Islam in South Africa

Islam in South Africa predates the colonial period, and consisted of isolated contact with Arab and East African traders. Many South African Muslims are described as Coloureds, 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 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.

It is estimated that Islam is the largest religion of conversion in South Africa.

History

Sheikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah was exiled to Constantia, Cape Town 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.

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 Yusuf 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. 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. [1]

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 that arrived from North India and settled in Natal, the Transvaal and the Cape. The first mosque in Natal was built in Grey Street in Durban in 1884. It is now the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere.

After apartheid

Since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, there has been a growing number of Muslim migrants from South Asia 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.

New rise in conversions

Mosque in KwaZulu-Natal

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the 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 sixfold 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 Mandela and African Muslim communities. However it should be noted that the Nation of Islam, although bearing Islam's name, is not within the fold of Islam for several important reasons, namely it regards its founder as a prophet and its espousal of nationalism.

Political parties

When the first democratic elections 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.

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 Council, 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 of prosecution of its leaders in 2000.

Prominent Muslims

Prominent Muslims are found in many spheres of South African life, notably in politics where they are represented at all forms of government.

Members of the Cabinet include Naledi Pandor, Minister of Education and her deputy, Enver Surty. Essop Pahad is the Minister without Portfolio, while his brother Aziz Pahad is the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. 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.

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.

South African schools of Islam

Most South African Muslims are members of the Sunni branch of Islam; 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 seemed 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.

Theology

The historical context of the region of Southern Africa has given birth to a new group of Muslim theologians and thinkers who have been advocating a radical reinterpretation of Islam. This has led to serious and in some cases violent conflict between the traditionalist or ultra conservative Muslims and the young scholars branded as "modernists". The term "modernist" is used in South African Islamic discourse by the traditional Muslim establishment against anyone calling for the re-interpretation of Islam. The influences of Latin American Liberation theology, Pluralism, Postmodernism, and Postcolonial theory are clearly evident in the writings and theories of this new group of Muslim theorists. The following African scholars are among the leading theorists on contemporary South African Islam: Professor Ebrahim Moosa at Duke University, Professor Abdulkader Tayob of the University of Cape Town, Professor Farid Esack, visiting professor at the Harvard Divinity School, the late Islamic feminist activist Shamima Shaikh, Na'eem Jeenah, affiliated with a number of South African Muslim organisations as well as the University of the Witwatersrand, Dr Sa'diyyah Shaikh and Dr Shamil Jeppie, both lecturers at the University of Cape Town, and Dr Abdul Rashied Omar of the University of Notre Dame.

References

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• Giliomee, H. (1979). The Shaping of South African Society 1652-1820. Longman. ISBN 0-582-64687-1.

Further reading

• Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida. "History of Muslims in South Africa: A Chronology". South African History Online.
• AFOSA Shi'a organization in South Africa
• [2] Islam in South Africa