Al-Qalam 
[Photo credit: IUPUI]
By Azra Hoosen
As the school year end draws near, Dr Faisal Suliman – Chairperson of the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) and treasurer of the Islamic Medical Association of South Africa (IMASA) – has encouraged students to apply for Media and Health Sciences Bursaries for 2023 University studies.
Suliman also appealed to the Muslim community to help the NPO’s in their mission to help students build their future –by contributing towards the SAMNET and IMASA Bursary Funds.
“At IMASA, we have started a Health Sciences Bursary fund in which we have about five or six students that we funded for 2022, but as it is new, we expect many more applications going forward.
Funding education is a very costly affair, especially when students have to go for residence/boarding in another town, it becomes really prohibitive,” said Suliman.
Suliman hopes to have a good crop of students coming through next year.
“We are aware of the Amanat that comes with dealing with Zakat funds. If students meet the academic criteria as well as financial criteria, in terms of there not being any disposable income left after expenses are paid, then we are here to help. Our idea is not to collect and hoard money, but to empower the youth,” he added.
The Health Sciences bursary applications can be accessed via the IMASA website www.ima-sa.co.za.
“Through the generosity of the donors and mercy of Allah (SWT), we want to use these two bursary funds to assist students and ensure our community grows. Especially with IMA and a range of medical activities, which is expanding, the Health Sciences field is extremely vast, with a very broad scope and there are opportunities to work abroad which is why we encourage young people to consider career opportunities in this field,” he added.
The SAMNET bursary is only applicable to students interested in Journalism, Political Science, Media Studies and related fields.
SAMNET has encouraged the youth to take an interest in journalism.
“There is such a need for Muslims who can give an alternative narrative to what we see in the mainstream media, whether in print, documentaries, YouTube videos on news etc. which is why at SAMNET, we focus on these fields.
You can make a decent living, like with any other career. Thanks to the internet and syndication, you can be sitting in the middle of the Karoo and have your work published across the world. We want to see more of that from young Muslim people and that is why we focus on offering a Journalism and Media Bursary.
People are welcome to donate Zakat or Lillah towards the SAMNET and IMASA bursary fund and a Section 18A certificate can be issued if required,” said Suliman.
Applications will open by 1st of December 2022 and close on the 20th of February 2023 for both bursaries.
For more information on the SAMNET bursary, visit SAMNET’s website at www.samnet.co.za, email info@samnet.co.za or call (031) 207 4223.
