Islam in South Africa

Islam in South Africa has a long history.

The Muslim community was gaining new members, especially among black South Africans, in the 1990s. Many of the Muslims are of mixed descent; there were those whose ancestors came as slaves from the Indonesian archipelago (the Cape Malays), and those who came as traders from South Asia; they were joined by others who came from parts of Africa as well as those from amongst the whites who had converted in South Africa.

Since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, there has been a growing number of Muslim migrants from South Asia and North Africa respectively; 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. When the first democratic elections took place in April 1994 two Muslim parties emerged; namely the Africa Muslim Party (AMP) and the Islamic Party. The outcome of the 1994 elections resulted in AMP having received 47,690 votes, which was less than 1 percent of the total vote of the nationwide elections. Many Muslims voted for the Nationalist Party and for the African National Congress. In the 2004 election the Africa Muslim Party tried again to attract voters but only succeeded in obtaining 34,446 votes, which is around 0.20 percent of the total vote count. By then the Islamic Party was non-existent and some of it ardent members decided to join the Peace and Justice Party, a predominantly Muslim party, which failed to gain a substantial amount of votes. Their failure could be due to the fact that Muslim theologians that were members of the Jamiat ul-Ulama (Association of Muslim Theologians) and the Muslim Judicial Council supported the idea of voting for the African National Congress.

Following the 2004 elections, two Muslims were appointed to the Cabinet - Ms. Naledi Pandor, the Minister of Education and her deputy, Mr. Enver Surty. It might also be argued that the Minister without portfolio in the President's office, namely Dr. Essop Pahad, as well as his brother, Aziz Pahad - the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, thus bring the total to 4 and not 2 cabinet ministers as mentioned earlier; however, this is because they have been viewed as secularist who have not fully identified themselves with Islam and the Muslims. Apart from these individuals, there is also a fair number of Muslim Parliamentarians and a sizeable number of councillors in the respective provinces. The only province that has a Muslim premier is the Western Cape, namely Mr. Ebrahim Rasool. Perhaps its also appropriate to mention that when Nelson Mandela became president of the democratic state in 1994, he appointed Mr. Dullah Omar as his Minister of Justice and when Thabo Mbeki took over as president he became the Minister of Transport until his death in early 2004. Their appointments demonstrated in a concrete way that Muslims have been active within the socio-political arena.

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 basically dwindled in the 1990s. Organizations such as the Jamiat ul-Ulama of the Transvaal (est. 1923), The Muslim Judicial Council (est. 1945) 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 Student 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 MSASA was thus replaced by Islamic societies that were either independent or affiliates of other Muslim organizations outside these institutions.

The South African Muslims have generally been responsible for building a healthy infrastructure that have contributed towards the well being of the South african society as a whole. For example, there is the Mustadafin Foundation in the Cape, which has been active in welfare work in most of the lower income communities, and then there is the Gift of the Givers known by ist Arabic name Waqf al-Waqifin that has been praised by the South African government for its streling social welfare work not only in South Africa but also in other part of Africa such as Somalia and Mozambique. There are however a plethora of Muslim organizations in different parts of the country that have been doing welfare work. They have moreover been supported by the Muslim diplomatic community that have political ties with South Africa.

This community as well as visitors from their countries; for example, Iranians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Kuwaytis and Saudi Arabians - to name but a few - have been making their financial contributions towards the South african society at large and the South African Muslim community in particular. The governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have contributed to the building of mosques and other efforts to promote Islam. Quite a few Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates have ploughed in a substantial amount of funds into the coffers of Ahmed Deedat's Islamic Propagation Centre International. 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.

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 Chair at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, Farid Esack Chair of Ethics, Religion and Society at Xavier University in Cincinnati, and Michael Mumisa doing research at the Graduate Institute for Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

See also

• Islam by country
• PAGAD

External links

• Radio 786

References

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