Al-Qalam 
By Nabeelah Shaikh
Muslim professionals in KwaZulu-Natal that spent a lifetime working within the built environment were recently honoured for their longstanding dedication to their craft at an inaugural awards ceremony.
The Association of Muslim Built Environment Professionals (AMBEP) held its recognition awards event on November 30 at the Exotic Conference Centre in Overport.
The purpose of the event was to recognise the older generation of professionals who studied in the days of apartheid and have contributed for over 40 years to their respective professions.
The organisation was formed in 2016 representing all members who are from the built environment. They work on important developments including shopping centres, roads, ports, airports, and masjids. AMBEP includes project managers, architects, civil, structural, traffic, Geotech, mechanical, electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, town planners, land surveyors and environmentalists, in both the public and private sectors of South Africa.
The organisation has a national membership of 380 professionals and 50 graduate members across the country with members in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Cape Town, Gqeberha and East London.
“Membership consists of people who have a degree and are professionally registered. We create opportunities for one another, and we offer services to Muslim organizations, madrasahs, musjids, community centres, on a pro-bono basis,” said AMBEP chairperson, Jameel Shaik, who is a professional construction project manager.
He said members of AMBEP were instrumental in the building of Musjid –us-Salaam in Musgrave, Durban. Seventeen professionals from AMBEP dedicated their time to working on the Musgrave masjid, led by Shaik.
“We worked as a team to ensure the project was completed on time and within budget. As part of the organisation, we also go to schools and give career guidance to students who may be interested in careers in the built environment. Today, most students want to become doctors and accountants. So, we started this, and we have made a serious impact, and there are more students that realize there is life outside accounting and medicine,” said Shaik.
He said AMBEP is guided by the principles of “doing good and serving mankind”.
“The aim and objectives of AMBEP is to identify and coordinate under-privileged and Islamic development opportunities, public awareness, participation in community projects, networking and identifying of private and public projects and opportunities, career guidance and opportunities, mentorship and training programmes,” said Shaik.
He says the recognition awards event was a special event for the organisation, and the first of its kind.
“We have people in our profession in the Durban area that have given so much of their time and expertise to their professions. Some of them have been in their professions for 45 years and they’ve passed retirement age, yet they’re still busy with projects. One of the oldest awardees was 74 years old. We recognised their efforts and whatever they have done, whether it’s the building of a masjid or a community centre,” said Shaik.
He said the event was a resounding success, attended by over 120 members of AMBEP and will be held annually going forward.
The awardees recognised included:Abdool Haq [Baboo] Sattharia – Professional Civil/Structural Engineer; Ahmed Sayed Vawda – Professional Civil/Structural Engineer; Yusuf Patel – Professional Architect; Goolam Mohamed [GM] Khan – Professional Architect; Mohideen Abdool Gafoor [Gaff] – Professional Architect; Ahmed Sayed Seedat – Professional Architect; Hafiz Abdool Rashid Peer – Professional Quantity Surveyor; Mohamed Seedat – Professional Architect; Cassim Kadwa – Professional Architect; Iqbal Naroth – Professional Architect and Tamsi Bodhania – Professional Architect.
