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\qc\widctlpar\adjustright \lang2057\cgrid {\cgrid0 MJC SUBMISSION TO THE TRC
\par 
\par }{\i\cgrid0 Delivered by Imam Gassan Solomon
\par }\pard \nowidctlpar\tx2955\tqr\tx7073\adjustright {\i\f1\cgrid0 
\par }\pard \widctlpar\adjustright {\cgrid0 18 November 1997
\par East London
\par 
\par }{\b\cgrid0 In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
\par 
\par }{\cgrid0 1. On behalf of the MJC, 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 hard\_
fought freedom on a sound spiritual footing where our different political parties, structures of Government, businesses, the press; our different traditions and our civil society might rediscover the fullness of humanity together in a single nation.

\par 
\par 2. History has planted Islam and Muslims in the Cape in South Africa more than 300 years ago under conditions which 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.
\par 
\par 3. The socio\_political relation
s 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 a burial ground. This is probably one of the reasons why the graves of the notables \_ the Karamats or saints - are spread far and wide into the then bundus of the Cape Peninsula including the well\_known Robben Island. }{\b\cgrid0 
/pp 1-2/
\par }{\cgrid0 
\par 4. It was only in 1804 that the Batavian Republic granted the Muslims 'two specific privileges' apparently in anticipation of their loyalty against the invading British. The first burial ground, the Tana Baru in the Bo\_
Kaap was one. The second was a promise of a site to build a mosque.
\par 
\par 5. A mosque in the life of a Muslim community is a vital institution. It is the epi-centre of social interaction and not only a place of formal worship. A mosque in the Islamic sense is a centre of learning and instruction not mere
ly religious norms but also of the functioning of the individual in his or her social milieu. In essence it becomes the disseminating of communal and social life and as such an important institute in the development of the community's culture.
\par 
\par 6. It was u
nder these circumstances and its effects that the MJC was formed in 1945, primarily in the interest of Muslim Unity, but also to voice a protest against oppressive laws and governmental policies. Dr Chidester of UCT in his book 'Religions of South Africa'
 (Routledge \_ New York 1992) states:
\par 
\par }{\i\cgrid0 '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 ende
avouring to retard their progress in all spheres in this country.\rquote  }{\cgrid0 (Cape Standard 3 April 1945)
\par 
\par 7. In 1961, the MJC in conjunction with the Muslim Youth Movement (Cape Town), Claremont Muslim Youth Association, Cape Vigilance Association, Young Men's Musl
im Association and a number of Muslim religious leaders and individuals launched the Call of Islam Declaration. And I quote:
\par 
\par }{\i\cgrid0 'For too long a time now have we been, together with our fellow sufferers, subjugated, suffered humiliation of being regarded as inferior }{\b\cgrid0 /pp 2-3/}{\b\i\cgrid0  }{\i\cgrid0 
beings, deprived of our basic rights to earn, to learn and to worship according to the Divine Ruler of Allah. We can no longer tolerate further encroachment on these, our basic rights, and therefore}{\b\i\cgrid0  }{\i\cgrid0 
we stand firm with our brothers infighting the evil monster that is about to devour us that is oppression, tyranny and baasskap.\rquote 
\par 
\par }{\cgrid0 The Declaration continues to express opposition and resistance to the Group Areas Act, Pass Laws, Job Reservation and substantiates this position with the relevant s
criptural support from the Holy Quran. The Call of Islam Declaration was followed by a packed meeting in the City Hall, Cape Town on 7 May 1961. It was at this meeting that the MJC declared:\_ }{\i\cgrid0 \lquote 
Apartheid in any form could not be condoned by Islam.\rquote }{\cgrid0  On the basis of this, Achmat Davids, a Muslim Historian and writer, states in an article to the Centre for African Studies on 'Studies in the History of Cape Town' that }{\i\cgrid0 
\lquote the MJC was the first religious organisation in South Africa to declare Apartheid a heresy.\rquote 
\par 
\par }{\cgrid0 
8. It is within this context appropriate to mention that during the 1984 Tricameral 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 that to vote for apartheid is haraam. Dr Gerrie Lubbe, in his dissertation on the history of the MJC, states that:\_ }{\i\cgrid0 \lquote 
By bringing these political terms and issues into the category of the forbidden, overwhelming acceptance was achieved through th
e use of very concrete language known to every Muslim. To name a political system as unsuitable for human consumption was certainly most unique but very effective.\rquote 
\par 
\par }{\cgrid0 9. I have mentioned the meaning of a Mosque in the Islamic Faith. The centrality of the mo
sque in the Muslim Community can hardly be overemphasised. It was the Group Areas Act which hurt and angered Muslims most in the 60s. Muslims News 1964 reported }{\b\cgrid0 /pp.3-4/ }{\cgrid0 
that the powerful religious body, the WC, convened a national conference to protest the Group Areas Act threat to their mosques. Amongst the nine resolutions adopted at the conference were the following: 
\par 
\par \bullet \tab that Muslims throughout the Republic should never abandon their mosques.
\par 
\par \bullet \tab where Muslims are resettled and new mosques are built, the mosques where Juma'a was previously performed should continue with it and other daily prayers
\par 
\par \bullet \tab 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.
\par 
\par \bullet \tab Muslims should under no circumstances compromise on their religious principles.
\par 
\par 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 sacre
dness of the mosque were violated when the people who had to use it were forcibly removed from it.
\par 
\par 10. During the late sixties the growing political awareness amongst the Cape Muslims intensified with the death of the well\_known and
 popular Imam Abdullah Haron. He was detained for almost four months under the infamous Terrorism Act. His death sparked off widespread criticism both inside and outside South Africa. Imam Abdullah Haron was the Imam at one of the mosques affected by the 
Group Areas Act, The AI\_Jamia Mosque in Claremont, Cape Town. He was the chairperson of}{\fs26\cgrid0  }{\cgrid0 the MJC at the time and his death brought about a polarisation between the conservative and progressive members in the organisation.
\par 
\par 11. 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 }{\b\cgrid0 /pp 4-5/}{\cgrid0 
during the riots of 1976. This letter received wide coverage and considerable backlash from the authorities, so much so that the secretary's offices were raided by the Security Forces.
\par 
\par 12. When the UDF was formed in 1983, in order to spearhead the opposition to the Tricameral Parliament Constitutional Proposals, the MJC decided to affiliate to the movement on the basis that:\_ \lquote 
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 Unit
ed Democratic Front to oppose the system of Apartheid in South Africa.\rquote  (Muslim News 1983)
\par 
\par 13. A protest march aimed at the release of Nelson Mandela, jailed ANC leader on 28 August 1985 was banned in terms of a magisterial order. The march continued desp
ite 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 MJC, Sheikh Abdul Gamied Gabler. The MJC issued a stro
ng statement on the unjust detention of its Chairman and all other religious leaders. the statement further condemned the \lquote cruel, }{\i\cgrid0 brutal and inhuman action\rquote  }{\cgrid0 
of the armed forces as well as their presence in black townships and declared that \lquote the policy of Apartheid, segregation and oppression is un\_Islamic, abnormal and contrary to the laws of Allah.\rquote 
\par 
\par 14. In the mid\_eighties, the MJC called a mass meeting at the Masjidus\_Salaam Complex in protest against the Trojan Horse incident. Over 7000 people attended a
nd subsequently, the mosque was placed under siege by the Security Forces and one person was killed and several injured in the ensuing clashes.
\par 
\par 15. President Mandela, whilst imprisoned in Pollsmoor, in March 1985, wrote a letter to MJC in which he concludes with the following: }{\i\cgrid0 \lquote I want to point out that their are two evils}{\cgrid0  }{\i\cgrid0 which}{\b\cgrid0 /pp5-6/}{
\i\cgrid0  has confronted society right down the centuries.\rquote  }{\cgrid0 He then continues to elaborate on these and then says of the MJC:
\par 
\par }{\i\cgrid0 "in my current situation, I cannot express myself fully and fair
ly, 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.
\par 
\par }{\cgrid0 Yours sincerely
\par Signed N R Mandela
\par 
\par }{\b\cgrid0 Conclusion
\par 
\par }{\cgrid0 1. I am not here to praise the WC. Its documented record speaks for itself. Conservatism \tab which is almost natural to religious organisation took its toll also in the MJC and certain \tab 
ambiguous tendencies were experienced in the MJC with some fundamental issues in the historic struggle for freedom in South Africa. The MJC could and should have done more. That we regret. 
\par 
\par 2. Conservatism in other quarters of the Ulama groupings tended towards the 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 Tricameral Parliament elections against the spirit of Islam. This can be c
onstrued 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 Jamiat to issue a statement on the }{\b\cgrid0 /pp6-7/}{\cgrid0 
eve of the 'Indian' elections in that it is unacceptable because they perpetuate racism and segregation. The Transvaal Jamiat was consistent in its silence.
\par 
\par 3. We do take collective responsibility for this unfortunate omission and apologise to those to whose aid and assistance we have failed to respond in time of great need.
\par 
\par Finally, in spite of all the inherent weaknesses of the TRC, it does contribute towards the process of dealing with our past, and more importantly, laying the foundation for a new morality based on a culture of human rights. The suc
cess of the TRC, however is directly linked and dependant on its ability to reveal and uncover the 'truth'. In this the MC is prepared to cooperate and I hope and pray that we have performed that function.
\par 
\par I wish to end by quoting two verses from the Holy Quran:
\par 
\par [Quran 2: 42]
\par 
\par }{\i\cgrid0 \lquote And do not cover the truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth when you know what it is.\rquote }{\i\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par }{\cgrid0 [Quran 17: 81]
\par 
\par }{\i\cgrid0 'And say: Truth has arrived and falsehood has perished, for indeed falsehood is by its nature perishing\rquote }{\i\fs22\cgrid0 
\par }}