts of Africa et al.

Sadly, too, some ulama are foremost in their hate-brigade. Some

Muslim Views . July 2014 musallees at a particular masjid angrily report that during a khutbah, a certain shaikh requested a copy of the Holy Qur’an be brought to him.

He placed his hand thereon and cited the infamous words: ‘(Wallahi), the Shia of Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq and Iran are killing the Sunnis in Syria.’

I refuse to believe that this shaikh is oblivious of the indiscriminate targets, including Sunnis of the likes of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, FSA, ISI, ISIL and now the so-called Islamic State of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

Some weeks earlier, we had a guest speaker, Fuzail Soofie, from Durban, at the Panorama Masjid, giving a superb khutbah aired on VOC and hosting questions on the superiority of the Holy Ahlul Bayt (AS) of the Prophet (SAW).

His sources were strictly Quran, authenticated Sunni hadith and history as well as aql. A certain shaikh phoned to inquire, ‘What Shia programme is in progress there?’

Fortunately, the system of our South African constitution safeguarding minorities is keeping the ‘dogs of war’ at bay.

We make dua that our ulama find real Islam before their apartheid-style quietism leads us to an abyss of no return.

Abe Parker Surrey Estate, Cape Town

Boycott such businesses IT is the month of Ramadaan and perhaps this is as good a time as any to broach this topic.

There are a significant number of Muslim-owned, well-known businesses who exploit their employees.

These owners are highly respected in their communities because their customers are not aware of how badly they treat their staff!

We as Muslim customers should boycott such businesses and make the owners feel what it’s like to lose our support!

The exploitation of staff ranges from poor wages, verbal abuse, not paying overtime, subjecting their staff to very unreasonable and inhumane working conditions. Staff stay on because they need their jobs.

These bosses run to mosques and make their charity contributions and/ or donations public to maintain their image and reputation in their respective communities. However, the very staff that assists in the growth and success of their business, are ill-treated.

Do they not know that Allah sees all they do and will hold them to account? And that He can take it all away in a split second?

Islam teaches us to be fair in our treatment of others (whether it’s towards our workers, relatives or strangers). It saddens one to hear and see what some of them have been reduced to for the sake of money and greed.

These rotten apples diminish the reputation of the many good Muslim businessmen and women.

Shame on them. May Allah SWT give them hikmah (wisdom).

Perhaps we should have a name and shame shoppers list!

Nurjahan Khan Cape Town

Thanking the community WORDS fail us as a family in thanking the community for their support during the illness of husband and father, Sedick Cozyn.

The article that appeared in the Muslim Views of May 16, 2014, aptly described his life, the person he was and the lives he touched.

We are still receiving visits and calls from people we know and those we don’t. The family themselves are surprised by the number of people that have a good story to tell about him.

It humbles us as a family. We are forever grateful to the Almighty for having granted us to love him and

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to have had him in our lives, Alhamdulillah.

We want to place on record our sincere appreciation and thanks to everyone who has contributed in any way to the janazah and beyond it.

To all family and friends, and his close friends, your reward lies with Allah.

To his ‘family’ at Habibia Primary School, may Allah reward you abundantly and may the school grow from strength to strength, Insha Allah.

To Muslim Views for allowing us to send our message of thanks.

May Allah grant Sedick Cozyn, a high place in Jannah, Insha Allah.

From his wife, Faiza, and children Lamees and Zaahir

Tribute to a struggle veteran WE mourn the passing of an icon; a great family friend whose ideals and aspirations we have cherished over the years.

Ayesha Bibi Dawood was a real people’s person and an amazing woman. She made a huge sacrifice by being forced to leave her beloved country after refusing to collaborate with the apartheid forces in exchange for her husband being allowed to stay in south Africa.

There was no financial gain in all her sacrifices. She lived as modestly on her return as she had lived in the village of Sarwa, in India. The hospitality Bibi and Yusuf displayed whenever people visited was extraordinary and no one would leave empty handed.

Her passing marks the end of an era.

May Allah grant her and the husband she adored Jannatul Firdous.

May Allah make fragrant their noble tombs and illuminate their kabrs as they illuminated the lives of all with whom they came into contact.

This tribute comes from the family of the late Mohammed Hoosain Khan (M H Khan), Dawood Khan, Ebrahim Khan and brothers, and the entire Khan family.

F Khan Cape Town

How far have we come?

I CAME across a copy of Muslim Views dated January 1999, and noted some interesting articles.

Here are some headlines/ extracts of some of the articles: • ‘Saudi decree slams marking birthdays, anniversaries’ • ‘Universal lunar calendar: an imminent reality?’

• ‘The continuing debate around the dates of the fast, of Eid, etc, may have a perfectly reasonable solution, argues Dr Nawaaz Mohamed. He proposes that a universal lunar calendar with Makkah as the reference point is the answer.’

• From the Letters Page: ‘Choosing our leaders’ (Yacoob Bhorat) ‘Support for Ulama forum’ (Ayesha B Swala) ‘Egypt is a “safer” place due to draconian laws’ (Y Osman) • An article by Dr Yusuf Da Costa: ‘The coming of the Alawi Order to the Cape’ • A cartoon with a map showing the USA, North Africa and the Middle East. In the USA is a picture of Shaikh Ahmad Yassin in a wheelchair, and behind him, back to back, tied together is Shaikh Omer Abdu Al Rahman.

• Between them is a bent pole from which a USA flag hangs and hanging from the tip of the pole is Mumia Abu Jamal.

• A table stretches from North Africa over to Saudi Arabia. Eating at the table are some shaikhs, and at the head of the table it appears to be the king of KSA calling out: EID MUBARAK! I chose the above as I think they are still relevant today Abdul Kamal Mitchells Plain Muslim Views

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Muslim Views . July 2014

A man for his community Title: Born to Serve Author: Imam Abdurahman Bassier Publisher: Boorhaanol Publishing, Cape Town, 2014 THE long awaited publication of the autobiography of the late Imam Abdurahman Bassier is significant for several reasons.

I have always felt that the Muslim community at the Cape is rich with culture, traditions and anecdote, and it is sad that the stories are rapidly being forgotten.

It is unfortunate that in the 21st century we have developed a new culture – that of not reading.

Children, today, are unaware of the rich heritage from which they come. In days gone by, parents used to tell these stories to their offspring but in today’s climate of frenzy, this too is disappearing.

At the launch of the book held at Timbuktu Bookstore, Shaikh Sadullah Khan said that in order for us to move forward we need to know where we are; and to know where we are we must know where we come from.

This book brings to the modern reader a glimpse of life lived by our forbears, and highlights the sacrifices they made, their convictions and perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Imam was a man of humble beginnings, and had great humility. He may not go down in history as a great alim or dynamic speaker but in his quiet way he made a difference in the lives of many people.

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It is surprising the amount of influence he had in many aspects of life in the community, from the MJC, the halaal issue, dealing with the Ahmadi influence and others too numerous to mention.

I want to single out the effect he had on a humble man in the street. In Chapter 14, Imam tells us of seeing a few men on the street gambling while the athaan was being called.

He asked them whether they were not ashamed to be in the street when they should be in the masjid.

A few days later, one of them approached Imam and asked him to help him to be a better Muslim.

With all his commitments, Imam only had a Saturday night to offer – the one night he spent with his wife.

However, upon hearing the request, his wife, Mareldia, unhesitatingly offered to forgo her time with her husband so that he could help these men.

This chapter is of double significance; while it showed Imam’s willingness to help those who appealed to him for help, on another level it shows the calibre of his wife. In fact, the title of the chapter is ‘My dear wife sacrificed so much’.

On reading the chapter, it would seem to focus on how these men who attended the class flourished, the subtext tells us of the sacrifices both these people made in their service to the community. However, as was typical of them, this aspect is downplayed.

The language and style of writing has been the topic of much discussion. Fortunately, the publishers opted to retain Imam’s unique style; reading the book reminds me of the many conversations I enjoyed with the author.

He felt very strongly that a writer’s words should not be edited out of existence; according to him, ‘You are compromising the integrity of what I am saying.’

The language used in the book

is simple, sentences straightforward and he never loses himself in an effort to impress.

The book has a detailed glossary of words that may be unfamiliar to many; this makes the book accessible to readers of diverse cultures and groups.

Herein lies it’s strength, it will hopefully bring life at the Cape, at that time, to life for all.

Included is a section of excellently written short stories, intended for people to read to their children. I would venture to say that once the stories are read, parents can read chapters of the autobiography and, thus, bring alive our history.

Hopefully, this publication will encourage would-be writers to record snippets from their day. In so doing, our history will not go the way of the dinosaurs.

Through the publication of this book, the publishers are not glorifying Imam, rather, they are paying tribute to a man who wore many hats, the most significant one being that of community worker.

The Boorhaanol Islam Movement exists as testimony of a man who was concerned about children hanging about on the streets with no place to go, and channelling their energies.

Imam Bassier was not just ‘born to serve’, he lived to serve; his whole life was one of service.

I recommend this book very highly; if we want our history to be remembered, this is the way to expose the youth to what life was like before DSTV. Review by JASMINE KHAN

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DISCUSSIONS WITH DANGOR

Muslim Views . July 2014

Honour killings a crime in Islam Honour killings are often a result of strongly patriarchal views on women, and the position of women in traditional societies, writes Emeritus Professor SULEMAN DANGOR. ARZANA Parveen, twentyfive, was killed by around two dozen relatives, including her father and brothers, in front of Lahore High Court, where she had gone to testify that she had married her husband, Muhammad Iqbal, of her own free will.

Her family did not agree with the marriage, and alleged she had been kidnapped.

She was three months pregnant

F

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at the time of the fatal beating.

After the killing, Parveen’s father surrendered to the police, calling the murder an honour killing and stating that he did not regret his actions.

Wikipedia defines honour killings as ‘the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the perpetrators’ belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonour upon the family or community, usually for reasons such as refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their relatives, having sex outside marriage, becoming the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, or engaging in homosexual relations.’

Though men may also be victims of honour killing, the usual targets are women.

Again, to cite Wikipedia: ‘The distinctive nature of honour killings is the collective nature of the crime – many members of an extended family plan the act together, sometimes through a

formal “family council”.

‘Another significant feature is the connection of honour killings to the control of women’s behaviour, in particular in regard to sexuality/ male interaction/ marriage, by the family as a collective.

‘Another key aspect is the importance of the reputation of the family in the community, and the stigma associated with losing social status, particularly in tightknit communities.’

Honour killings are often a result of strongly patriarchal views on women, and the position of women in traditional societies.

In these male dominated societies women are dependent on the male members of the family whom they are expected to obey.

Women are expected to submit to male authority figures in the family; failure to do so can result in punishment.

Women seeking divorce in such societies invite the wrath of the family.

Punishment is seen as a way of ensuring compliance and preventing rebellion.

Family honour is extremely important in Muslim communities where the family is viewed as the main source of honour, and the community highly values the relationship between honour and the family.

Acts by family members which may be considered inappropriate are viewed as bringing shame to the family in the eyes of the community.

The family fears losing face in the community, and being shunned by relatives.

The only way the shame can be erased is through killing the perpetrator of a ‘dishonourable’ act.

In fact, in some communities, there is no stigma attached to honour killings.

Families guilty of an honour killing usually do not confess to this crime, and report it as a suicide or accident.

This is one reason why families are not prosecuted for the murder.

Furthermore, murder is not the only form of avenging dishonour to a family; acid attacks, abduction, mutilations and beatings are other forms of ‘punishment’.

Yet another form is forced suicide, where the family members do not directly kill the victim themselves but force him or her to commit suicide in order to avoid punishment.

Unfortunately, in some Muslim majority countries, the law is lenient when it comes to prosecuting honour crimes.

Honour killings occur mainly in the Middle East and South Asia.

Among the Muslim majority countries, they happen in Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Turkey, Syria and Yemen.

However, honour killings also occur in Muslim minority communities such as in Britain where

honour killings often arise from women seeking greater independence and adopting seemingly Western values.

These include having a boyfriend and refusing to accept an arranged marriage.

The honour crimes can also be attributed to feelings of alienation suffered by immigrant Muslims in predominantly Western societies.

How widespread is honour killing?

In 2000, the United Nations estimated that 5 000 women were victims of honour killings each year.

According to women’s advocacy groups, more than 20 000 women are victims of honour killings worldwide each year.

These figures include women in non-Muslim societies, including India and Latin America.

Though the perpetrators of honour killings these practices appropriate or justifiable, and claim that these action are sanctioned by Islam, neither the Quran nor the Hadith prescribe honour killings.

They are not the result of an Islamic imperative, but rather arise from long-standing cultural traditions.

No cases of honour killings in the early history of Islam have been reported.

The practice of honour killing is, in fact, an act of murder.

Following the murder of Farzana Parveen mentioned above, a coalition of religious leaders in Pakistan issued a fatwa against honour killings, calling them ‘un-Islamic’ and ‘highly condemnable’.

A 2004 bill has made honour killing a crime in Pakistan.

Let us hope that other countries with Muslim majorities follow suit and treat honour killings as akin to murder.

Focus on Finance

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Do you have a valid will?

HASSEN KAJIE, CA (SA), a director of NEXIA SAB&T, based in the Cape Town office, and WALIED HEYNES, CA (SA), Technical Manager at NEXIA SAB&T point out the importance of a will and guidelines in drawing up one.

A WILL is one of those topics that are not openly discussed and is often the source of conflict amongst family members.

Although a will is not necessary, the drafting thereof does not have to be a complicated task. It should be a practical document which should outline your wishes in a clear and simple manner.

This can make the burden of one’s passing a little bit easier on the loved ones left behind as they are provided with clear instructions as to how the assets of the deceased are to be divided.

What is a will and who can draft it?

A will, also known as a testament, is a legal declaration in which you indicate the manner in which your assets should be divided after your passing.

A will should include all the beneficiaries thereof and also the percentage or specific assets that should be distributed to each beneficiary.

There are no legal requirements for the use of a specialist for the drafting of one’s will but it is often advisable to have a person with the necessary knowledge and experience to assist with this process to avoid any complications on the execution of the will after death.

There are many entities such as law firms, banks and trust com-

panies that can assist with this process, however, consideration should be given to the possible cost implications thereof.

Requirements for a valid will The person drafting the will as well the witnesses are required to be of sound mind when the will is signed in order for it to be valid.

The will needs to be signed and dated in the presence of two witnesses; both should be of the age of 14 or above.

It is also important to note that the person drafting the will and the two witnesses must sign each page of the will.

Any beneficiary in a will should not be involved in the drafting or attesting to the will, as a person who attests a will or was party to the drafting thereof is disqualified from being a benefactor of the will.

Copies of the following documentation should be kept along with the will: l the name and identification details of the executor of your estate, spouse and beneficiaries to be included in the will; l a copy of the marriage certificate; l details of the assets you wish to be donated to institutions such as a mosque, hospice, orphanage etc.; l copies of title deeds of property;

l copies of insurance policies such as endowment policies, life policies, credit life policies etc.; l copies of receipts of items in storage; l copies of motor vehicle registration certificates.

Where should I keep my will?

There are no laws in respect of a specific place where a will should be kept. However, it should be kept in a safe place.

Most entities that assist with the preparation of wills often keep wills on behalf of their clients.

It is advised that one should make a copy of the will and clearly mark it as a ‘copy’ and it should be noted where the original is being kept. It is important that the executor of the will is informed of where the will is kept.

Wills are often required to be revised, especially if important events have taken place that were not provided for in one’s will.

These could include getting married or divorced, the birth of a child, death of a beneficiary or a change of executor; the details thereof need to be updated in the existing will.

What happens if I do not have a valid will?

If you die without a valid will then your property will be distrib-

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

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

uted according to the laws of intestate succession (your assets will not, contrary to popular belief, go to the state).

The Master of the High Court will appoint an executor for the estate who will be responsible for handling all the duties necessary to wind up the estate. The property will be divided amongst the spouse (if living) and all remaining children.

In the event of the deceased not

having a spouse or any descendants, the parents of the deceased would be the sole beneficiaries of the estate.

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.

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FROM THE MIMBAR

Muslim Views . July 2014

Eid message from an icon As a global believing community, we emerge spiritually and morally rejuvenated from this month of heightened spiritual intensity, says Shaikh ABDURAGMAAN ALEXANDER. ALLAHU Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Laa ilaaha illallaahu wal laahu akbar, Allahu Akbar wa lillaahil-hamd.

(Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.

There is no god except Him, and Allah is the greatest, to Him belongs all praise.)

Praise and glory belong to Almighty Allah for this most joyous day of Eid-ul-Fitr.

We beseech Allah to bestow His eternal peace and blessings on our beloved Nabi Muhammad (SAW) who taught us to adorn our day of Eid with the soul-stirring words of the powerful takbir.

It is with a great sense of sadness that we bid farewell to the glorious month of Ramadaan, which has gone by so swiftly.

As a global believing community, we emerge spiritually and morally rejuvenated from this month of heightened spiritual intensity while happily celebrating the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr (Labarang).

O Muslims, on this glorious day of Eid, as the global community still celebrates the memory of our icon, the late Mr Nelson Mandela and our Muslim community also remembers the late Imam Abdurahman (Manie) Bassier, I feel it appropriate to share with you the Eid speech of Madiba, which he delivered in Johannesburg in 1998, lest we forget how much he respected and admired Muslims and Islam.

I quote: ‘Mr Chairman, my Muslim compatriots, distinguished guests and fellow South Africans, Eid mubarak!

I join you today filled with admiration for the communities who, for the past month, have fasted from sunrise to sunset.

Such sacrifice as that of Ramadaan promotes spiritual growth. It demonstrates the power of self-discipline, nurtures feeling for those who are starving and provides an opportunity for renewal.

It begins too to explain the make-up of people like Shaikh

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‘Our country can proudly claim Muslims as brothers and sisters, compatriots, freedom fighters and leaders,

Photo OSMAN KHAN

revered by our nation.’

Abduragmaan Matura, from whose kramat (shrine) on Robben Island, as prisoners, we drew deep inspiration and spiritual strength when our country was going through its darkest times.

That contact with Islam through the kramat and the regular visits by Imam Manie Bassier also had its lighter moments.

We noticed that the prisoner assigned to cleaning the kramat had grown very fat while prisoners, in general, lost weight; it was only later that we discovered that he had, in fact, been eating the biryani and samoosas which visitors had left behind.

Shaikh Matura also reflects the deep roots of Islam in the history of South Africa; as do those brought to the Cape as political exiles or slaves, starting with Shaikh Tuan Yusuf (buried in Faure), freedom fighter and leader from the Indonesian/ Malaysian island, and many of

those brought to our Eastern shores as indentured labour from India and Zanzibar to work the sugar fields of Natal.

These threads and others have left indelible marks on the South African landscape.

Our country can proudly claim Muslims as brothers and sisters, compatriots, freedom fighters and leaders, revered by our nation.

They have written their names on the roll of honour with blood, sweat and tears.

Mr Chairman, as we celebrate the day of Eid, as we harvest the benefits of Ramadaan, and as we reflect on how Islam has enriched our nation and how our nation, in turn, has embraced the Muslim community as its own, we can only feel saddened that ignorance and prejudice about Islam and Muslims in Africa and beyond are still used to fuel tensions.

And yet, although religions are still too often misused in this way, they have a profound power to unite and generate respect for others.

It is my belief that Muslims can, by harnessing the more inclu-

sive strands in their own heritage, make a particular contribution to a more humane Africa.

Africa has made Islam its own, from the very beginning when the African Christian King Negus and Abyssinia gave protection to the followers of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

That example of respect and co-operation points to the role religion can play, and the spiritual leadership it can provide, in contributing to the social renewal on our continent.

Now that South Africa is free, the ties which the Islamic community has always had with other parts of our continent can flourish and enrich our nation without restraint or distortion. They are part of our common African heritage.

During the apartheid years, Muslims rose to the call to unite in struggle against oppression.

Here in this area of Johannesburg (and across our nation) we witnessed resistance to the Group Areas Act which will live in the annals of history.

Victory in our struggle, with

I am sure today’s Eid celebration and the inspiration of Ramadaan will reinforce everlasting moral strength in order to create a better life for all, more especially for the poor. the support of the international community, has won for all South Africans the right to govern themselves. It has also brought a constitution that guarantees the equality of all religions and gives them full protection.

Now we face a new and even more difficult struggle. In the first years of our freedom, we have, as a nation, made a good start. Yet, all of us in every community do also know that there is much more still to be done.

The call now is for each of us to ask ourselves: are we doing all we can to help build the country of our dreams; to use the opportunities where we have them to create jobs and sustained growth; to ensure, as law-abiding citizens, that criminals find no refuge in our midst; to take an active part in improving the areas in which we live?

I know that Muslim organisations in South Africa will continue their sterling humanitarian work, transcending the divisions which were imposed upon us. In this way they are helping to heal our social fabric torn by apartheid’s long and destructive history.

I am sure today’s Eid celebration and the inspiration of Ramadaan will reinforce everlasting moral strength in order to create a better life for all, more especially for the poor.

May you continue to experience the benevolence of Allah in your journey of renewal of the heart and mind.

May your strong call to serve humanity, on this day of Eid, be answered, in yourselves and in others. I thank you. As-salaamu alaikum.’

Eid mubarak.

Muslim Views . July 2014

From Consciousness to Contentment

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The significance of Eid-ul-Fitr JASMINE KHAN

S the holy month of Ramadaan draws to a close, there is great excitement at the prospect of celebrating the day of Eid-ul-Fitr.

We are so used to regarding this day as marking the end of a month of fasting that we may be forgiven for thinking that it only celebrates the return of being able to eat whenever we like.

Yes, it is linked to Ramadaan and marks the end of fasting but it is so much more than merely a celebration or a festival.

The day’s greatest significance is completely spiritual; on this day we show gratitude to Allah for enabling us to observe the fast for a month and to do our utmost to draw nearer to our Creator.

We are grateful for having had the opportunity to recharge our spirituality, and we enter into the first day of Shawaal refreshed but also a little sad to take leave of a month filled with so much barakah.

Eid-ul-Fitr is totally unique; it has no connection to any historical event nor is it related to any seasonal changes.

It is related that when the Prophet (SAW) arrived in Madinah, he found the people celebrating two days of sport and amusement.

He then said, ‘Allah, the Exalted, has exchanged these days for two days better than them: the day of breaking the fast and the day of sacrifice.’ (Ahmad, Abu Dawood) In his explanation of this narration, Shaikh Ahmad Abdurrahman Al-Banna said: ‘(They are better

A

because) they are legislated by Allah and are His choice for His creatures.

‘They follow the completion of two of the greatest pillars of Islam: Hajj and fasting.

‘On the other hand, the days of Navrooz and Mihrajaan (Persian festivals) were devised by the people of those times because of a change in weather or other passing qualities.

‘The difference between the two cases is apparent to whoever ponders upon this.’ (Al-Fath ur-Rabbani) The Islamic tarbiyah (upbringing) imparted by the Prophetic traditions makes it clear that celebrating Eid is not restricted to the outward aspects of worship; it goes deeper and teaches us the correct spirit of celebration.

In his book Al-A’yad Fil-Islam, Shaikh Al-Jibaly writes: ‘The major part of the celebration is not eating or drinking – rather, it is a prayer that brings Muslims together to remember Allah’s bounties and celebrate His glory and greatness.

‘The Eids and their celebration in Islam carry a distinctive meaning and spirit. It is an occasion to increase in good deeds.’

The day marks the conclusion of a great act of ibadah. We emerge from Ramadaan determined to continue in obedience and submission to Allah. Whether we experience sadness or pleasure, we never forget Allah’s greatness nor do we forget that Allah’s protection covers us at all times.

Everything we do or say is always subject to continuous Allah

consciousness. He goes on to say, ‘Thus the Eid is not an occasion to take a vacation, neither from Islamic responsibilities and commitments nor to waste time and money in extravagance.

It is not ‘fun for the sake of fun’.

Rather, it is controlled and directed rejoicing that is of ultimate and definite benefit for the Muslim.

‘The Eid is a chance to multiply good deeds by bringing happiness and pleasure to the hearts of other Muslims, by helping and supporting the poor and needy, and by getting involved in pastimes that emphasise the strong and serious Islamic character.’

There are several instances where the Prophet (SAW) permitted Ayesha (RA) to indulge in suitable recreation on Eid. Ayesha (RA) said: ‘The Messenger of Allah entered the house and I had two girls who were singing about the battle of Bu’ath [a 120year battle between the tribes of Aws and Khazraj that ended with the advent of Islam].

The Prophet (SAW) lay on the bed and turned his face in the other direction.

‘Abu Bakr (RA) entered and spoke harshly to me, “Musical instruments of the shaitaan in the presence of the Messenger of Allah!” The Messenger of Allah (SAW) turned his face to him and said: “Leave them.”

‘When Abu Bakr became inattentive, I signalled to the girls to leave.

It was the day of Eid and the Africans were performing with their shields and spears.

Either I asked him or the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked if I would like to watch them [I don’t recall now]. I replied in the affirmative.

‘At this the Prophet (SAW) made me stand behind him and my cheek was against his. He was saying, “Carry on, O tribe of Arfidah,” until I tire. The Prophet asked: “Is that enough for you?” I replied: “Yes,” so he said: “Leave [then].”’

Ibn Hajar writes in Fath Al-Bari, ‘It is related that the Prophet said that day: “Let the Jews of Madinah know that our religion is spacious [and has room for relaxation] and I have been sent with an easy and straightforward religion.”’

The night preceding Eid-ul-Fitr is a night with great rewards for staying up in ibadah. It is quoted from the Prophet (SAW) that the ‘one who offers six rakaah prayers on this night, reciting in each rakaah Surah Al Hamd once and ‘Qul Huwallah’ five times, Allah will pardon his sins’.

It is good to reflect on how our beloved Prophet (SAW) practised Eid. We learn about the sunan (traditions) of Eid from various narrations: l The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) used to recite takbeer during the night of Eid from sunset on the last day of Ramadaan until the imam came to lead the Eid prayer in the morning. l They raised their voices in supplication and remembrance of Allah in the marketplaces, mosques and homes but the women did so inaudibly.

l The Prophet would not go out on Eid-ul-Fitr until he had eaten an odd number of dates. (Ahmad and Al-Bukhari) l In Al-Muwatta, it is recorded from Sa’id Bin Al-Musayyib that the people were ordered to eat before they went out for prayer on the day of breaking the fast. l They performed ghusl (ritual bath) and wore their best clothes and applied perfume. Ibn AlQayyim writes: ‘The Prophet (SAW) had a special (Yemeni) cloak that he would wear on the two Eids and Jumuah.’ l The Prophet (SAW) would take his wives and daughters to the two Eids, and after he prayed and gave a khutbah, he went to the women and reminded them of Allah, and ordered them to give charity. (Al-Bukhari) l The Prophet and his Companions paid Zakat Al-Fitr before the Eid prayer or even a day or two in advance. l After the Eid prayer, they dispersed by a route that was different from the one they took to approach the masjid.

With knowledge, unimaginable doors will open for us. Let us make it our intention this Eid to be cognisant of the value, not only of having fasted for the month of Ramadaan but also to enter into the true spirit of celebrating the day of Eid. Let us celebrate in gratitude for having had the benefit of Ramadaan, experiencing the joy of true spirituality. Ameen.

Reference: http://moralsandethics.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/eid-ul-fitr.pdf

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Muslim Views . July 2014

Positive and Effective Parenting

How to build and maintain strong family bonds FOUZIA RYKLIEF

Part 1: Some general ideas WE have just come through the holy month of Ramadaan. It was a time when we, hopefully, deepened our consciousness of Allah SWT, and practised self-sacrifice.

We tried to use this month to re-evaluate our lives in light of the Islamic way of life.

The Arabic word for ‘fasting’ (saum) literally means ‘to refrain’ – and it means not only refraining from food and drink but from wrongful behaviour and actions, thoughts and words.

Ramadaan was a time to strengthen ties with family and friends.

It was a time to reach out to family and friends we hadn’t seen for a while or even for years – family we may have had strained relationships with. If we have not done this it is not too late to start now.

I am particularly concerned about the estrangement that occurs between fathers and children as a result of separation and divorce, and in cases where parents did not marry.

I understand that the parents in these situations often have unresolved issues between them, which impacts on the relationship between parents and children.

This is a huge topic and I will deal with this in another issue.

In this issue, I want to focus on family bonds, their importance and some ways of strengthening families.

Life can be difficult at times, and it is at those times we may need a support system.

The solitude and peacefulness of nature fosters family togetherness and makes memories that will bolster children’s sense of self and confidence…

The best support you can get is an unconditional bond from your family. Family bonds shape our futures and make us who we are.

This is important for the next generation and those generations still to come. A bond is defined as something that binds, fastens, confines or holds together. It also means to establish a close emotional relationship to or with another. A strong family bond can help you grow into a well-rounded adult. Knowing that there is a unit of support available whenever you need it can give you the kind of confidence that nothing else can. Bonding is a love that lasts forever, and, regardless of what we might be faced with, it makes it easier knowing that we have someone who will support us and love us through it. It’s the one staple of life that helps to mould us into healthy and productive adults.

Here are some general ideas for strengthening family relationships that I am sure many of us are already implementing:

Make memories for children I remember, vaguely, the hid-

ings I got and the reasons for them. I remember the hardships we endured as a small family.

I remember the oppression and discrimination my contemporaries and I experienced during the oppressive years of apartheid.

Amidst all of this, I remember, in great detail, the positive experiences of my childhood: the pretty dresses my mother made for us for Eid, the visits to extended family; the evening walks down Wynberg Main Road with our mother; travelling to Kalk Bay by train; the visit to Balmoral Photographic studio for a family photo.

There are so many wonderful memories that obliterate the hard times.

Eat together While you are eating as a family, share what you did for the day, focus on the positive things.

Ask the children to share their experiences in a way that shows interest and concern for their daily activities.

Meals should be a peaceful, joyous time and it is important to create an atmosphere that’s conducive to good communication.

Go out into nature We live in such a hectic world where we’re constantly being bombarded with media from all directions. The solitude and peacefulness of nature fosters family togetherness and makes memories that will bolster children’s sense of self and confidence throughout their lives.

Go on outings together When last have we been to a museum? On one of our team wellness outings, my colleagues and I went to Simon’s Town Museum and I was pleasantly surprised to see the family tree of my late father – even a picture of him, his parents and all his siblings.

There are many interesting historical sites and much beauty around us. A train ride or a bus ride through the city is another great way to bond. I went on the open red bus for the first time two years ago. It was amazing.

Introduce your children to special things you enjoyed during your childhood (if these still exist) One of my favourite treats was having a banana split; I took each of my sons separately to Cosy Corner to have one.

Keep ties with extended family Visiting grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins can give children a sense of security and a strong familial foundation. If you don’t live near extended family, try to plan get-togethers several times a year to catch up and revel in each other’s company.

Friends will come and go but family is the one constant they will have in life. As a parent, it is your job to foster the bond between siblings as well as between each parent and child.

This is especially important in a single-child family. If it’s feasible, expose these children to as much time as possible with extended

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family, preferably cousins who are similar in age to them.

There are many other ways to help your child realise that family is of the utmost importance. This understanding will remain with them as they grow up and embark on parenthood themselves.

On a grander scale, you can try to start the tradition of a yearly family reunion. This is a wonderful way for your children to spend time with and fully grasp the amount of people to whom they are related.

Draw the family tree This is a great project for the whole family to work on together.

This project also fosters communication with extended family as you can interview the older members to fill in some of the blanks for you. The saying goes that you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. Spend your life showing those you love that they will always have their family, no matter what happens.

What do children learn from being in a family?

What do children gain from being in a family?

There are many values we learn in a family but below are two of my favourites:

Trust and a positive attitude Trust results from the assurance that someone will pick us up when we fall, as a toddler, to someone being there for us as we experience the challenges in life.

Rituals of bedtime stories, hugs, holidays and daily meals shared together, provide a sense of warmth, structure and safety.

Love and acceptance If children are not shown love when they are young, they may later seek love and acceptance in a way that brings them harm. All of us yearn to be loved unconditionally, to be accepted and appreciated for ‘being’.

‘We’ve got to fill a child’s emotional tank so high that the world can’t poke holes in it and drain it dry.’

Family bonds have to be constantly worked at and renewed but can grow stronger every day.

Strong family bonds are the secret to happy, well-balanced children and adults. When family is important to the adults in the family, it will become important to the children.

Fouzia Ryklief is a departmental manager at the Parent Centre, in Wynberg, Cape Town.

FOR ALL

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55

Stairway to Heaven Part I Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade. Its prime aim was to wrest the Holy City of Jerusalem from the Muslims, writes Doctor M C D’Arcy.

OCTOR Muinuddin Moolajee, colleague and friend, gave me a documentary DVD, Stairway to Heaven. He enthused over it. It took me some time before I watched it but when I did, it was gourmet fare for my obsession with history and art.

The documentary relates the destruction of the Salah ad Din (Saladin) mimbar in Masjid Aqsa on Temple Mount, Jerusalem, and its phoenix-like resurrection from ashes. The reproductive process took 30 years to complete.

It also intertwines the distressing story of the demise of Islamic art’s once glorious historic and artistic peaks which, over the last millennium, were shattered and defiled by the folly of clerical dogma and the torpor of political neglect.

Inspiringly, from this darkness emanates a moving tale of the determination of one man, Minwer al Meheid, a Bedouin from deep in the Arabian Desert, to solve the reconstructive conundrum that had defied the acumen of a plethora of engineers and artists across the globe for 30 years.

Spiritual and geometric challenges were wedded in the rebuilding of Salah ad-Din’s mim-

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bar; a very, very special mimbar steeped in history, its beauty venerated, its art mind-blowing and its construction a mathematical miracle.

There were no plans on paper; the original artists were dust. No detailed photographs were available for emulation, only the embers of smoke and charred wood were there to feel the essence of its past glory.

And what was that glory? It is all in the following story.

Soon after the death of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), on 8 June, 632 CE (Common Era), the Muslim empire expanded like an inflated balloon across Arabia and the Levant – what is now Palestine, Lebanon and Israel.

It reached beyond Iran in the East and across Africa to Morocco and into Spain, Portugal and southern France.

The key cities of the Empire included Makkah, Madinah, Jerusalem, Damascus and Bagdad in the East. The West was dominated by the Muslim universitycities of Cairo (Egypt), Fez (Morocco) and Cordoba (Spain).

The Muslims swooped into France but were stopped by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours.

This expansion shocked the Christian European hierarchy and the Catholic Church, and sparked outrage at the fall of the holy city of Jerusalem, by that time just a small walled city that had been ravaged by the Roman, Titus, and his general, Pompey, in 70 CE and now a place of scant financial consequence, visited only by a small trickle of pilgrims.

In 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade. Its prime aim was to wrest the Holy City of Jerusalem from the Muslims. Large numbers of conscripts and volunteers from across

Europe congregated in varied armies and set off for the Holy Land.

Religious squabbles and hunger soon descended into marauding and plundering of the countries the hoards traversed.

They extorted money from Jews and Muslims and slaughtered Muslims and Jews (called Christ killers) in what historians call ‘the first holocaust’.

Then they headed for Byzantium (Istanbul), capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, to cross the narrow Dardanelles Straits into what is now Asiatic Turkey.

The denizens of the Eastern Orthodox Church quaked and fortified themselves against their oncoming Christian co-religionists. But they were trampled underfoot, their food stocks raided and their valuables looted.

Then the Crusader armies spilled into Asia Minor and marched to the Levant and, after countless battles, succeeded in capturing Jerusalem. The Crusaders’ depravity towards the Muslims and the Jews in liberating Jerusalem is legendary.

They wantonly massacred the Muslims and Jewish inhabitants.

The bloodshed was enormous. A synagogue crammed with fleeing Jews was set alight, killing all.

Masjid Al Aqsa, filled with Muslim refugees was stormed, and when the refugees surrendered they were summarily killed.

The sacred mosque was defiled and turned into stables for their horses.

The Muslim armies soon rallied to liberate Jerusalem from the Crusaders. From within their ranks emerged General Nur alDin Zengi of Aleppo who vowed that he would install a very special mimbar in Masjid Al Aqsa once Jerusalem was back in the hands of the Muslims.

The old Saladin mimbar, which was originally commissioned by General Nur alDin Zengi of Aleppo, was installed in Masjid Al Aqsa by Salah ad Din. It was destroyed by fire in 1969.

Photo ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM

The very best artists and craftsmen of Aleppo worked on this commissioned mimbar.

It was designed and fashioned without the use of nails or glue.

In 1168, it was finished and stored in the Great Mosque of Aleppo. The mimbar was inscribed with a prayer to Allah to grant Nur al-Din the honour of the reconquest of Jerusalem. But it was not to be. After Nur al Din’s death, and during the Third Crusade, a Kurdish warrior, Salah ad Din ibn Ayyub (known in the West as Saladin), liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders on Friday, October 4, 1187 CE. Salah ad Din has an interesting history of valour and fairness. In the West he is associated with Richard I (Richard the Lionheart, of England).

As an aside, Richard I, an English national hero, who lived mainly in France, spoke langue d’oïl, a French dialect, Occitan, a Romance language, and poor English. He was a leader of the Third Crusade.

There was a special relationship between Richard I and Salah ad Din but the two never met. It is said that during one of the battles at Arsuf, Richard lost his horse. Salah ad Din sent him two replacement horses.

Richard proposed that his sister, Joan of England and Queen of Sicily, should marry Salah ad Din’s brother and that Jerusalem be their gift. Salah ad Din said: ‘No, thank you.’

At the Treaty of Ramla, Salah ad Din and Richard I agreed that Christians be allowed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Richard I is buried in France.

His heart was buried separately from his body and his preserved heart was recently disinterred and re-examined.

Salah ad Din restored Al Aqsa Mosque and installed the magnificent mimbar of Nur al-Din. It stood there for 782 years.

Salah ad Din was well-educated and studied Euclid, geometry, law, arithmetic, Quran and religious sciences. He was instrumental in changing the Fatimid-Shia Egypt into predominately Sunni inclination. He was also associated with the mimbar in the Imam Shafi Mosque.

Salah ad Din died on March 4, 1193, aged 55, and was buried at the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus. At the time of his death he had one piece of gold and forty pieces of silver; he had given away all his belongings and wealth. Salah ad Din did not have enough money for his funeral.

Masjid Al Aqsa is situated on the Temple Mount, the area where Solomon’s Temple is said to have been located. The illustration shows Masjid Al Aqsa (the masjid on the left with the blue dome) and its relation to the Dome of the Rock (the masjid with the more impressive gold dome), in Jerusalem. The walled area is said to be the boundary of the Temple Mount.

Muslim Views

56

Muslim Views . July 2014

Letter from Gaza by a Norwegian doctor MADS GILBERT

SUNDAY, 20 July 2014 Dearest friends he last night was extreme.

The ‘ground invasion’ of Gaza resulted in scores and carloads with maimed, torn apart, bleeding, shivering, dying – all sorts of injured Palestinians, all ages, all civilians, all innocent.

The heroes in the ambulances and in all of Gaza’s hospitals are working 12-24 hour shifts, grey from fatigue and inhuman workloads (without payment all in Shifa for the last four months), they care, triage, try to understand the incomprehensible chaos of bodies, sizes, limbs, walking, not walking, breathing, not

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breathing, bleeding, not bleeding humans. HUMANS! Now, once more treated like animals by ‘the most moral army in the world’ (sic!).

My respect for the wounded is endless, in their contained determination in the midst of pain, agony and shock; my admiration for the staff and volunteers is endless, my closeness to the Palestinian ‘sumud’ gives me strength although, in glimpses, I just want to scream, hold someone tight, cry, smell the skin and hair of the warm child, covered in blood, protect ourselves in an endless embrace – but we cannot afford that, nor can they.

Ashy grey faces – oh NO! Not one more load of tens of maimed and bleeding, we still have lakes

of blood on the floor in the ER, piles of dripping, blood-soaked bandages to clear out – oh – the cleaners, everywhere, swiftly shovelling the blood and discarded tissues, hair, clothes, cannulas – the leftovers from death – all taken away ... to be prepared again, to be repeated all over.

More than 100 cases came to Shifa in the last 24 hours. Enough for a large well trained hospital with everything but here – almost nothing: no electricity, water, disposables, drugs, OR-tables, instruments, monitors – all rusted and as if taken from museums of yesterday’s hospitals.

But they do not complain, these heroes. They get on with it, like warriors, head on, enormously resolute.

And as I write these words to you, alone, on a bed, my tears flow, the warm but useless tears of pain and grief, of anger and fear. This is not happening!

And then, just now, the orchestra of the Israeli war-machine starts its gruesome symphony again, just now: salvos of artillery from the navy boats just down on the shores, the roaring F16, the sickening drones (Arabic ‘Zennanis’, the hummers), and the cluttering Apaches.

So much made in and paid by the US. Mr. Obama – do you have a heart?

I invite you – spend one night – just one night – with us in Shifa.

Disguised as a cleaner, maybe.

I am convinced, 100%, it would change history.

Dr Mads Frederick Gilbert at Al-Shifa hospital on July 17, treating a wounded Palestinian child after an Israeli air strike killed four children and wounded five others.

Muslim Views

Nobody with a heart AND power could ever walk away from a night in Shifa without being determined to end the slaughter of the Palestinian people.

But the heartless and merciless have done their calculations and planned another ‘dahyia’ onslaught on Gaza. The rivers of blood will keep running the coming night.

I can hear they have tuned their instruments of death.

Please. Do what you can. This, THIS cannot continue.

Mads Gilbert MD PhD Professor and Clinical Head Clinic of Emergency Medicine University Hospital of North Norway Courtesy: www.middleeastmonitor.com Photo MIDDLE EAST MONITOR