Islam in South Africa
Encyclopedia
Islam in South Africa
pre-dates the colonial period, and consisted of isolated contact with Arab
and East Africa
traders. Many South African Muslims are described as Coloured
s, notably in the Western Cape
, including those whose ancestors came as slaves from the Indonesian archipelago (the Cape Malays
). Others are described as Indians
, notably in Kwazulu-Natal
, including those whose ancestors came as traders and indentured servants from South Asia
; they have been joined by others from other parts of Africa
as well as white or black South African converts. However, the current Muslim tradition in the country dates from the arrival of Sheikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah, a Malay sheikh
from Sumatra
, in 1668.
in the Cape
by the Dutch East India Company
(VOC) following his resistance to the Dutch occupation of the East Indies
. The sheikh used his exile to consolidate the teaching of Islam
among slaves in the Cape, many of whom came from Muslim backgrounds in Malaysia and Bengal
.
of Bantam
, who lived at Faure in Cape Town
. Probably the first imam
to live in Cape Town was Said Alochie of Mocha
in Yemen
, who was sentenced to work on Robben Island
for ten years in 1747. Said Alochie later moved to Cape Town where he worked as a police constable - an occupation which gave him ample opportunities for visiting slave quarters at night to teach. In 1767 Prince Abdullah Kadi Abu Salaam of Tidore
was exiled to the Cape. He wrote a copy of the Quran from memory, and the volume is still preserved in Cape Town; Abdullah assumed leadership of the community in Cape Town and became known as "Tuan Guru". In 1799 the growth of the community encouraged Cape Town's Muslims to petition the VOC for permission to build a mosque. Islam was a popular religion among the slaves - its tradition of teaching enabled literate slaves to gain better positions in their masters' households, and the religion taught its followers to treat their own slaves well.
.
and North Africa
; however, their numbers are fairly low. Most of the Muslims are urban dwellers and thus live in or near Cape Town
, Durban
, Port Elizabeth, East London, Kimberley, Pretoria
or Johannesburg
.
According to converts quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, their biggest reason for the dramatic rise in Islam is that the religion is a refuge from sex, AIDS
, alcoholism
, and domestic violence
that is rampant in the black townships, where the greatest rates of conversions are seen. It is estimated that Islam is the largest religion of conversion in South Africa
. Islam grew by six fold in thirteen years, during the time from 1991 to 2004. Even though organizations such as IPCI, the Islamic Dawah Movement of South Africa, and the Africa Muslim Agency have been eager to proselytize in the region, there have been other civic organizations such as the MYMSA and the Call of Islam who considered other approaches to weave Islam into the social fabric of South Africa as a more significant way of making the Muslims' presence conspicuous.
According Michael Mumisa, a researcher and writer on African Islam, there has been an increase in the number of black South Africans converting to Islam particularly among the women and the youth. He believes that for some of the youth and women who were schooled in the politics of South African resistance and confrontation with the security forces of the former Apartheid state, the acceptance of Islam has become part of a radical rejection of a society based on Christian principles which are seen as having been responsible for establishing and promoting the Apartheid doctrine through the Dutch Reformed Church
in South Africa
. The influence of the radical ideas espoused by Malcolm X
is very evident among South African Muslims of all races. Branches of the Nation of Islam are already established in South Africa. Louis Farrakhan
paid a visit to South Africa and was received by President Nelson Mandela
and African Muslim communities.
Another Reason has been the presence of a growing Number of Sufi Orders and Groups.
Amongst these is the Murabitun
, a group that has a strong following in Spain.
took place in April 1994 two Muslim parties emerged, the Africa Muslim Party
and the Islamic Party. The AMP contested the National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature and the IP contested only the Western Cape provincial legislature. Neither party was able to secure seats in either legislature.
No representative Muslim party contested the 1999 elections
.
The 2004 elections
were contested by the AMP and the Peace and Justice Congress, again without success.
, whose activities include the provision of Halaal certification of food. The South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) looks after the needs of South Africa's pilgrims and is responsible for the issuing of Hajj
permits. There exist many other local organisations that look after the interests of their communities.
Organisations such as PAGAD
have received attention for their fight against the scourge of gangsterism and drugs. PAGAD consisted of mainly Muslim people, but were joined by people from various religions. PAGAD, as the name suggests, was ostensibly formed to combat the rising trends of gangsterism and drug use. It became known more prominently, however, as proponents of urban terror. They were implicated in over 300 acts of violence, the majority of which involved explosives. PAGAD's operations largely ceased after the arrest and prosecution of its leaders in 2000.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
is also present.
Members of the Cabinet have included Naledi Pandor
, former Minister of Education, and current Minister of Science and Technology, as well as Enver Surty. Essop Pahad
and his brother Aziz Pahad
. Other former Ministers include Kader Asmal
(Education) and Dullah Omar
[Justice,Transport].
In addition to Cabinet ministers, there are a number of Members of Parliament
as well as councillors in the various provinces. The former Western Cape
premier, Ebrahim Rasool
, is Muslim (Rasool is currently serving as South Africa's Ambassador to the United States of America). Imam Hassan Solomon (Raham) was a Member of Parliament from 1994 until his death in 2009. During the struggle for liberation, Imam found himself being asked by many communities to preach, even in churches! He joined the United Democratic Front, seen by many as a front for the banned African National Congress (ANC). During his years in exile in Saudi Arabia, Imam Solomon furthered his Islamic education, but was always available to enlighten people on the situation in South Africa. Imam Solomon returned to South Africa in 1992, and took up a seat in the National Assembly in Parliament following the first democratic elections in 1994. He served Parliament until his death in 2009.
Ismail Mahomed
was the first post-apartheid Chief Justice of South Africa
.
In sport, the most prominent South African Muslim is Test cricketer Hashim Amla
.
In rugby, the new talent of Ismaeel Dollie has come to the fore.
Hazrat Sheikh Ahmed Badsha Peer was a highly respected Sufi. He arrived in South Africa in 1860 as an indentured labourer and was given an honourable discharge by the colonial British authorities when he was discovered to be mystic. . His tomb is at the Badsha Peer Square/Brook Street Cemetery in Durban.
Abu Bakr Effendi
was a Osmanli qadi
who was sent in 1862 by the Ottoman
sultan
Abdülmecid I
at the request of the British
Queen Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope
, in order to teach and assist the Muslim
community of the Cape Malays
.
Riaadh Moosa is a popular comedian.
; there are however a small number of individuals who had converted to the Shi'a school. Although they were vocal in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they seem to have become part of the silent Muslim minority at the turn of the 21st century. This could be attributed to the fact that South Africa's large Sunni oriented community have not adopted a favourable and accommodating attitude towards the Shi'is, and that Iran's influence had dwindled in the 1990s. Organizations such as the Jamiat ul-Ulama of the Transvaal (est. 1923), The Muslim Judicial Council
(est. 1945)The jamaa of nepali Muslims whose leader is today Dr Jigme Rai and Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (est. 1970) enjoyed a fair amount of moral and financial support from the Muslim community for their social welfare activities. The once strong Muslim Students Association of South Africa
(est. 1974), which had branches on many tertiary campuses, became less vocal and thus lost its grip on student activities; the MSA was thus replaced by Islamic societies that were either independent or affiliates of other Muslim organizations outside these institutions. The Muslim Students Association of South Africa
has recently been very active once again. The first National Muslim Students Association of South Africa
Conference (first in the last 10 years) was held in Durban in January 2004. MSA representatives from all over the country met here. This was hoped to be a new future of student work in the country. There is also a recent presence of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
who established in the country in 1946, and a small community of Qur'an Alone
Muslims. There is also a Sufi community.
Madhab, while the Malay, Kokni Indian & East African Communities usually follow the Sha'afi madhab, which predominates in the Western Cape . There is also an increasingly large number of adherents to the Maliki
madhab, composed mostly of recent West African and Maghribi Migrants.
Theological differences between Sunni and Salafi Muslims is noted.
/Barelvi
schools within the Indian Community.
The Malay Community has a much more varied tradition with graduates of Al-Azhar in Egypt, Umm-al Qurra in Mecca & other universities in Saudi Arabia & South Asia. Most of the Indian scholars are graduates from Deobandi affiliated Madrassahs.
South African Muslims generally do not segregate themselves from people of other faiths. As per the culture in South Africa, it is not uncommon for South African Muslims, just like their fellow non-Muslims, to shake hands, hug or even kiss (in the case of close friends and distant or close family) as a greeting- even with non-mahram
s.
The National Interfaith Leadership Council, which advises President Zuma, includes former Western Cape premiere, Ibrahim Rasool.
The Muslim community has been affected by a rise in drug abuse, particularly in Cape Town of the drug Tik (crystal meth Crime and gangsterism are also visible in the poorer Muslim communities.
Qur'ans are available in libraries including the National Library.
During the month of Ramadan
, many retail stores, radio stations (public and private), publications and organisations send messages of goodwill to the local Muslim community. Many muslim stores are closed on Eid-ul-Fitr.
Financial services providers such as First National Bank, ABSA bank, Standard Bank and Nedbank offer Sharia compliant financial solutions and banking products. South Africa also has several branches of Albaraka Bank (of Saudi Arabia), Habib Overseas Bank Ltd and HBZ Bank Ltd, which offers only Shari'a compliant banking. Oasis Crescent Management Group is also a financial service provider to Muslims in South Africa.Halal
food products, butcheries, restaurants are widely available in South Africa although gender segregation is not common within South African society.
Islamic school
s also exist as well as Madrasah
s. Some institutions offer short courses on Islamic teaching, while Islamic Law and Islamic finance studies are also available. Qu'ran Study groups are common and Arabic studies are available through private tutoring, or universities such as Wits University and University of the Western Cape.
South Africa has also been bestowed with numerous Dar al-Ulums (institutes for higher Islamic learning). These institutes attract students from around the world. One salient feature of the Dar al-Ulums is that it teaches Islam in its pristine purity.
Some famous Dar al-Ulums are:
1)Dar al-Ulum Zakariyyah,
2) Dar al-Ulum Azaadville,
3) Dar al-Ulum Benoni,
4) Dar al-Ulum Newcastle,
5) Dar al-Ulum Springs,
6) Dar al-Ulum Isipingo,
7) Dar al-Ulum Camperdown,
8) Dar al-Ulum Strand.
is also available on DSTV to South African Muslims as well as other Muslim programmes on the DSTV Indian Bouqet.
Cape Town also has a community TV station, called Cape Town TV, or CTV for short. Every Friday evening they broadcast a recorded Jumu'a (Friday parayer) session. During the month of Ramadan, CTV also brings viewers lectures from the days of fasting, broadcast every night between 21H30-22H30.
Proponents of the bill such as the Coalition of Muslim Women and Women's Legal Centre Trust believe it would protect the rights of Muslim women as decisions made by legal scholars are not legally binding regarding financial settlements following a divorce. Fayruz Sattar's husband divorced her she had no opportunity to challenge him and was without any assets following the divorce.
Questions have been raised about the need for a separate marriage bill for Muslims as there is no Christian marriages bill or such for Hindus, Sikhs, ect.
Constitutional Court Judge Kate O'Reagan stated that, "the question is whether it is acceptable for the state to take over the management of a particular religion," she said. Judge Albie Sachs commented that "it's asking the courts to intrude, in a very profound way, on a very sensitive issue". Furthermore, there is lack of consensus in the Muslim community on the structure and implementation of the bill and The Women's Cultural Group, which participated in the hearing as a friend of the court, said the Muslim community had gone into "hibernation" over the issue because of the "intensity of the exchanges" on the matter.
Organisations such as the Muslim Women's Association opposes the bill as it would not give Sharia superiority over the constitution which gives equal rights to men and women including in the area of divorce. Yasmin Omar, an advocate with the Muslim Women's Association said such legislation would cause "unnecessary infringement with regards to the right to freedom of religion".
Polygamy is legal in South Africa.
certification authorities, who certify food and restaurants as Halal. There is some disagreement between these organisations. The certifications carry considerable weight amongst South African Muslims.
It was feared prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup that Islamist extremists may have carried out attacks during the tournament and there were reports of Somali al-Qaeda
, al-Shabab
and Pakistani militant run camps in neighbouring Mozambique
. Despite this, no direct threats or attacks materialised.
) which sparked some uproar from the Muslim community. Death threats were made to Mr. Shapiro and the editor of the newspaper. An emergency court interdict was sought by The Council of Muslim Theologians (Jamiatul Ulama) to prevent the publishing of the cartoon, however the petition was denied by the presiding judge - who is herself a Muslim. The judge earlier chose not to recuse herself saying that her religious beliefs would not influence her. Zapiro created the cartoon in response to international outrage over the "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" campaign of Facebook. Zapiro depicts the prohet Mohammed on a psychologist's couch moaning that, "other prophets have followers with a sense of humour!". The council stated that they feared violence in response and that the drawing may put the security of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at risk from extremists. It said that though it does not advocate violence, it would not be able to ensure that there would not be any. The editor of the paper said that, ""My view is no cartoon is as insulting to Islam as the assumption Muslims will react with violence," and said that the cartoon would not have been published if it was intended to be racist or Islamophobic. Zapiro stated that his cartoon was mild and not offensive and in no way similar to the Danish cartoon depicting the prophet in a negative light. The following week, Zapiro published a cartoon of himself on a psychologists couch off-loading about the difficult week prior, and also saying, "The issue is depicting the prophet... it's that simple", and, "That's for adherents of Islam! Why should non-believers be censored? And there's the contradiction of all those ancient Iranian and Turkish Muhammad drawings... drawn by devout Muslims!". Further, "I'm sorry I'm being linked to that juvenile Islamophobic Facebook campaign. And I'm sorry if anyone's linked me to the Islamophobia of the U.S. 'war on terror'! ... Or the Burqa and minaret bans in Western Europe!", and that "making exceptions for religious censorship is hard for a cartoonist". An editorial piece opposite the cartoon stated that the paper "clearly underestimated the depth of anger ignited by the cartoon, and sincerely regret the sense of injury it caused many Muslims". Zapiro also noted the irony of being so harshly condemned by Muslims who often supported his pro-Palestinian drawing which angered his fellow jews. Local clerics stated in a meeting with Zapiro that week that while they support freedom of expression, they do not support drawings of the prophet Mohammed.
No violence or protests ensued after the cartoon was published and most local Muslims found it to be mild and some did not find it to be offensive and found the reaction of the council to have been exaggerated.
The Council of Muslim Theologians (Jamiatul Ulama) succeeded in 2006 in preventing the Sunday Times from publishing a controversial cartoon of the prophet Mohammed by a Danish cartoonist.
On Friday 10 September 2010, a South African Muslim law student named Mohammed Vawda attempted to organise a public Bible burning at a park in central Johannesburg in response to plans by Florida pastor Terry Jones' "International Burn a Koran Day". A Muslim organisation named Scholars of Truth was invited to the event by Mr. Vawda but instead sought a court interdict prohibiting Mr. Vawda from realising his plan, which was granted. The court paper filed referred to parts of the Qur'an calling for respect of Christian and Jewish holy books. After the court hearing, Vawda admitted that he was wrong but said that he was infuriated and enraged by pastor Jones' plans. Vawda said that his plan was not aimed at insulting Christians or the people of South Africa, where the majority of the population is Christian.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
pre-dates the colonial period, and consisted of isolated contact with Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
traders. Many South African Muslims are described as Coloured
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
s, notably in the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
, including those whose ancestors came as slaves from the Indonesian archipelago (the Cape Malays
Cape Malays
The Cape Malay community is an ethnic group or community in South Africa. It derives its name from the present-day Western Cape of South Africa and the people originally from Maritime Southeast Asia, mostly Javanese from modern-day Indonesia, a Dutch colony for several centuries, and Dutch...
). Others are described as Indians
Indian South Africans
Indian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it 'the largest 'Indian' city outside India'. Most Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India during late 19th-century through early...
, notably in Kwazulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
, including those whose ancestors came as traders and indentured servants from South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
; they have been joined by others from other parts of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
as well as white or black South African converts. However, the current Muslim tradition in the country dates from the arrival of Sheikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah, a Malay sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
from Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, in 1668.
History
Sheikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah was exiled to Constantia, Cape TownConstantia, Cape Town
Constantia is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, situated about 15 kilometres south of the centre of Cape Town. The Constantia Valley lies to the east of and at the foot of the Constantiaberg mountain. Constantia Nek is a low pass linking to Hout Bay in the west.-History:Constantia is...
in the Cape
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
by the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(VOC) following his resistance to the Dutch occupation of the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
. The sheikh used his exile to consolidate the teaching of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
among slaves in the Cape, many of whom came from Muslim backgrounds in Malaysia and Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
.
The VOC period
During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century the Dutch continued to exile Muslim leaders from Batavia to the Cape: they included Sheikh YusufSheikh Yusuf
Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep , more commonly known as Sheikh Yusuf, was an Indonesian muslim of noble descent. In 1693 he was exiled to the Cape of Good Hope which resulted in his establishing Islam in the Cape.-Early and middle life :...
of Bantam
Bantam (city)
Bantam in Banten province near the western end of Java was a strategically important site and formerly a major trading city, with a secure harbor on the Sunda Strait through which all ocean-going traffic passed, at the mouth of Banten River that provided a navigable passage for light craft into...
, who lived at Faure in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. Probably the first imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
to live in Cape Town was Said Alochie of Mocha
Mocha, Yemen
Mocha or Mokha is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until it was eclipsed in the 19th century by Aden and Hodeida, Mocha was the principal port for Yemen's capital Sana'a.-Overview:...
in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, who was sentenced to work on Robben Island
Robben Island
Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island". Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km². It is flat and only a...
for ten years in 1747. Said Alochie later moved to Cape Town where he worked as a police constable - an occupation which gave him ample opportunities for visiting slave quarters at night to teach. In 1767 Prince Abdullah Kadi Abu Salaam of Tidore
Tidore
Tidore is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. In the pre-colonial era, the kingdom of Tidore was a major regional political and economic power, and a fierce rival of nearby Ternate, just to the north.-Geography:Tidor...
was exiled to the Cape. He wrote a copy of the Quran from memory, and the volume is still preserved in Cape Town; Abdullah assumed leadership of the community in Cape Town and became known as "Tuan Guru". In 1799 the growth of the community encouraged Cape Town's Muslims to petition the VOC for permission to build a mosque. Islam was a popular religion among the slaves - its tradition of teaching enabled literate slaves to gain better positions in their masters' households, and the religion taught its followers to treat their own slaves well.
Arrival of Indian Muslims
In 1800's there were two waves of Muslims that emigrated to South Africa from India. The first began with a wave of immigration by indentured labourers from South India in 1860's. These labourers were brought to South Africa by the British. 7-10% of these labourers were Muslim. The second wave of immigrants were merchants or traders ("Passenger Indians") that arrived from North India and settled in Natal, the Transvaal and the Cape. The first mosque in Natal, Juma Masjid, was built in Grey Street in Durban in 1884. It is now the largest mosque in the Southern HemisphereSouthern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
.
After apartheid
Since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, there has been a growing number of Muslim migrants from South AsiaSouth Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
; however, their numbers are fairly low. Most of the Muslims are urban dwellers and thus live in or near Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, Port Elizabeth, East London, Kimberley, Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
or Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
.
New rise in conversions
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, and domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
that is rampant in the black townships, where the greatest rates of conversions are seen. It is estimated that Islam is the largest religion of conversion in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Islam grew by six fold in thirteen years, during the time from 1991 to 2004. Even though organizations such as IPCI, the Islamic Dawah Movement of South Africa, and the Africa Muslim Agency have been eager to proselytize in the region, there have been other civic organizations such as the MYMSA and the Call of Islam who considered other approaches to weave Islam into the social fabric of South Africa as a more significant way of making the Muslims' presence conspicuous.
According Michael Mumisa, a researcher and writer on African Islam, there has been an increase in the number of black South Africans converting to Islam particularly among the women and the youth. He believes that for some of the youth and women who were schooled in the politics of South African resistance and confrontation with the security forces of the former Apartheid state, the acceptance of Islam has become part of a radical rejection of a society based on Christian principles which are seen as having been responsible for establishing and promoting the Apartheid doctrine through the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The influence of the radical ideas espoused by Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
is very evident among South African Muslims of all races. Branches of the Nation of Islam are already established in South Africa. Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
paid a visit to South Africa and was received by President Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and African Muslim communities.
Another Reason has been the presence of a growing Number of Sufi Orders and Groups.
Amongst these is the Murabitun
Murabitun
The Murabitun is a worldwide Islamic movement founded by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, with communities in around 20 different countries....
, a group that has a strong following in Spain.
Political parties
When the first democratic electionsSouth African general election, 1994
The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
took place in April 1994 two Muslim parties emerged, the Africa Muslim Party
Africa Muslim Party
The Africa Muslim Party is a South African Muslim political party. It was founded in 1994, with Gulam Sabdia as Chairman and Imtiaz Suleman as national leader, and competed in the 1994 elections with few votes to account for...
and the Islamic Party. The AMP contested the National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature and the IP contested only the Western Cape provincial legislature. Neither party was able to secure seats in either legislature.
No representative Muslim party contested the 1999 elections
South African general election, 1999
South Africa's second non-racial general election, held on 2 June 1999 was won by the African National Congress , who increased their number of seats by 14. Notable was the sharp decline of the New National Party, previously the National Party , who without former president F.W. de Klerk lost more...
.
The 2004 elections
South African general election, 2004
Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....
were contested by the AMP and the Peace and Justice Congress, again without success.
Organisations
Besides political parties, a number of Islamic organisations operate in South Africa, looking after various aspects of Muslim life. Major organisations include the Muslim Judicial CouncilMuslim Judicial Council
The Muslim Judicial Council , a non-profit umbrella body of Islamic clerics in South Africa, is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. It was established in 1945 by the Muslim Progressive Society...
, whose activities include the provision of Halaal certification of food. The South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) looks after the needs of South Africa's pilgrims and is responsible for the issuing of Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
permits. There exist many other local organisations that look after the interests of their communities.
Organisations such as PAGAD
People Against Gangsterism and Drugs
People Against Gangsterism and Drugs was formed in 1996 as an Islamically-oriented, militant group in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa. It claims to fight drugs and gangsterism but its members have been implicated in several criminal and terrorist acts.-Origins:PAGAD grew as an...
have received attention for their fight against the scourge of gangsterism and drugs. PAGAD consisted of mainly Muslim people, but were joined by people from various religions. PAGAD, as the name suggests, was ostensibly formed to combat the rising trends of gangsterism and drug use. It became known more prominently, however, as proponents of urban terror. They were implicated in over 300 acts of violence, the majority of which involved explosives. PAGAD's operations largely ceased after the arrest and prosecution of its leaders in 2000.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
is also present.
Prominent Muslims
Prominent Muslims are found in many spheres of South African life, notably in politics where they are represented at all levels of government.Members of the Cabinet have included Naledi Pandor
Naledi Pandor
Naledi Pandor is the South African Minister of Science and Technology. She was appointed to the cabinet following the 2004 South African general elections.-Early life:...
, former Minister of Education, and current Minister of Science and Technology, as well as Enver Surty. Essop Pahad
Essop Pahad
Essop Goolam Pahad is a South African politician. He was Minister in the Presidency from 1999 to September 2008.-Early life:...
and his brother Aziz Pahad
Aziz Pahad
Aziz Pahad is a South African politician, who served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999-2008, he currently serves as an MP for Johannseburg West Highlands.-Education:...
. Other former Ministers include Kader Asmal
Kader Asmal
Kader Asmal was a South African politician. He was a professor of human rights at the University of the Western Cape, chairman of the council of the University of the North and vice-president of the African Association of International Law. He was married to Louise Parkinson and has two sons...
(Education) and Dullah Omar
Dullah Omar
Abdullah Mohamed Omar , better known as Dullah Omar, was a South African anti-Apartheid activist, lawyer, and a minister in the South African cabinet from 1994 till his death.-Early life and education:...
[Justice,Transport].
In addition to Cabinet ministers, there are a number of Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
as well as councillors in the various provinces. The former Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
premier, Ebrahim Rasool
Ebrahim Rasool
Ebrahim Rasool was the Premier of the Western Cape province in South Africa. He is a member of the African National Congress.Anti-Apartheid Struggle Activist:...
, is Muslim (Rasool is currently serving as South Africa's Ambassador to the United States of America). Imam Hassan Solomon (Raham) was a Member of Parliament from 1994 until his death in 2009. During the struggle for liberation, Imam found himself being asked by many communities to preach, even in churches! He joined the United Democratic Front, seen by many as a front for the banned African National Congress (ANC). During his years in exile in Saudi Arabia, Imam Solomon furthered his Islamic education, but was always available to enlighten people on the situation in South Africa. Imam Solomon returned to South Africa in 1992, and took up a seat in the National Assembly in Parliament following the first democratic elections in 1994. He served Parliament until his death in 2009.
Ismail Mahomed
Ismail Mahomed
Justice Ismail Mahomed was a South African lawyer who served as the Chief Justice of South Africa and the Supreme Court of Namibia, and co-authored the constitution of Namibia.-Early life:...
was the first post-apartheid Chief Justice of South Africa
Chief Justice of South Africa
The Chief Justice of South Africa is the head of the judiciary of South Africa, who exercises final authority over the functioning and management of all the courts...
.
In sport, the most prominent South African Muslim is Test cricketer Hashim Amla
Hashim Amla
Hashim Mahomed Amla is a South African cricketer. A right-handed upper order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler, Amla bats at number 3 for South Africa in Test matches and has opened in limited overs contests. He is currently ranked as the No...
.
In rugby, the new talent of Ismaeel Dollie has come to the fore.
Hazrat Sheikh Ahmed Badsha Peer was a highly respected Sufi. He arrived in South Africa in 1860 as an indentured labourer and was given an honourable discharge by the colonial British authorities when he was discovered to be mystic. . His tomb is at the Badsha Peer Square/Brook Street Cemetery in Durban.
Abu Bakr Effendi
Abu Bakr Effendi
Sheikh Abu Bakr Effendi was a Osmanli qadi who was sent in 1862 by the Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid I at the request of the British Queen Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope, in order to teach and assist the Muslim community of the Cape Malays....
was a Osmanli qadi
Qadi
Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
who was sent in 1862 by the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Abdülmecid I
Abdülmecid I
Sultan Abdülmecid I, Abdul Mejid I, Abd-ul-Mejid I or Abd Al-Majid I Ghazi was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on July 2, 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories...
at the request of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Queen Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, in order to teach and assist the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
community of the Cape Malays
Cape Malays
The Cape Malay community is an ethnic group or community in South Africa. It derives its name from the present-day Western Cape of South Africa and the people originally from Maritime Southeast Asia, mostly Javanese from modern-day Indonesia, a Dutch colony for several centuries, and Dutch...
.
Riaadh Moosa is a popular comedian.
South African schools of Islam
Most South African Muslims are members of the Sunni branch of IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
; there are however a small number of individuals who had converted to the Shi'a school. Although they were vocal in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they seem to have become part of the silent Muslim minority at the turn of the 21st century. This could be attributed to the fact that South Africa's large Sunni oriented community have not adopted a favourable and accommodating attitude towards the Shi'is, and that Iran's influence had dwindled in the 1990s. Organizations such as the Jamiat ul-Ulama of the Transvaal (est. 1923), The Muslim Judicial Council
Muslim Judicial Council
The Muslim Judicial Council , a non-profit umbrella body of Islamic clerics in South Africa, is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. It was established in 1945 by the Muslim Progressive Society...
(est. 1945)The jamaa of nepali Muslims whose leader is today Dr Jigme Rai and Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (est. 1970) enjoyed a fair amount of moral and financial support from the Muslim community for their social welfare activities. The once strong Muslim Students Association of South Africa
Muslim Students Association of South Africa
The Muslim Students Association of South Africa is a representative collective of the various Muslim Students Association chapters which can be found in the different tertiary institutions throughout South Africa.- History :...
(est. 1974), which had branches on many tertiary campuses, became less vocal and thus lost its grip on student activities; the MSA was thus replaced by Islamic societies that were either independent or affiliates of other Muslim organizations outside these institutions. The Muslim Students Association of South Africa
Muslim Students Association of South Africa
The Muslim Students Association of South Africa is a representative collective of the various Muslim Students Association chapters which can be found in the different tertiary institutions throughout South Africa.- History :...
has recently been very active once again. The first National Muslim Students Association of South Africa
Muslim Students Association of South Africa
The Muslim Students Association of South Africa is a representative collective of the various Muslim Students Association chapters which can be found in the different tertiary institutions throughout South Africa.- History :...
Conference (first in the last 10 years) was held in Durban in January 2004. MSA representatives from all over the country met here. This was hoped to be a new future of student work in the country. There is also a recent presence of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
who established in the country in 1946, and a small community of Qur'an Alone
Qur'an alone
Quranism is an Islamic denomination that holds the Qur'an to be the only canonical text in Islam. Quranists reject the religious authority of Hadith and often Sunnah, libraries compiled by later scholars who catalogued narratives of what the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said and done,...
Muslims. There is also a Sufi community.
Madhab
Most of the Indian community follow the HanafiHanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
Madhab, while the Malay, Kokni Indian & East African Communities usually follow the Sha'afi madhab, which predominates in the Western Cape . There is also an increasingly large number of adherents to the Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
madhab, composed mostly of recent West African and Maghribi Migrants.
Theological differences between Sunni and Salafi Muslims is noted.
Scholarship
The Dominant traditions of scholarship are the rival South Asian DeobandiDeobandi
Deobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...
/Barelvi
Barelvi
Barelvi is a term used for the movement of Sufi , Sunni Islam originating in the Indian subcontinent.The Movement is known as Ahle Sunnat movement to its followers....
schools within the Indian Community.
The Malay Community has a much more varied tradition with graduates of Al-Azhar in Egypt, Umm-al Qurra in Mecca & other universities in Saudi Arabia & South Asia. Most of the Indian scholars are graduates from Deobandi affiliated Madrassahs.
Community & Interfaith Relations
The Muslim community in South Africa lives in harmony with other faith communities. This religious cohesion is most obvious in the Indian and Coloured residential areas where Muslims live amongst, work with and attend school with fellow South Africans of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Atheist and Agnostic beliefs.South African Muslims generally do not segregate themselves from people of other faiths. As per the culture in South Africa, it is not uncommon for South African Muslims, just like their fellow non-Muslims, to shake hands, hug or even kiss (in the case of close friends and distant or close family) as a greeting- even with non-mahram
Mahram
In Islamic sharia legal terminology, a mahram is an unmarriageable kin with whom sexual intercourse would be considered incestuous, a punishable taboo...
s.
The National Interfaith Leadership Council, which advises President Zuma, includes former Western Cape premiere, Ibrahim Rasool.
The Muslim community has been affected by a rise in drug abuse, particularly in Cape Town of the drug Tik (crystal meth Crime and gangsterism are also visible in the poorer Muslim communities.
Qur'ans are available in libraries including the National Library.
During the month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
, many retail stores, radio stations (public and private), publications and organisations send messages of goodwill to the local Muslim community. Many muslim stores are closed on Eid-ul-Fitr.
Financial services providers such as First National Bank, ABSA bank, Standard Bank and Nedbank offer Sharia compliant financial solutions and banking products. South Africa also has several branches of Albaraka Bank (of Saudi Arabia), Habib Overseas Bank Ltd and HBZ Bank Ltd, which offers only Shari'a compliant banking. Oasis Crescent Management Group is also a financial service provider to Muslims in South Africa.Halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
food products, butcheries, restaurants are widely available in South Africa although gender segregation is not common within South African society.
Interfaith Marriage
Interfaith marriages are legal in South Africa and Muslim women are not prohibited by law to marry non-muslims although it is not permissible in Islam.Education
The majority of South African Muslim attend mixed gender public schools, while some attend private (mostly Catholic or Anglican) schools, where they are exempt from prayer sessions and Biblical curriculum.Islamic school
Islamic school
Islamic school may refer to one of several things:* Madh'hab, an Islamic school of thought.* Madrasah, an Islamic educational institution...
s also exist as well as Madrasah
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
s. Some institutions offer short courses on Islamic teaching, while Islamic Law and Islamic finance studies are also available. Qu'ran Study groups are common and Arabic studies are available through private tutoring, or universities such as Wits University and University of the Western Cape.
South Africa has also been bestowed with numerous Dar al-Ulums (institutes for higher Islamic learning). These institutes attract students from around the world. One salient feature of the Dar al-Ulums is that it teaches Islam in its pristine purity.
Some famous Dar al-Ulums are:
1)Dar al-Ulum Zakariyyah,
2) Dar al-Ulum Azaadville,
3) Dar al-Ulum Benoni,
4) Dar al-Ulum Newcastle,
5) Dar al-Ulum Springs,
6) Dar al-Ulum Isipingo,
7) Dar al-Ulum Camperdown,
8) Dar al-Ulum Strand.
Television
Every weekday public channel SABC 1 broadcasts short religious programmes before the Siswati/Ndebele news at 17h30. Each day a different religion is represented, with "Reflections on Faith" being the Islamic edition, broadcast on Fridays 17H00-17H02. An Nur-The Light is a muslim religious programme that airs on SABC 1 on Sunday mornings and interfaith programme Spirit Sundae features muslim event coverage, personal profiles and discusses issues pertaining to the community. Religions of South Africa also broadcasts information about Islam. Islam ChannelIslam Channel
Islam Channel is a UK-based, free-to-air, English language, Islamic-focused satellite television channel funded by advertising and donations. It was reported in 2008 that UK government research found that 97.3% of Muslims watched the channel...
is also available on DSTV to South African Muslims as well as other Muslim programmes on the DSTV Indian Bouqet.
Cape Town also has a community TV station, called Cape Town TV, or CTV for short. Every Friday evening they broadcast a recorded Jumu'a (Friday parayer) session. During the month of Ramadan, CTV also brings viewers lectures from the days of fasting, broadcast every night between 21H30-22H30.
Print Publications
Newspapers include Islam - The Way of Life Newspaper, Amani Magazine, and Al Qalam Newspaper.Marriage
South Africa is one of the few Muslim minority countries in the world which is considering the implementation of Muslim Personal Law or Muslim Family Law. In 2003, a draft Muslim Marriages Bill was submitted to the Department of Justice but has not yet been approved. This would allow courts to enforce regulations of sharia law to those married under sharia, with the assistance of a muslim judge and assesfors familiar with Islamic law. The bill would also protect the rights of Muslim women. An example is when a Pietermaritzburg woman, was sent back to her parents home heavily pregnant, by her abusive husband with only the clothes on her back and her mahr (dowry). Although the marriage ended, she was unable to obtain a talaaq (divorce decree) from her husband via the local Muslim judicial council who do not have the authority to do so as most Imams are not registered marriage officers, nor was she able to re-marry. The marriage was not legalised in a Civil Marriage of the Civil Unions Act which give women rights to marital assets and maintenance.Proponents of the bill such as the Coalition of Muslim Women and Women's Legal Centre Trust believe it would protect the rights of Muslim women as decisions made by legal scholars are not legally binding regarding financial settlements following a divorce. Fayruz Sattar's husband divorced her she had no opportunity to challenge him and was without any assets following the divorce.
Questions have been raised about the need for a separate marriage bill for Muslims as there is no Christian marriages bill or such for Hindus, Sikhs, ect.
Constitutional Court Judge Kate O'Reagan stated that, "the question is whether it is acceptable for the state to take over the management of a particular religion," she said. Judge Albie Sachs commented that "it's asking the courts to intrude, in a very profound way, on a very sensitive issue". Furthermore, there is lack of consensus in the Muslim community on the structure and implementation of the bill and The Women's Cultural Group, which participated in the hearing as a friend of the court, said the Muslim community had gone into "hibernation" over the issue because of the "intensity of the exchanges" on the matter.
Organisations such as the Muslim Women's Association opposes the bill as it would not give Sharia superiority over the constitution which gives equal rights to men and women including in the area of divorce. Yasmin Omar, an advocate with the Muslim Women's Association said such legislation would cause "unnecessary infringement with regards to the right to freedom of religion".
Polygamy is legal in South Africa.
Haraam food & behaviour
There are no restrictions on the sale of alcohol or pork to Muslims and are legally free to consume such items should they wish as they have freedom of choice in South Africa. Sex before marriage is not illegal and carries no criminal penalty, and marital rape is a crime.Halal food certification
There are a number of HalalHalal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
certification authorities, who certify food and restaurants as Halal. There is some disagreement between these organisations. The certifications carry considerable weight amongst South African Muslims.
Islamic Extremism
Generally, the local Muslim population are known to be peaceful, tolerant and moderate. There have been cases, however, where foreign terrorists have used South Africa as a staging post and later attempted to or succeeded in carrying out attacks abroad. Critics claim widespread corruption among police and officials, including the sale of South African passports, had undermined counter-terrorism efforts.It was feared prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup that Islamist extremists may have carried out attacks during the tournament and there were reports of Somali al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, al-Shabab
Al-Shabab
Al-Shabab is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh. It was founded in 1947, and was named at first Shabab AlRiyadh, but later in 1967 was named Al Shabab. Al Shabab is well known in Saudi Arabia as one of the best in football...
and Pakistani militant run camps in neighbouring Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
. Despite this, no direct threats or attacks materialised.
Mohammed cartoons
In May 2010, the local Mail & Guardian published a cartoon depicting the prophet Mohammed by Jonathan Shapiro (aka ZapiroZapiro
Jonathan Shapiro, born 1958 in Cape Town, is a South African cartoonist, famous as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions...
) which sparked some uproar from the Muslim community. Death threats were made to Mr. Shapiro and the editor of the newspaper. An emergency court interdict was sought by The Council of Muslim Theologians (Jamiatul Ulama) to prevent the publishing of the cartoon, however the petition was denied by the presiding judge - who is herself a Muslim. The judge earlier chose not to recuse herself saying that her religious beliefs would not influence her. Zapiro created the cartoon in response to international outrage over the "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" campaign of Facebook. Zapiro depicts the prohet Mohammed on a psychologist's couch moaning that, "other prophets have followers with a sense of humour!". The council stated that they feared violence in response and that the drawing may put the security of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at risk from extremists. It said that though it does not advocate violence, it would not be able to ensure that there would not be any. The editor of the paper said that, ""My view is no cartoon is as insulting to Islam as the assumption Muslims will react with violence," and said that the cartoon would not have been published if it was intended to be racist or Islamophobic. Zapiro stated that his cartoon was mild and not offensive and in no way similar to the Danish cartoon depicting the prophet in a negative light. The following week, Zapiro published a cartoon of himself on a psychologists couch off-loading about the difficult week prior, and also saying, "The issue is depicting the prophet... it's that simple", and, "That's for adherents of Islam! Why should non-believers be censored? And there's the contradiction of all those ancient Iranian and Turkish Muhammad drawings... drawn by devout Muslims!". Further, "I'm sorry I'm being linked to that juvenile Islamophobic Facebook campaign. And I'm sorry if anyone's linked me to the Islamophobia of the U.S. 'war on terror'! ... Or the Burqa and minaret bans in Western Europe!", and that "making exceptions for religious censorship is hard for a cartoonist". An editorial piece opposite the cartoon stated that the paper "clearly underestimated the depth of anger ignited by the cartoon, and sincerely regret the sense of injury it caused many Muslims". Zapiro also noted the irony of being so harshly condemned by Muslims who often supported his pro-Palestinian drawing which angered his fellow jews. Local clerics stated in a meeting with Zapiro that week that while they support freedom of expression, they do not support drawings of the prophet Mohammed.
No violence or protests ensued after the cartoon was published and most local Muslims found it to be mild and some did not find it to be offensive and found the reaction of the council to have been exaggerated.
The Council of Muslim Theologians (Jamiatul Ulama) succeeded in 2006 in preventing the Sunday Times from publishing a controversial cartoon of the prophet Mohammed by a Danish cartoonist.
"International Burn A Koran Day"
In response to American pastor Terry Jones' "Burn a Koran day" the Muslim Judicial Council urged him to read the holy text and understand it first before condemning it. Pastor Jones' plans were widely condemned by all communities in South Africa.On Friday 10 September 2010, a South African Muslim law student named Mohammed Vawda attempted to organise a public Bible burning at a park in central Johannesburg in response to plans by Florida pastor Terry Jones' "International Burn a Koran Day". A Muslim organisation named Scholars of Truth was invited to the event by Mr. Vawda but instead sought a court interdict prohibiting Mr. Vawda from realising his plan, which was granted. The court paper filed referred to parts of the Qur'an calling for respect of Christian and Jewish holy books. After the court hearing, Vawda admitted that he was wrong but said that he was infuriated and enraged by pastor Jones' plans. Vawda said that his plan was not aimed at insulting Christians or the people of South Africa, where the majority of the population is Christian.
Queensburgh Mosque
In July 2010, the Sunday Times reported that Queensburgh Islamic Society was engaged in a five year long dispute with the residents of a Durban suburb who opposed the building of a mosque despite council approval. Local residents and guest-houses owners distributed pamphlets and encouraged others to lodge complaints at a hearing mediating the disputed 1562m² site which would be used by 400 Muslim families in the area.Further reading
- http://muslimwiki.com/mw/index.php/Islam_in_South_Africa Islam in South Africa