Congress on Islamic Civilisation celebrates how Islam shaped society

THE history of Muslim civilisation in South Africa is an integral part of the story of South – and southern – Africa.

These were the words of Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel who gave the keynote address at a gala dinner opening the 3rd International Congress on Islamic Civilisation in Southern Africa.

Held at Islamia College in Lansdowne over the weekend, the event celebrated history, contemporary affairs and future perspectives.

The event was jointly hosted by local non-governmental organisation (NGO) Awqaf SA and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in conjunction with the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), a subsidiary of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC).

Attended by academics and opinion makers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and beyond, the event also celebrated the legacy of Shaykh Abu Bakr Effendi – who was sent to the Cape in 1863 by the Turkish Sultan – and Imam Abdullah Haron, the imam of the Al-Jamia mosque, the anti-apartheid icon who died in detention in September 1969.

A biography of Shaykh Abu Bakr Effendi penned by local journalist, Shafiq Morton, entitled The Crescent at the Cape, The True Story of Shaykh AbuBakr Effendi 1814-1880, was launched by Awqaf SA and IRCICA during the event.

Patel said the Muslim community was not one of “visitors”, but instead … a community made up of insiders shaping their contemporary society, (and) part of the rich tapestry that makes up southern Africa.”

The Muslim community was one that embraced diversity, he said, adding that the late poet and activist, Don ‘Umar Mattera’s statement that (social) memory was the weapon of history, was extremely poignant.

One of the congress’s sessions honoured Imam ‘Abdullah Haron. Zenzile Khoisan, a former member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), saluted the Haron family’s “indefatigable efforts” to see justice done – especially in the light of the state re-opening the inquest into the nature of his death.

“Your struggle to find justice is an inspiration to those wanting to resolve issues that don’t want to be resolved,” he said. Prof Mahmud Erol Kilic, the director-general of IRCICA, said his organisation was the “Unesco” of the Muslim world and that Muslim minorities were as significant as Muslim majorities. He said that IRCICA had a special department dedicated to Muslim minority communities such as those in South Africa and Mauritius.

He said that an Islamic cultural ethos should never be about the eradication of the memory of another culture. He cited the example of Sultan Mehmet Fatih conquering Istanbul from the Byzantines in the 15th century.

“He was shown this magnificent church, the Hagia Sofia. Instead of destroying it as conquerors, the Ottomans built another monument next to it, the Blue Mosque. Our ethos should not be to destroy things (of the past). Rather, arts and culture is a high level, indigenous answer to things such as colonialism,” he said.

In its final plenary, the congress undertook to examine developmental and educational issues as well as the plight of local township communities embracing Islam.