The South African Qur’aan Union has once again teamed up with AWQAF SA and Madrasah Tarteelul Qur’aan to host the annual South African National Qiraa’atul Qur’aan Competition. Entries are now open for this prestigious event, which will take place at the Bosmont Masjid (Gauteng) on 14 May 2016 and Madrasah Tarteelul Qur’aan (Pietermaritzburg) on 28 May, respectively. The Gauteng leg of the competition (which includes all provinces except KZN and WC) is open to all willing male and female participants of any nationality whilst the KZN edition is open to males only. Contestants will be evaluated on their ability to present and recite the Qur’aan beautifully, and not on their memorization skills alone, hence participants need not have memorised the Qur’aan in order to compete. There is no entry fee and all are welcome to attend and participate. To apply or for more information Visit www.quranunion.co.za Contact Ml. Anees Kara (Gauteng and surrounding areas) on 074 786 1799 Qari Ismail Abdul Aziz (KZN region) on 083 268 2801. Entries close on 15 April 2016 for the male Junior Category 6 May 2016 for all other applicants entering the Gauteng leg. Entries for the KZN leg close on 20 May 2016.

It’s all systems go for the: 2nd Congress on Islamic Civilisation in Southern Africa. The Organisers The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), the National Awqaf Foundation of South Africa (AwqafSA),  University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), and the International Peace College South Africa (IPSA)  are jointly organising the 2nd International Congress on Islamic Civilisation in Southern Africa in Durban, Republic of South Africa. Save the Date The congress shall be held for three days  during 4-6 March 2016, at the campus of UKZN in Durban, South Africa. Register now!!  

Event Report The Muslim Youth Movement (MYM) hosted their national youth camp from the 14 – 18 December 2015 at Melkbosstrand, Oppiesee Campsite. A variety of approximately 70 high school and tertiary students come together from Eastern Cape, Kwa Zulu Natal and Western Cape. The theme ‘Towards Understanding the Islamic Movement Contemporary South Africa’ was to re-look at the MYM’s role in the contemporary South Africa and to engage the new challenges and concepts and to see how relevant we are as a movement. The camp is aimed at ideological development and spiritual upliftment, promoting critical thinking and open debate and developing a spirit of fellowship. The camp consists of discourses on progressive and contextual expressions of Islam, based on activism. Topics & Speakers: A variety of well‐trained speakers addressed the camp participants on the topics that affect them. The camp program was a baseline programme introducing camp participants to the basic concepts of Islam. Some of the major sessions; Approaches to understanding the Qur’an & Sunnah, Shari’a, Maqasid Al Shari’a, Islamic Feminism, Understanding Jihad and the Islamic Movement in pre and post-Apartheid S.A, Islam and Decoloniality, Workshop on race and identity and Islam, liberation and social justice. The speakers this year was carefully selected because of the nature of the programme. Some of the major speakers were Farid Esack, Shahid Sulaiman, Rashid Omar, Safiyya Surtee, Na’eem Jeenah, Fatima Noordien, Iskander Marwan. The session ‘Conversation between Muslim activists’ was to create a discussion between the old guard and the new ...

Zeinoul Abedien Cajee from AwqafSA attended a think tank summit on Turkish-African relations. The aim of the summit was to strengthen cooperation between African countries and Turkey and more specifically focus in the areas of construction and health. The two day summit was held in Istanbul durinmg 19/20 December 2015 and Turkey’s Deputy Prime minister Yalçın Akdoğan stressed the links between the Ottoman Empire and African nations. He considered people of Africa as he stated “our brothers and sisters” and he wanted to foster trade relations with the continent in an ethical manner. “Since 2005, opportunities for creating equal level cooperation between Turkey and African countries have been enabled. The first aim in this direction was to increase the number of Turkish diplomatic missions in Africa. The Republic of Turkey, with the Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summits, the first of which was in August 2008 and the second in November 2014, manifested its desire to increase the level of cooperation with all African countries. In 2010 Ankara accepted its Africa Strategic Document. With this document Ankara put forward its approach of “solidarity for a common future.” It explained what should be done in the near future and read: “The steps that have been taken by Turkey as a state strategy have to expand into the civil level of cooperation for them to become more established and to be carried into the future. In fact, it is more important to prioritize civil cooperation for the future of Turkish-African relations.”  (Excerpt from Daily Sabah) Rationale ...

Dear Brother/ Sister/ Dr/ Prof/ Sh/ Ml Assalamualaykum WRWB Trust you are well with the Grace and Mercy of Allah. IRCICA, Awqaf SA, and UKZN  in association with the IPSA are delighted to invite you to submit an abstract for consideration and evaluation for the forthcoming 2nd International Congress on Islamic Civilisation in Southern Africa to be held in Durban during 4-6 March 2016. Kindly see the attached call for papers. Click here to download. or click below: Call for Papers 2nd International Congress on Islamic Civilisation in Southern Africa – Durban 4-6 March 2016 NB. Closing Date for abstract submission: 25 December 2015 Wassalaam. Congress Secretariat Awqaf SA If you are keen on attending