The Hejaz Railway

 

A century ago, the Ottoman empire came to and end and so did the caliphate. With that came to an end the singularity of the ummah (the followers of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ). I dare not say unity of the ummah, because it was the gnawing away, by the enemies of Islam, at this singularity that caused division in Muslim lands. The enemies needed to end the caliphate.

How is this important to us in Cape Town. Firstly, we are part of the global ummah. Now that word “global” with reference to “ummah” is redundant because a Muslim naturally is attached to the body of Muslims. Secondly, as an illustration of our connection to the Caliphate, the Muslims of South Africa, although under British rule in the early twentieth century, sent a monetary contribution towards the Hijaz railway project. Now, we (our forebears of the time) were not going to benefit from this project because it was from Istanbul to the Hijaz. However, that singularity in that when the Caliph (Abdul Hamid II) called for financial assistance, Muslims the world over responded, even those who were not under the Ottoman Empire.  Two things become important in our discussions. Firstly, it is the singularity that we are one when we have a single leader. This is something clearly seen through a “political” structure. Unity is the manifestation in our hearts and minds of this singularity and that this ummah is a single brotherhood. The caliphate fell because the unity was disturbed when love and understanding became secondary to selfish interests – to put it in a simplistic way. While the unity was brittle, the singularity gave hope that this unity can be mended. Today, we have neither learned from history, largely because we are ignorant and oblivious of the past, nor have we a sense of moving beyond the yoke of what these same colonisers have placed upon us. Accepting a system which challenges our morals, our values and our beliefs means that we are not preparing for this singularity. All this is possible because unity is a mere ball being kicked around and its benefits have not translated beyond lip service.

Your intention is what matters most and then which team you join. If you want South Africa great or America great, then that’s your intention. Ultimately, you can only join one team. You decide but the right team will win, with or without you. Our forefathers sent money for the Hijaz Railway Project because they wanted to be part of the right team.

 

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Picture courtesy: https://commons.wikimedia.org

 

 

Cold Soup on your Wedding Day

 

Imagine. Imagine your wedding day is subject to loadshedding. Let’s serve everything cold and maybe it will be too dark for the guests to know what they are eating. Yeah loadshedding. It has been with us for so long already that you can actually say “good ol’ loadshedding”. And they say it is the ANC that messed up the country.

I cannot be defending them, but for the most part, they fell for the joke. A country that miraculously had apartheid outlawed, just when you thought the chips were down. There was no revolution, not even in a political sense and here you are in a new South Africa. Muslims in Cape Town are quite divided in their political leaning, i.e. political party leaning. Racism is as rife as ever and the Muslim community is not free from it. Nevertheless, when you talk about loadshedding, you talk national government and ANC. Truly the ANC must be lambasted because they did not bring any freedom to the people of South Africa. In places, sure there were gains for some of the population, but overall, the ANC’s score is negative. This in no way means that the other political parties are better, right and justified. Each must take part of the blame. Some of the smaller parties will argue that they are handcuffed by the regulations and workings of parliament. This is what they signed up for and therefore they are tainted by the dire state of this country and many of the immoral laws and regulations and they must have their portion of blame. Loadshedding is like being hit with a blunt object but it is not the worst of our woes. The arrows that are causing more than a trickle of blood include such matters as the Marriage Bill and the bills affecting education which threatens our relative freedom. Now there are more matters that will take our freedoms away soon and those discussions are being had but only a few dare to fight for their freedom. People who stubbornly support government or any political party are selling more than they are supposedly getting. Every decision, every regulation that is passed against the laws of Allah, will bear your name, if you are a supporter of, especially, the bigger political parties. Gaining the world as a favour when you transgress one law of Allah is actually a major loss.

You will be waiting for a very long time, an inordinate long time, if you are wating for a leader or someone else to do something. You need to wake up and take the first step. Perhaps, soon enough people would have taken similar steps to a common ground. I am saying this while we have stage 6 loadshedding or massive rolling blackouts which is an invitation to criminals while also causing many other difficulties. All the while, a disastrous marriage bill is being reviewed and then there is the Bela Bill and so much more.

 

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Picture courtesy: https://www.gourmettraveller.com.au