RABI-UL-AWWAL 1438 l DECEMBER 2016
Vol. 30 No. 12
The radical Salafi of Bekkersdal
MAHMOOD SANGLAY ‘We are Rasta and we’ll not fall into Indian ways,’ said the defiant twenty-year-old who considered himself a ‘half-baked’ Rasta. That was in 2002, but he soon discovered that Islam does not belong to Indians, but to humanity. Today, over 14 years later, Moulana Vuyo Ayyub Mokoena is imam of Bekkersdal Masjid, seven kilometres east of Westonaria, Gauteng. His journey from Rasta to Islam is one of many striking aspects of his story. The young Vuyo was attracted to Rastafari because he ‘has always been against the system’ and for the ‘upliftment of the African Being’. His reversion to Islam, ironically, occurred during a period when he and his fellow devotees were imbibing the regular ‘spliff @ the ghetto’ where they encountered ‘two brothers sent by Allah’ doing dawah. The manner of the missionaries impressed him. They were frank and direct, not the ‘wannabe-celebrities’ type. Eventually, he was one of ten youth who embraced Islam, in April 2002. He nostalgically
Moulana Vuyo Ayyub Mokoena, 34, expresses a deep resentment for racists. He relates a number of incidents, notably the one at the Mayfair Jumma Masjid, in June 2016, in which black Muslim ulama were ordered off the masjid precincts. Photo OUPA NKOSI
recalls the times they gathered at the same place they received the message, this time to study Islam. About six of them would complete the reading of Sahih Bukhari and Sunan Abu Dawood within days, from ‘Isha until Fajr, drowning in the love of Allah’. Although tensions initially emerged between Moulana Vuyo and his family due to his reversion to Islam, he maintained relations with them and they learned to respect him and his faith. Moulana Vuyo is overtly resentful of slave-master relationships, which he says still prevail between black people and Indians. After he completed his Aalim course at Darul Uloom Newcastle, in 2011, he started working to gain experience at a masjid in Durban but resigned within three months. ‘I did my duties but still that would not stop my employer from subjecting me to that master and slave relationship. After telling him where to get off I resigned, never to return, and I moved back home.’ Home was always Bekkersdal, a township established in 1945 to house black mineworkers. It was the site of violent protests before
the elections of May 2014 and the achievement of the Muslims in the township is patently a source of pride. It is where the young Vuyo completed his primary and secondary schooling in 2000. Within a month of his returning home from Durban, he was appointed chairperson of the Bekkersdal Muslim Association (BMA) and, the following year, in 2012, he assumed the responsibilities of imam of Bekkersdal Masjid. Moulana Vuyo maintains a polygamous marriage. He married Salaama Rapesia, 28, in 2006 and Zaynab Thora, 22, in 2004 and he is father to three sons and three daughters, ranging from nine years to 18 months in age. They live in a dwelling attached to the masjid and he is the sole breadwinner earning R4 000 per month. He says that with these earnings, even in three decades, he will own neither a property nor a vehicle, nor be in a position to undertake the Hajj. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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WINNERS OF OUR TICKETS AND CDs GIVEAWAY FOR THE MOSTAFA ATEF CONCERT
he Muslim Views tickets and CDs giveaway for the Mostafa Atef concert, in the November edition, received an excellent response from readers. On November 28, after ensuring that all valid entries were placed in line for the lucky draw, some of our staff, a representative from the promoters and an independent auditor gathered to undertake the draw. Pictured during the draw are, from left, Tasleema Latief (Editorial Secretary, Muslim Views), Shireen Abrahams (Advertising Features Consultant, Muslim Views), Tasleema Allie (representing Anonymous Branding), Sharief Hassan (Managing Director, Muslim Views), Farid Sayed (Editor, Muslim Views) and Amaanullah Ayub, CA (SA), partner at Nkonki Cape Town Inc, Accountants and Auditors. The auditor ensured that the draw and the entire process were fair and transparent. The winners of the ten tickets were Yacub Banderker, Hassan Bapoo, Fatima Booran, Faadilah Gierdien, Tagmida Karstens, Rafiq Noordien, Zareena Plaatjies, Kashiefa Safodien, Razeen Sulaiman and Hameda Williams. As a bonus, Anonymous Branding sponsored another ten tickets for a partner for each of the winners. The CD winners were Fouzia Abdurahman, Maryam Ahmed, Nazier Banderker, Raji Devajee and Nazli Hendricks. Muslim Views thanks the sponsors and auditors for their assistance, and especially our readers who enthusiastically responded to our giveaway offer. Photo TOYER NAKIDIEN
‘A Mercy To All The Worlds’ SPECIAL MOULOOD-UN-NABI FEATURE Rejoicing at the unparalleled arrival of the Universal Mercy Mufti Sayed Haroon al Azhari Paying tribute to the Prophet amidst a crisis of leadership Shaikh Sa’dullah Khan Celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) Ladies’ Moulood Jamaah programmes in the Western Cape Grand Moulood events in four major cities Cape Town Islamic Educational Centre Prophetic light: the Super Mercy of the Super Moon Shafiq Morton
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