Special Hearings — Faith Community Hearings — 1997-11-17

IMAM GASSAN SOLOMON: Thank you very much. Chairperson of the commission, members   of the commission, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, goeie more, shalom, molweni. 
On behalf of the Muslim Judicial Council, I wish to express our appreciation   for this opportunity in the spirit of hope to make a contribution to the truth   of the past and peace and reconciliation for the future. I also wish to congratulate   and thank the TRC under the leadership of Bishop Desmond Tutu for undertaking   the noble task of probing the conscience of the nation in order to put our heartforth   freedom on a sound spiritual footing where our different political parties,   structures of government, business, the press, our different traditions and   civil societies of all might rediscover the fullness of humanity together in   a single nation.
Chairperson, history has planted Islam and Muslims in the Cape in South Africa   more than 300 years ago. Under conditions that were not unfamiliar to the majority   of people in our country. Muslims were brought to South Africa either as captured   freedom fighters against Dutch colonialism in the far East, as slaves to European   masters or as indentured labourers. The socio-political relations of domination   at the time ensured that Islam remained a subjugated religion of a minority,   enjoying neither equality nor the right to free expression. As slaves and political   exiles, besides the right to worship freely, they were denied the erection of   places of worship and burial ground. This is probably one of the reasons why   the graves of the notables are spread far and wide into the then "bundus"   of the Cape Peninsula, including the well known Robben Island. It was only in   1804 that the Betravian Republic granted the Muslims two specific privileges   apparently in anticipation of their loyalty against the invading British. The   first burial grounds, the Kanabaru in the BoKaap was one. The second was a promise   of a site to build a Mosque. Chairperson and Commissioners, a Mosque is the   life of a Muslim community, is a vital institution. It is there at the centre   of social interaction and not only a place of formal worship. A Mosque in the   Islamic sense is a sense of learning and instruction, not merely in religious   norms, but also of the functioning of the individual in his or her social milieu.   In essence, it becomes the semanating of communal and social life and as such,   an important institution in the development of the community's culture. 
It was under these circumstances and its effect that the Muslim Judicial Council   was formed in 1945, primarily in the interest of Muslim unity. But also, to   voice a protest against oppressive laws and governmental policy. Dr Cherrister   of UCT, in his book "Religions of South Africa" states according to   the original statement of purpose, the MJC was founded in the interest of all   non-Europeans, who should at all times irrespective of race or creed, join forces   against the oppressive forces which are endeavouring to retard their progress   in all spheres in this country. 
In 1961, the Muslim Judicial Council, in conjunction with the Muslim Youth   Movement, Cape Town, Claremont Youth Association, Cape Vigilant's Association,   Young Men's Muslim Association and a number of Muslim Religious leaders and   individuals launched the Call of Islam declaration and I quote "For too   long a time now have we been together with our fellow sufferers subjugated,   suffered humiliation of being regarded as being inferior beings, deprived of   our basic right to earn, to learn and to worship according to the divine rule   of God. We can no longer tolerate further encroachment on these, our basic rights   and therefore we stand firm with our brothers in fighting the evil monster that   is about to devour us, that is oppression, tyranny and baska." The declaration   continues to express opposition and resistance to the Group Areas Act, pass   laws, job reservations and substantiates this position with the relevant scriptural   support from the holy Koran. The Call of Islam Declaration was followed by a   packed meeting at the City Hall, Cape Town on the 7th May 1961. It was at this   meeting that the Muslim Judicial Council declared apartheid in any form could   not be condoned by Islam. On the basis of this, Achmad Davids, a Muslim historian   and writer, stated in an article to the Centre of African Studies on studies   in the history of Cape Town, that the Muslim Judicial Council was the first   religious organisation in South Africa to declare apartheid a hierarchy.
It is within this context, Chairperson, appropriate to mention that during   the 1984 Tri-camaral Parliament election campaign, that the "don't vote"   charge of the MJC developed into the popularised declaration made by Muslim   speakers at meetings held under the auspices of the UDF to vote for apartheid   is "haram". Dr Gerrie Lubbe in his dissertation on the history of   the Muslim Judicial Council states that by bringing these political terms and   issues into the category of the forbidden which is the meaning of "haram",   overwhelming acceptance was achieved through the use of a very concrete language   known to every Muslim. To name a political system as unsuitable for human consumption   was certainly most unique, but very effective. Chairperson, I have mentioned   the meaning of a Mosque in the Islamic faith. It was the Group Areas Act which   hurt and angered Muslims most in the 1960's. Muslim youths in 1964 reported   that the powerful religious body, the Muslim Judicial Council convened a national   conference to protest the Group Areas Act, a threat to their Mosques. Amongst   the nine resolutions adopted at the conference were the following That Muslims   throughout the Republic should never abandon their Mosques. Where Muslims were   resettled and new Mosques were built, the Mosques were ...[inaudible] the congregational   prayer was previously performed, to continue with it and other daily prayers.   Muslims should, under no circumstances, apply to the government for a permit   to perform prayers in Mosques that have been left in proclaimed white areas.   Muslims should under no circumstances compromise on these religious principles.   From these resolutions, it can clearly be seen that the Muslim community viewed   the Group Areas Act as an attack on its religious freedom. It was felt that   the respect and sacredness of the Mosque were violated when the people who had   to use it were forcibly removed from it. 
During the late sixties, the growing political awareness amongst the Cape Muslims   intensified with the death of the well known and popular Imam Abdullah Harum.   He was detained for almost four months under the infamous "Terrorism Act".   His death sparked off wide criticism both inside and outside South Africa. Imam   Abdullah Harum was the Imam at one of the Mosques affected by the Group Areas   Act, the Mosque in Claremont, Cape Town. He was the chairperson of the MJC at   the time of his death and his death brought about unfortunately a polarisation   between the conservative and progressive members in the organisation of the   Muslim Judicial Council.
In the seventies the MJC issued a very strong letter against the apartheid   regime, protesting against the killing of our children and the brutality of   the security forces during the riots of 1976. This protest letter received wide   coverage and considerable backlash from the authorities, so much so, that the   secretary of the Muslim's Council Office were raided by the Security forces.   When the UDF was formed in 1983, in order to spearhead the opposition to the   Tri-cameral Parliament constitutional proposals, the MJC decided to affiliate   to the movement on the basis that the Muslim community is part and parcel of   the oppressed and has a common struggle with the oppressed. 
"The MJC believes that it cannot divorce itself from the rest of the oppressed   and those with the same ideals in the formation of a united democratic front,   to oppose a system of apartheid in South Africa" - Muslim News, 1983.
A protest march aimed at the release of President Nelson Mandela, then jailed   ANC leader in August 1985 was banned in terms of a Magisterial Order. The march   continued despite the ban, to Pollsmoor Prison. Violent clashes broke out between   protesters and police and several religious leaders of various faiths were detained.   One of the detainees was the Chairperson of the Muslim Judicial Council. The   MJC then issued a strong statement on the unjust detention of its Chairperson   and all other religious leaders. The statement further condemned the cruel,   brutal and inhuman actions of the armed forces as well as their presence in   the black townships and declared that the policy of apartheid, segregation and   oppression was un-Islamic, abnormal and contrary to the laws of Allah. 
In the mid eighties the MJC called a mass meeting at the ...[inaudible] Salaam   Complex in Athlone in protest against the Trojan Horse incident. Over 7 000   people attended and subsequently the Mosque was placed under siege by the Security   Forces and one person was murdered, or killed, by the Security Forces and several   injured in the ensuing clashes. President Nelson Mandela, whilst in prison in   Pollsmoor in March 1985 wrote a letter to the MJC in which he concludes with   the following "I want to point out that there are two evils which have   confronted society right down the centuries." He then continues to elaborate   on these evils and says about the Muslim Judicial Council "In my mind   the current situation in which I cannot express myself fully and fairly, except   to let you know that I consider the Muslim Judicial Council to be fully committed   to the elimination of these evils. This is the reason why the MJC is an inspiration   to us all, Yours sincerely, signed N.R. Mandela".
In conclusion, Chairperson, I am not here to praise the Muslim Judicial Council.   Its documented records speak for themselves. However, conservatism which is   almost natural to religious organisations took its toll also on the MJC and   certain ambiguous tendencies were experienced within the MJC with some fundamental   issues in the historic struggle for freedom in South Africa. The MJC could and   should have done more. We regret this, we sincerely apologise for this shortcoming.   Conservatism in other quarters of the Olamah Groupings in other parts of the   country tended towards reactionary. They obstinately refused to be moved from   their record of silence on any political issue which would appear to be anti-State   and consequently did not join the overwhelming consensus of Muslim organisations   in declaring participation in the apartheid Tri-cameral Parliament elections   against the spirit of Islam. This can be construed as complicity in the apartheid   crime against humanity. Pressure by radical youth groups and a wide range of   organisations succeeded, however, in getting the Natal Olamah to issue a statement   on the eve of the Indian elections, in that it is unacceptable because they   perpetuate racism and segregation. The Transvaal Ulamah, however, were consistent   in their silence. We do take collective responsibility for this unfortunate   omission and apologise to those whose aid and assistance we have failed to respond   in time of great need.
Finally, Chairperson, in spite of the all the inherent weakness of the TRC,   we believe that it does contribute towards the process of dealing with our past,   and more importantly, laying the foundation for new morality based on a culture   of human rights. The success of the TRC, however, is directly linked and dependent   on its ability to reveal and uncover the truth. In this, the Muslim Judicial   Council is prepared to co-operate and I hope and pray that they perform that   function. 
I wish to end by quoting two verses from the Holy Koran, which are relevant   to the Truth Commission Koran, Chapter 2, Verse 42, "And do not cover   the truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth when you know what it is."   Secondly, Koran, Chapter 17, Verse 81, "And say truth has arrived and falsehood   has perished for indeed falsehood is by its nature perishing".
Chairperson, Commissioners, on behalf of the Muslim Judicial Council, and the   Muslim Community, particularly in the Cape, I thank you for this opportunity.