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Muslims Under Apartheid
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By
Latiefa Achmat**
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July
26, 2005
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South Africa's blacks bore the brunt of the persecution
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Prior
to the introduction of the law of racial segregation in
South Africa
, there was relative peace between the people. Before Apartheid
became law, it came into existence slowly, because of some white's
notion of their own supremacy, and their desire to control those
people they considered inferior to themselves.
The
whites, who came to
South Africa
in 1652, colonized the country, becoming its ruling elite. Even
after
South Africa
's independence in 1961, whites continued to hold the reins of
power, dominating all levels of government.
The
colored people are divided into two groups: the
Muslim
Cape
Malays and the Christian indigenes who intermarried with the whites.
The
Cape
Malays
came from
Indonesia
in 1656, during the Dutch occupation of their country. An Indonesian
prince came to the Cape colony in
South Africa
as an exiled prisoner because he had led resistance against the
Dutch in
Indonesia
. With him were practicing Muslims, Islamic scholars, and fifty or
so other people, and they taught the black slaves Islam. They
intermarried, and from them came the
Cape
Malays
.
Beginnings
of Segregation
The
first move towards Apartheid was the white government taking away
the blacks' right to vote. Later, the voting rights of the coloreds
and Asians (Indians) were also revoked. The next step was the
introduction of pass laws to control the movement of the blacks. A
person would have to go to a police station to get a permission slip
to move from one area to another. All other race groups were usually
allowed to move between each other's areas, but not to go into the
black townships.
Next,
the old areas and cities were declared unfit for human habitation,
and under that pretext the white government moved everyone out to
the smaller townships. Then the area that had been evacuated would
be rebuilt for whites only, and the original inhabitants would have
to stay in the townships, with no right of return, nor compensation
for the houses they had been forced to leave.
Additionally,
blacks were not allowed to own houses; they could only hold 99-year
leases. Other race groups, however, could buy houses in the
townships and found a measure of stability.
Certain
universities were for whites only. A university for coloreds and
blacks was built in the
western cape
in the 1970s to cater for coloreds and blacks; before that there had
been none in the area, forcing them to go to the Transval or
Natal
.
Muslims
maintaining their Islamic identity in white society
difficult.
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When
it came to employment, a graduate of a white university would get
the job over a graduate from a colored university, regardless of
their results. Many jobs were reserved for whites only; pilots,
military officers, and the chiefs of the police force (even in black
areas) had to be white. Black, Asian, and colored people could only
aspire to becoming laborers or tradesmen. There were exceptions;
they were the ones who were either wealthy or excellent at school.
But while a non-white person who got extremely high marks at school
would be admitted to the medical faculty, he would never receive the
same pay once qualified.
Uprooting
Muslims
The
Muslims were affected by the same things that affected all the other
racial groups. However, when the Christian community applied to
build a church, permission would be granted, whereas for the
Muslims, the process of application was difficult and time
consuming, and in many cases permission would be denied. So in one
township, you might find ten churches, but only one mosque. And
while in many cases, the Christians' building projects were
subsidized by the government, the Muslim community had to pay for
everything itself. The colored Christian community would often have
a sister church in the white community that would assist in their
application for building a church; Muslims had no such support. The
same applied to the schools: It was easy for the Catholic coloreds
to open a Catholic school because of the support system in place,
but it was very difficult for Muslims to open an Islamic school.
For
Muslims who made it in white society, actually graduating from
university and getting a job, maintaining their Islamic identity in
such a context was difficult. To maintain their status in such
society, which was largely seen as the way to prosperity and
success, Muslims felt obliged to drink, socialize in mixed
gatherings, not wear hijab, and to not let it be known that they
pray.
Some
of these changes were felt much more acutely that others by the
South African Muslim community. In the areas that the white
government condemned for demolition, there were many mosques
that were legally public trusts, and hence, could not be demolished,
and even today, you can still see mosques standing in white areas.
So the Muslims moved to the townships would find only one mosque in
an area of, say, ten kilometers, whereas in the areas they had lived
before being moved there would have been many more, allowing Muslims
to frequent them. It took the communities a long time to raise
enough money to start building mosques in the townships. This is
significant: If Muslims do not have a mosque, they have no place for
community gatherings and lose contact with each other, the men
cannot perform the daily congregational prayers or the Friday
prayer, and it is difficult for the community to perform the `Eid
prayers. Additionally, the children who used to attend afternoon
madrasahs in the mosques to learn Arabic and Qur`an could no longer
do so.
Crisis
of Identity
While
the government built schools in the new townships, they were
institutions made to perpetuate and support the white regime's
religion and governing principles of racism. Muslim schools lost a
lot of their pupils when the Muslims were moved into the townships,
and the government would not pay the teachers' salaries without
sufficient pupils, so the schools eventually closed down. The
majority of Muslims thus had no choice but to send their children to
government schools and subject them to brain washing. Even if there
was a madrasah in the area, there generally wasn't enough time to
attend it alongside the government's education, and so many Muslim
youth would drop out of the madrasah, because secular education was
seen as their hope for the future.
The
government's schools were institutions made to perpetuate
the white regime's racism.
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Muslim
children, now isolated from other communities, without mosques and
their related education and social work, were now herded into the
white government's schools. There, they were taught that they should
fear the blacks, and consider themselves second class citizens. They
were taught that they had no roots; they were not really a part of
South Africa
, they were just there. They were made to believe that the whites
were superior, and that non-whites should be grateful to them. All
white text books declared Islam to be a religion of the sword, and
inferior to Christianity, which was supposed to be based on love and
equality.
Muslims
were made to feel embarrassed and apologetic identifying themselves
as Muslim, even in their own communities. This was because of the
influence of the school curriculum and the absence of a strong
communal Muslim identity, coupled with a lack of knowledge. It was
the outcome of years of being told they were not good enough, yet
would have to continue to live and hope for a future in which they
felt they had no part.
The
perception of Muslims varied according to race groups. The whites
considered themselves ultimately superior to everyone, but in the
colored community, Muslims were respected, particularly the elders.
This was especially because of their moral behavior. For example, if
there was a situation where a witness had to give testimony, the
word of a Muslim would be taken over the word of anyone else.
After
the second World War, the older generation of Muslims still had
access to mosques and freedom of movement, and their Muslim identity
was stronger and more stable. The children of that generation,
however, were born during the time when the whites started moving
people to the townships, and the Muslims were losing their mosques,
and as such a significant part of their Muslim identity was lost.
Their children in turn would attend the afternoon madrasahs, but
would only learn about prayer and fasting, and perhaps memorize some
Qur`an, but would not be taught the place of Islam in everyday life.
Because of the government's school curricula, they often learned
more about Christianity than about Islam.
Neither
Muslim children nor men were given time off from school or work to
attend Friday prayers; if they did, they were punished. Some school
boys would run away from school to attend the prayer and take the
punishment. Especially in government jobs, you were not allowed to
take `Eid off, unless it fell on a weekend, whereas traditional
Christian holidays were public holidays for everyone. Thus, Muslim
children grew up being made to feel inferior because of their Muslim
identity.
Resistance
Eventually,
when the movement of resistance became stronger and the human spirit
was rekindled, hope appeared on the horizon, and the Imams became
more political, and through this the reawakening of Islam begun.
People began to pray for freedom, to work towards it, and this
brought them closer to Allah and closer to each other, as Muslims
striving for the same cause.
The
principles of Islam called for freedom; at that time they
took on a practical everyday significance.
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Before
that, Imams taught the people to be patient and well mannered. But
after that they started to urge the people to support the ANC.
Muslims started to feel proud because the principles of Islam called
for freedom, and so they worked easily with the ANC. At that time
the principles of Islam took on a practical everyday significance.
More Muslims came back to the mosques to hear the latest news of the
resistance, and they would pray together, strengthening Muslim
solidarity again.
There
was another movement called the United Democratic Front (UDF), which
was initiated by an affiliation of priests and Islamic scholars who
united to join the resistance. The ANC was still banned, so the UDF
became a front for the ANC. Because the organization was religious
in nature, it was tolerated, and the Muslims operated under its
umbrella. They organized community gatherings and kept the people
informed of who the government was locking up and what it was doing.
There was no other way to get this information, as the real local
news never made it into the mainstream media. Emergency laws were in
effect at the time, so the gatherings organized were peaceful,
though UDF members were unofficially very much involved in protests.
The
resistance to Apartheid was supported by South Africa's Muslims, and
many ministers in the first Democratic government after the fall of
Apartheid were colored Muslims; while the percentage of Muslims in
the country is only about 1 or 2 percent, about 25 percent of
government ministers are Muslims. The colored community did not
suffer as much as the black community, but whatever challenges it
faced were slowly but surely overcome.
**
Latiefa
Achmat is an Islamic counselor and social worker in Capetown,
South Africa
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