By Shafiq Morton At a reception dinner hosted by AWQAF SA, held at the Ghazali Centre in Pretoria on 23 August, incoming Turkish ambassador to SA, Elif Comuglu Ulgen, paid tribute to the warm welcome she had received upon arriving in South Africa. A career diplomat who has worked at the UN, NATO and in Pakistan, she is also the serving ambassador for Swaziland and Lesotho. In her address to ulama, community leaders, ambassadors and NGOs, she said that she was touched by her reception upon landing in South Africa. Explaining that landing in a new country can be a daunting experience, she paid tribute to the role of Middle East envoy, Muhammad Dangor – former SA ambassador to Syria and Libya – who took time to ease her into the South African diplomatic landscape. “Ubuntu is what happened to me, and I pay tribute to South African friendship. You are in our hearts. Turkish people never forget their enemies and they never forget their friends,” she said. In a wide-ranging address, the ambassador touched on a number of issues, including Syria. She said meeting the imam of the mosque at the Ghazali Centre had been a moving experience, as he originally came from Aleppo. She said that Turkey’s role in opening her borders to refugees from the Syrian crisis was more than just an issue of them being refugees. Aleppo was a beautiful, historic city with Ottoman heritage. “Syrians are our own people,” she explained, adding that before the ...

Awqaf SA and the Light upon Light Women’s Foundation conducted a Waqf Workshop at the Islamia Auditorium on the 9 August 2017. The aim of the workshop was to share practical information on implementing Waqf. The event coincided with Women’s Day and the theme of the event touched on Women in the history of Islam that established Waqfs. Fatima Al Fihri Waqf Fatima Al-Fihri was the founder of – Al-Qarawiyyin – the oldest known University in the World where scholars were granted degrees after completing their studies. A patron of education and culture, her legacy continues to enrich unfolding generations and enlighten minds. Fatima Al Fihri Waqf Video Awqaf SA and the Light upon light Women’s Foundation conducted a Waqf Workshop at the Islamia Auditorium on the 9 August 2017. The aim of the workshop was to share practical information on implementing Waqf. The event coincided with Women’s Day and the theme of the event touched on Women in the history of Islam that established Waqfs.   Fatima Tayob an Awqaf SA Ambassador focussed on “Roles of Woman in Waqf”. Fatima shared a famous hadith narrated by Prophet (S.A.W), “When some one dies, they leave behind three things: – Recurring charity, which is Waqf; – Beneficial knowledge which has been passed on; and – Pious offspring.”   Princess Zubaida Waqf Zubaidah bint Ja`far ibn Mansur was the best known of the Abbasid princesses. She was also the wife of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. She is particularly remembered for the series of ...

Thinking of an Eid Gift? The Power of R100 to Educate future generations. As we come to the end of Ramadaan, we wonder: What Gift can I give to my child or any other child? Awqaf SA aspires to inculcate the spirit and culture of Waqf Gifting – Give a Sadaqah Jariyyah Gift to your Child!  So this Eid  open a Lifetime  “Children of Islam Waqf Account”  and start a waqf fund in the name of your child or grandchild / nephew/ niece (any age)  from as little as R100. Easy: Submit your child’s name and surname together with your proof of payment by SMS/WhatsApp (0847860010) Email:  pledge@awqafsa.org.za or Fax 0865149644 and we shall send you a Gift Waqf Certificate in your childs / children’s name/s. We need to raise 10million Rand for Education.  We need 100000 childrens gifts of a minimum R100 each. One of the greatest pleasures in the year of a Muslim is the day of Eid ul fitr. The joy of having spent a month in the service of Allah. Celebrations begin from the eve of Eid as we prepare for a day of festivities, children’s gifts, and rewards just to see their beaming faces Alhamdulillah. The night before Eid is rightly the night of prize giving for the believer. As we scramble for extra thawaab during these last few precious days, let us share the joy of Eid with the less fortunate. Imagine the delight of a child receiving his/ her gift on the day ? the ...

By Shafiq Morton WAQF, or its plural “awqaf”, is an Islamic philanthropic instrument first developed by the Prophet Muhammad over 1,400 years ago. Whilst its principles of being self-sustaining without touching the original investment are said to date back to the Greeks and Persians, the early Muslims developed it into an institutional vehicle to uplift society. Although waqf is not specifically mentioned in the Qur’an – the primary source of Islamic legislation – the concept of wealth re-distribution is strongly emphasised. A Prophetic adage supports the idea of recurring charity, and it inspired the institution of Waqf together with the Qur’anic ethos of wealth re-distribution. The first recorded Waqf was when a Prophetic Companion, ‘Umar, bought some land in Khaybar, modern-day Saudi Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad advised him to make the property an inalienable public asset and to give its profits to charity. ’Umar did so, stipulating that the property – ceded to God in perpetuity – could not be used for anything other than its original purpose of social benefit and could not be sold, inherited or donated to someone else. Historically, all the great potentates of Islam have supported Waqf. During the Ottoman era the Caliphs only financed their judiciary and military, with infrastructural essentials such as schools, universities, water, hospitals, markets, feeding schemes, agriculture, roads, places of worship – and even pigeon coops – run for the benefit, and not expense, of the populace by independent Waqf institutions In recent decades, Waqf has experienced something of a ...

The United Ulama Council of South Africa (UUCSA)* and the National Awqaf Foundation of South Africa (AWQAF SA) have jointly announced and declared Friday 9 June / 14 Ramadaan as MY WAQF FRIDAY. A special “MY WAQF KHUTBAH” (Friday sermon/lecture) has been prepared jointly by the two organisations and circulated to UUCSA affiliates together with additional resource material. In a statement issued to UUCSA affiliates, the Secretary General, Moulana Yusuf Patel said: “The United Ulama Council of South Africa has endorsed the Call made by various Ulama and Awqaf SA to declare the second Jumu’ah of Ramadaan as MY WAQF FRIDAY . It is in this light that this Khutbah has been jointly prepared. We implore all Friday Imams to deliver this Khutbah (with your additions and amendments) on Friday 9th June 2017 ( 14th Ramadhan 1438) as a national lecture on waqf. Affiliates are urged to request Imams within your constituency to speak on waqf and circulate the My Waqf Khutbah to them together with the additional resource material. Your cooperation will help in reviving the forgotten legacy of waqf especially at a time when we need to initiate sustainable economic, social and educational development programmes in our country which has an official unemployment rate of 26.5%. and where   about 63% of young South African children live in poverty.  “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” “   Read/ Download the My Waqf Khutbah By Hafez Abu Bakr