Islamic Focus continues to impress me. Issue 5 is now available for download.
Issue 5 covers an array of topics including: a fascinating account of an historic gathering known as the World Congresses of Jewish and Muslim Leaders for Peace, the increasing excellence of Muslim schools in South Africa and a great round up of the tale of broken hope that is Darfur.
Every issue examines and explains a different forms of Islam and this issue explores Shi’ism as well as Progressive Islam.
The editorial by Hussein Solomon encourages introspective debate within the local Muslim community as it considers the problem of internal racism.
| In this issue, we publish a thought-provoking article by Masood Boomgaard on Muslims and racism. This could be a useful catalyst amongst South African Muslims to engage in some critical navel-gazing on the issue of race amongst Muslims in this country. While the concept of the ummah has no place for other divisions like race, caste or class, the reality is that those divisions do exist at a number of different levels. If we had to be honest with ourselves we will have to acknowledge that racism is alive and well in our community. It exists in the way we treat our domestic worker; it exists in what we pay our ‘garden boy’. It exists in the condescending manner in which we interact with our fellow African Muslim brothers and sisters. I remember once enquiring from my neighbour why he was not frequenting a particular mosque and he bluntly informed me that there were too many Blacks attending the mosque. At a more macro-level, this racism also permeates our organisations. Why are there so few Black Muslims in senior leadership positions within our respective organisations? Why is it that I am inundated with daily images and messages of the suffering of the Palestinian people or Kashmir and not a word about Darfur where an estimated 300,000 have been killed and 2,5 million are displaced; where whole villages have been razed and where systematic rape is practised? Is it because the victims are Black, despite the fact that they are also Muslim? |
This sort of internal criticism should be praised but the issue must not be exploited by 'outsiders'.
Any community will fare badly if examined specifically on racism. It is generally a problem amongst the minority of a community (and the Jewish community is no exception) and must not be leveraged as a weapon for generalisations.
I applaud the courage that it takes to debate these issues out in the open and eagerly await the response in the letters of next month's issue.
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