{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\uc1 \deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0\fprq2{\*\panose 02020603050405020304}Times New Roman;}}{\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue0;\red0\green0\blue255;\red0\green255\blue255;\red0\green255\blue0; \red255\green0\blue255;\red255\green0\blue0;\red255\green255\blue0;\red255\green255\blue255;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green128\blue128;\red0\green128\blue0;\red128\green0\blue128;\red128\green0\blue0;\red128\green128\blue0;\red128\green128\blue128; \red192\green192\blue192;}{\stylesheet{\nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright \fs20\lang2057\cgrid \snext0 Normal;}{\*\cs10 \additive Default Paragraph Font;}}{\info{\title Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa Submission to the Truth }{\author RICSA} {\operator RICSA}{\creatim\yr1999\mo6\dy17\hr15\min41}{\revtim\yr1999\mo6\dy17\hr15\min41}{\version2}{\edmins0}{\nofpages4}{\nofwords1450}{\nofchars8265}{\*\company University of Cape Town}{\nofcharsws10150}{\vern71}} \paperw11909\paperh16834\margl720\margr720\margt1080\margb1080 \widowctrl\ftnbj\aenddoc\hyphcaps0\viewkind4\viewscale101\viewzk2 \fet0\sectd \sbknone\linex0\headery709\footery709\colsx709\sectdefaultcl {\*\pnseclvl1\pnucrm\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang {\pntxta .}}{\*\pnseclvl2\pnucltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxta .}}{\*\pnseclvl3\pndec\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxta .}}{\*\pnseclvl4\pnlcltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl5\pndec\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (} {\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl6\pnlcltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl7\pnlcrm\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl8\pnlcltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl9 \pnlcrm\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}\pard\plain \qc\nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright \fs20\lang2057\cgrid {\b\fs24\ul\lang1033 Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa Submission to the Truth \par And Reconciliation Commission}{\fs24\lang1033 \par }\pard \nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright {\lang1033 \par }{\b\lang1033 18 November 1997 \par \par }{\lang1033 This submission is dedicated to all those Muslim heroes who played a leading role in the anti-apartheid including; Molvi Saloojee, Zainunisa Cis sy Gool, Molvi Cachalia, Muhsin Jeenah, Haroon Patel, Hassan Gila, Haroon Majaka, Fatima Meer, Yusaf Kajee, Yusaf Dadoo, Ahmed Timol, Feroza Adam and many others young and old, who dedicated their lives for the fight against oppression, exploitation and i njustice. \par \par }{\b\lang1033 Preamble}{\lang1033 \par \par It is a widely held view that the cause for violence, oppression and the concomitant resistance to it in contemporary South Africa is due to the governing of political philosophy of "Apartheid". However, in practice, apartheid was more than just a political philosophy in isolation from the global political ideologies. As a direct product of liberal imperialism of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, "apartheid" reflects the dominant self perceptions of the Europeans at the time. \par \par As an ideology, justified within a particular interpretation of Calvinistic Christianity, apartheid found its empirical roots in the settler expansionist conquest of Africa and Southern Africa in particular. The result of this has been the systematic contr o l ot the material resources and the political power in the region. Force was characteristic of this expansionism. In the history of modern South Africa, it culminated in Nationalist rule since 1948, which systematically executed the ideal of racial capi talism or ethnic Afrikaner socialism within a growing monopoly capitalist milieu. \par \par From our above explanation of apartheid as a product of imperialism, it becomes clear that Islam had little complicity in the initial causes of violence and oppression ever s ince the first pioneers of Islam were brought to the shores of this country in bondage and exile. However, there is always the possibility with some recorded instances during colonial and post-colonial rule, of some individuals who have collaborated with the ruling powers from time to time. But as a religious community there is substantial historical evidence that forcefully repudiates any charge of Muslim complicity in a theological, political and cultural sense, Without lapsing into triumphalism, one could say that the converse is true: Islam has indeed a record of complicity in resistance to unjust rule in Southern Africa. \par \par }{\b\lang1033 Complicity of Muslims}{\lang1033 \par \par In 1983 a high powered delegation led by the Muslim Youth Movement (MYM) meet with the Jamiatul Ulama Tra nsvaal , to canvass Muslim support in condemning the first Tricameral Parliament elections. The Jamaitul Ulama was the only major Muslim grouping who refused to endorse this campaign, thereby, in our view being silent accomplices to the Nationalist Party Rule. \par \par }\pard \qc\nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright {\lang1033 1. \par }\pard \nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright {\lang1033 \page In 1986 the South African Law Commission had set up a committee to look at legalising Muslim marriages in South Africa. Up to that stage all Muslim customary marriages were recognised by the state and the judiciary. All Ulama groupings were co -opted onto this committee. Only organisations such as the MYM, Call of Islam and Muslim Student Association condemned these attempts by the state to use Muslim Personal Law to co-opt Muslims in support of apartheid. It was only due to this pressure tha t the Ulama bodies withdrew their representation for the Law Commission. \par \par During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the inactivity of the Muslim community and its leadership, to take a firm stand against apartheid injustices caused many Muslim youth, to turn their back on Islam so that they could further the stuggle for freedom and justice. Muslim practices did not provide these youth an avenue to express their political activism. \par \par The Muslim leadership must take responsibility for their inability to provide leadership against apartheid. They failed to translate the Islamic teachings into real opposition against oppression and exploitation. \par \par }{\b\lang1033 Achievements}{\lang1033 \par \par In the absence of Ulama leadership many Muslim organisations, mainly youth-based, amerged from the 1960s and culminated in heroic opposition in the mid to late 1980s. The following organisations played a major role: \par \tab District Six Muslim Youth Movement \par \tab Claremont Muslim \par \tab Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa \par \tab Muslim Students Association \par \tab Qibla \par \tab The Call of Islam \par \tab Al-Jihad \par \par }{\b\lang1033 Print Media}{\lang1033 \par The Muslim print media played an important role as an organ of the Muslim community in voicing its opposition against Apartheid and supporting the anti-apartheid movement. The most important newspapers were the Muslim News and Al Qala m. The Muslim News from 1976-1984, under the editorship of Faried Sayed, who not only raised issues pertaining to the Muslim community, but tackled issues that related directly to oppression and exploitation that people experienced. It highlighted the p l ight of factory workers, street vendors, etc. It took up the struggles of the most downtrodden. It attempted to show Muslims that as a community its destiny is linked to the well being of the rest of the oppressed - even if they were not Muslim. At tha t time it was being read by many people who were not Muslims. The Muslim News was served with many banning orders during this time period. \par \par The other newspaper was Al Qalam that was published by the MYM. In the late 1980s under the editorship of Fazel Daw jee and early 1990s under Na'eem Jeenah, was the public voice of progressive Muslim community in its support of the freedom struggle, Al Qalam in the late 80's was served with many banning orders in a bid to silence the \par \par }\pard \qc\nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright {\lang1033 2. \par }\pard \nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright {\lang1033 \page newspaper. Al Qalam refused to bow to such pressure, continuing to publish on issues of social justice to this day. \par \par Both papers continuously stressed the connection between Islamic doctrine and the struggle for freedom against oppression. Against all odds and with the continuous thr eat of censure hanging over their heads, they bravely continued in their misssion to bring truth about the anti-apartheid struggle to the Muslim community. \par \par Various anti-apartheid publications put our by the Muslim Students Association in the 1980s were ba nned by the state for allegedly containing subversive content. The MSA's offices all over the country were regularly raided and office workers suffered continual police harassment. \par \par }{\b\lang1033 Sanctions}{\lang1033 \par \par Most Muslim countries cut off diplomatic and economic ties wit h South Africa. As a result, the Muslim community, more that any religious community in South Africa was isolated from the International Muslim world. This was clearly highlighted by the plight of the South African our pilgrims who had to travel via Afr i ca countries (for visa purposes) on their way to Mecca. They suffered tremendous hardship, financial and personal loss and humiliation when undertaking their trip to Mecca. Many had to stay for days at various airports, waiting for connecting flights to South Africa. \par \par The many unsung heroes, who, because of their Islamic convictions and understanding of they way in which Islamic teachings implore them to fight against apartheid, sacrificed much for the cause of liberation. Many took this stand with the d isapproval of their communities. They risked isolation and marginalisation in their quest of contributing to the struggle for freedom and justice in South Africa. Many sacrificed their lives for the cause. It is in this light that the Muslim Youth Move m ent honours the contribution of these unsung heroes. We continue to this day to be inspired by the anti apartheid work done by Imam Abdullah Haron who was killed by the Apartheid regime. He continues to inspire our struggle for social justice in contemp orary times. \par \par }{\b\lang1033 Muslims, the TRC and continued struggle}{\lang1033 \par \par Religious people more than anyone else should know that all good and sincere confessions should be accompanied by some form of penance, an idea which was succinctly brought our by the historic Kairos Do cument. It proposed that no true reconciliation between oppressor and oppressed is possible in South Africa without repentance and a fuandamental redistribution of weealth and power. It is our firm conviction that this is exactly what Islam would demand for reconciliation (}{\i\lang1033 sulh}{\lang1033 ) between perpetrator and victim. In Islamic terms it is known as }{\i\lang1033 taubah}{\lang1033 (repentance) and }{\i\lang1033 qisas}{\lang1033 (just retribution). According to all classical commentators of the Glorious Qur'an the term }{\i\lang1033 qisas}{\lang1033 is almost synonymous with }{\i\lang1033 musavah}{\lang1033 i. e. "making a thing equal to another thing". If we as religious people do not commit ourselves to this form of reconciliation of making equal what has been unequal for over three hundred years, then wee do not believe that people are sincere in their commi tments to a just South Africa. \par \par For even if we have managed to scrap all Apartheid legislation and dismantled all of the Apartheid structures, our fundamental; the goal of justice and reconciliation would still \par \par }\pard \qc\nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright {\lang1033 3. \par }\pard \nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright {\lang1033 \page not have been achieved. For we would sti ll have to contend with the tragic legacy of three hundred years of deprivation. We do not claim to have any blueprint as to how precisely this retribution of wealth and power needs to take place. What we do however know is that we need to collectively apply our minds in a creative way in order to find the most compassionate route that should and could be followed in this endeavour. Religious people should be in the forefront in advocating this idea of reconc iliation founded on economic justice, for it is our view that religious people have the ability to implement it with mercy and compassion. If we fail in this responsibility, God forbid, it might well be administered with vengeance. \par \par If religious people are truly committed to the reconstruction of a just South Africa then indeed they have a vital role to play in ensuring that the reconciliation process goes beyond the legal and other constraints of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. \par \par Yours in Struggle \par \par \par \'85\'85\'85\'85\'85\'85\'85\'85\'85\'85\'85 \par Nisaar Dawood \par (General Sectary) \par \par Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa \par }}