
Both organisations agreed to coordinate their efforts to empower Black Muslims, writes Nabeelah Shaikh.
In a historic move, Awqaf SA has entered a Memorandum of Understanding to empower black Muslims in the country. The MOU was signed over the weekend at the South African Black Muslims Conference, held in Johannesburg.
Awqaf SA is a community based charitable organisation aimed at investing endowment funds for various community development programmes. The organisation’s CEO, Zeinoul Abedien Cajee, says the purpose of the MOU is to allow both parties to commit to cooperation, collaboration, friendship, brotherhood and unity.
“We felt that we needed to cement our relationship even further with emerging Muslim communities. We call this a level one agreement where we lay the groundwork for relationship building. We see commonalities between us, we see ways in which we can both add value. Together we can achieve a lot,” said Cajee.
The MOU deals with entering into joint projects that both parties can work on.
“We are committed to the development of emerging Muslim communities and we feel that a MOU will help us foster that particular aim as well. We haven’t identified any specific projects yet, but going forward we can look at research projects and empowerment projects that we plan to work on,” said Cajee. He says the signing is a significant breakthrough.
“It’s a significant move for established Muslim communities to show there’s nothing to be afraid of, nothing to shy away from. We believe in the concept of one Ummah. At the end of the day, we have the same Kalimah in our hearts and there’s nothing that can divide us,” said Cajee.
Cajee signed the MOU with Moulana Thulani Zaid Langa who is an Ameer of the SABMC. The SABMC was established as a non-profit, non-political, think tank, and religious dialogue platform created in 2019 by township and village-based Muslim organisations across South Africa.
Their main aim was to organise an annual conference to discuss issues that are affecting the black emerging Muslim community in the country.
Expertise
Some 200 delegates from around the country gathered over the weekend to participate in the conference. The conference sought to outline the status of Black Muslims in South Africa, to highlight some of the pertinent challenges that are facing black Muslims, and to share ideas and expertise on how to improve the conditions of black Muslims, economically, socially and educationally.
Aslam Tawana, a spokesperson for the SABMC said the conference allowed leaders to adopt a national programme to address some of the identified challenges.
“It was also really a platform where we can encourage the culture of taking charge of our own affairs. This enables us to form partnerships with stakeholders and to highlight the role the Black Muslim community plays in nation building. We spoke about ways of dealing with extremism and Islamophobia and to see how best we can contribute to the nation’s moral regeneration,” said Tawana. This is why the signing of the MOU was so historic for both groups.
“Both organisations agreed to coordinate their efforts to empower Black Muslims in townships and villages. We believe this will be the best way for us to achieve economic emancipation for the Black Muslim community. We will work with each other to ensure we can achieve this. Now that the MOU is signed, we are going to hit the ground running immediately, to work together so we can improve the conditions of the Black Muslim community,” said Aslam Tawana. Tawana said the conference was a resounding success, and was the perfect platform to put plans into action, with the theme this year being, “Nation Under Construction”.
“We had about 70 Ulama present which was a big deal for us. We had amazing partners such as Awqaf SA and the Jamiatul Ulama of South Africa on board. Mentorship, training, coaching, partnerships, access to funding and networking, were some of the centerpieces of the conference. Much of the focus was also looking into how we can develop Black Muslim businesses and Black Muslim entrepreneurs. The aim is to take them out of poverty and unemployment in the townships,” said Tawana.
Na’eem Jeenah, Executive Director of the Afro-Middle East Centre and former editor of Al Qalam, said, “More than an organisation, the SABMC represents an important historical moment in the life of the South African Muslim community. It is the self-assertion of African Muslims in a manner that rejects condescension and paternalism, and where they declare their readiness to take on the rest of the Muslim community – and the rest of the world – on their own terms, rather than on terms dictated to them. It should also be a wake-up call to those who still think of African Muslims as being ‘an emerging Muslim community’. Some day we will look back on this development as one of the milestones in the formation of a Muslim community in South Africa, away from our history of having many Muslim communities.
Another important highlight of the event was the establishment of a SABMC bursary fund.
The fund has been introduced to assist Black Muslim students who cannot afford tertiary education.
“We realised that this was something which was desperately needed. The aim is to work towards economic emancipation and the development of our people. This is one way we can achieve this, by identifying needy black Muslim students who will benefit from the bursary fund, and will then be able to use their skills to give back and empower their communities,” said Tawana. Awqaf SA has also pledged to match the total amount raised at the conference towards the bursary fund.
Tawana said the main aim of the conference was so that leaders can adopt a national programme to address some of the identified challenges.
“It also really is a platform where we can encourage the culture of taking charge of our own affairs. This enables us to form partnerships with stakeholders. The conference was also used to highlight the role the Black Muslim community plays in nation building. We spoke about ways of dealing with extremism and Islamophobia and to see how best we can contribute to the nation’s moral regeneration,” said Tawana.
Ebrahim Mphutlane wa Bofelo, an expert on governance and leadership, said within any community there will always be a section of that community which for historical reasons, is disempowered, marginalised, and who are not on par with the broader community.
“This is the case with the black Muslim community. And therefore, there will always be a need for a platform for people who face issues and challenges that are particular and peculiar to them, to organise themselves in order for them to put their heads, hearts and hands together to resolve those issues. And there is nothing wrong with this. There will always be a need for people who are faced with a township experience to deal with issues affecting them,” said Mphutlane wa Bofelo.