The Muslim Community of South Africa, represented by our numerous Social Welfare, Emergency Relief, and Civil Society Organisations have heard the call of our President to assist the poor and vulnerable during the 21-day lockdown period.

Zeinoul Abedien Cajee, founder and CEO of the National Awqaf Foundation of South Africa (Awqaf SA), was recently voted amongst the top 500 people who influence the Islamic economy worldwide. Cajee, together with Ebrahim Moolla of the Rand Merchant Bank, were honoured at the launch of the maiden edition of the ISLAMICA 500 at the 11th World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuala Lumpur. According to the publisher, Prof. Laurent Marlière, the ISLAMICA 500 is an exclusive guide of selected thought leaders, executives, professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world, active in the Islamic economy and the Halal industry. “Personalities listed have been selected from across the globe…selection is granted only to those individuals who have demonstrated leadership, achievement, and contribution to the development of the Islamic economy,” he said. Marlière added that the “specificity of the Islamic economy” was its modernity. There was no paradox between an economic system based on ethics and values and the challenges faced by a digital economy. “(We have to remember that) the Islamic economy, also described as the Halal industry, is the fastest-growing segment of the world’s economy. It encompasses one human being out of five. It is a blank economy. It is a blank page that still needs to be written,” he said. Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman of World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation (WIEF), said that connectivity was the key to sustainable economic growth. The publication of the ISLAMICA 500 was an opportune time to have a Who’s Who of influential personalities and ...

AN inaugural T20 tournament between five Cape Flats U14 teams, Primose, Langa, Ottomans, Fish Rite Hanover Park CC, the JP21 Foundation and the Birmingham Bulls, held at the Rygate Cricket grounds in Johnson Road

AWQAF SA CEO, Zeinoul Abideen Cajee, and Awqaf ambassador, Sedick Isaacs, recently attended the Seventh Annual Global Waqf Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nearly 500 delegates from around the globe attended the annual event, which is hosted in a different country each year and focuses on issues surrounding waqf. According to Cajee, this year’s conference entitled “Taking Waqf into the Future” looked at the role of technology and the function of digitalisation with regards to waqf in a changing world. This was a potential game-changer as more and more people in the post-colonial world became aware of the instrument of waqf, something that was systematically destroyed by colonialism. Awqaf ambassador, Sedick Isaacs, said the conference had proved to be interesting, with lots of hard work ahead in South Africa. Cajee said an interesting point had been raised that western universities, such as Oxford and Harvard, had been using endowments, based on the waqf model, for a long time. Oxford, he said, had learned from the Crusaders when they came back from the Muslim world in the 12th century. The irony, he said, was that many Islamic countries and communities were not using the very same endowment waqf systems that the west had introduced from the east in the key area of education. Cajee delivered an address at the conference. He focused on efficiency and governance within ISF operators and supervisors, and on organisational challenges in the developmental context. Several countries, he said, had shown an interest in the South ...

Fordsburg Clinic gets a welcome boost Dr. Goolam Omar, a veteran radiologist who practiced in Lenasia at the Lenmed Clinic for many years, decided to downsize his practice and move it to Fordsburg, where he could get closer to people who needed his services. Originally built as a home for gold miners in the 1800s, Fordsburg has enjoyed a colourful history as a centre of social awareness. Today it is a vibrant multi-cultural hub in Johannesburg. Dr. Omar’s Fordsburg practice catered for foreigners and the needy, who could not traditionally afford x-ray services. This year, after decades of service, Dr. Omar decided to retire to a life of reflection. On 1 October 2017 – coinciding with 10 Muharram, an auspicious day on the Islamic calendar – Dr. Omar decided to donate his x-ray practice as a waqf to the National Awqaf Foundation of South Africa, Awqaf SA. Waqf is an Islamic institution introduced by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) where ethical investments and assets are bequeathed as a divine trust to benefit the community. The waqf property remains intact until the end of time, and cannot be sold or ceded. The most salient feature of a waqf trust is that it has to be sustainable, and proceeds from the core investment or asset – which cannot be touched – uses its profits to service the poor and the needy.  Haroon Kalla, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Awqaf SA, says the organisation gladly accepted this donation from Dr. Omar. “We ...