Fired imam takes mosque to the CCMA

An imam who was sacked for “poor performance” is taking committee members of a Cape Town mosque to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) after a dramatic showdown between him and his replacement.

Newly appointed imam Sheik Junaid AlAzhair led his first congregational prayer on February 2 at the Masjied Khaleel mosque in Hazendal, near Athlone.

Al-Azhair told the Sunday Times that, as he led the prayer, the ousted imam, Nuhr Hassam, entered and told congregants not to join in the prayer, as Al-Azhair was not qualified to lead it.

The two imams argued, and Al-Azhair told Hassam he had received his accreditation to be an imam from an international university, where he had studied for 15 years.

Al-Azhair then left the mosque and on his return a group of people standing outside harassed him.

Hassam told Al-Azhair he should leave and not come back, or he would be “dealt with” by the group. Al-Azhair decided to walk away and not engage with the group.

Trustee Tariq Jensen, who was at the mosque, said his nephew was then assaulted, and his brother, the boy’s father, reacted by firing a blank firearm.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that a case of discharging a firearm had been opened at Athlone police station.

“A 9mm imitation pistol with seven blank rounds was handed in at Athlone SAPS. According to reports, an adult male saw his son being assaulted at the mosque and then fired a blank shot into the air to stop the fight,” said Van Wyk.

He said no assault case has been opened. No arrests have been made, and the investigation was ongoing.

Al-Azhair said he had been offered other positions but took the job at the mosque because there was work to be done in the community.

He said it is important that the chosen imam has good credentials, which Hassam did not. “Although he has shown he has done work for the community, unfortunately Nuhr hasn’t shown any credentials,” said AlAzhair.

Jensen said Hassam’s dismissal followed a 12-month consultation process that had resulted in several verbal warnings and a final written warning. Some of the trust’s reasons for dismissing Hassam were:

His failure to uphold the duties and responsibilities of the congregation;

Providing ambiguous guidance on who could lead the daily prayer or act as his approved substitute during any absence;

Consistent failure to lead three out of every five daily prayers at the mosque;

Failure to enforce compliance with the mosque’s rules and regulations and breachof confidentiality:

Allowing unqualified individuals to lead prayers in his absence, despite several requests that he not do this; and

Poor conduct and breach of trust.

Hassam, who declined to comment on the February 2 incident, in 2019 took members of the Vredenburg Mosque Jamaat, where he was imam at the time, to court for removing an interlocking door between the mosque and his living quarters. He claimed they were trying to put pressure on him and his family to vacate the home. He won his case and an appeal by mosque members was dismissed by the Western Cape High Court.

Hassam told the Sunday Times he was taking the committee of the Masjied Khaleel mosque to the CCMA, as he believed he had a strong case of unfair dismissal.

The Sunday Times was unable to confirm the matter with the CCMA.

“I went on leave, and my leave was approved, and on the last day I received a notice of my dismissal,” said Hassam. While he had not attended a formal institution for Islamic studies, as none was operating at that time, he had paperwork endorsed by his teachers and 21 years of service.

The Muslim Judicial Council’s first deputy president, Moulana Shuaib Appleby, said the matter is sensitive and the council is helping to resolve it.