DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat 1 of 54 | Free Copy
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FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat 1 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat This page has been intentionally left blank 2 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat In the Name of Allah, All Merciful, Most Merciful Allah the Ever-Present says, “Were it not for Allah’s favour to you and His mercy, a group of them would almost have managed to mislead you. But they mislead no one but themselves and do not harm you in any way. Allah has sent down the Book and Wisdom to you and taught you what you did not know before. Allah’s favour to you is indeed immense.” Surah An-Nisa’ (The Women) 4; Verse 113 3 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat Title: FREE TO BE MUSLIM Author: Malik Arafat First Online Edition: August 2019 For FREE Distribution Language: English Characters: Futura Md BT 10, 11 and 12 Design and Typesetting: Malik Arafat Copyright: Malik Arafat ISBN: 000-0-0000000-0- Produced in South Africa Publisher and Distributer African Muslim Assembly of Azania (AMA-AZANIA) 1367 Merapelo Street, Dube Village 1800, South Africa Cellphone: +27 79 839 0701 Email: [email protected] Facebook:Ama-Azania WhatsApp:+27 79 839 0701 (Ama Azania) Moya Messenger: :+27 79 839 0701 (Ama-Azania) 4 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 7 Background to Christian Conversions 11 11 1 1 Some Mediterranean Influences 14 Some African Influences 20 Chrlistian Input to Struggle Against Apartheid 26 Background to origins of Islam 28 Background to Islam in South Africa 30 What is Islam 36 Conclusion 40 Appendix 1: Mandla Mandela’s Conversion 46 Appendix 2: Media Statement by MUCOSA 50 5 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat This page has been intentionally left blank 6 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat INTRODUCTION In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful As Salaamu alaikum (Peace be with you). My name is Malik Arafat and I embraced Islam in 1979 in Soweto after it was introduced to me by my maternal uncle Bushy Masilo – who is still to date not Muslim. My family members and relatives are Christians, atheists, communists, socialists, capitalists, African traditionalists and come from amaSwati, Batswana, KhoiSan, amaXhosa, Bapedi, Basotho, Coloureds, Ugandans, Nigerians and more through marriage and kinship. Yet we still relate very well and there has never been a moment when we made issue of our differences or argued about religion, tradition and culture. I write this book in response to the recent media hype regarding the conversion to Islam of the chief of AbaThembu in Mvezo, South Africa, Chief Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela (grandson of Anti-Apartheid struggle icon and former South African President Rolihlahla Mandela), and his subsequent February 2016 marriage to a Cape Muslim lady, Rabia Clarke. There have also been biased and misleading claims made in the media against Islam and or Muslims. The original article was written on the 18th of February 2016 and titled, “Open Letter about the conversion of Inkosi Mandla Mandela to Islam.” Some of the issues of concern according to those alleged statements are that; Chief Mandela’s new religious affiliation is a problem. He cannot both lead the people of Mvezo and be a Muslim at the same time. He must step down as a chief of 7 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat AbaThembu because the Mvezo people are not Muslims. That he is a traitor. I believe that those alleged statements; Promote religious and racial intolerance; Imply Chief Mandela has no right to religious and marriage choices; Imply Rabia Clarke is viewed as a foreigner racially and religiously; Imply South African Muslims and Muslims in general are viewed negatively racially and religiously by some members of the public. I believe that Chief Mandla Mandela and any other person in this country have the right to choose their religion and that this choice should not prejudice him or her in the execution of whatever type of private or public responsibilities, business undertakings, memberships, employment or contracts. I also believe that any harmful action against Chief Mandla Mandela, his wife Rabia Clarke and or any such person, is an attack on Azanian Muslims in particular and generally on all people who follow other religions like Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Traditional Beliefs. I am concerned such statements may agitate attacks against minority Muslims like with previous xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals and since most of them were Muslim economic and political migrants and refugees from across Africa and south Asia. We do however commend Contralesa for refuting the claims that their organisation is not welcoming Chief Mandla Mandela’s decision to marry a Muslim woman and reiterating his right to choose his religion and elaborating that it was his personal and constitutional right. Although they expressed disquiet about Chief Mandela “abandoning his family religion 8 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat in favour of his bride’s religion” they nevertheless expected him to uphold tribal customs and traditional practices. The most notable position on this matter came from the Director of Icamagu Heritage Institute, Dr Nokuzola Mndende who made claims that if it is true that Mandela has converted to Islam; i. He has betrayed his people, the ancestors and customs ii. He will face the wrath of his ancestors iii. He cannot claim to be the custodian of African customs iv. He has abandoned his African customs v. He has abandoned his own identity and vi. He has surrendered himself to another cultural practice Dr Mndende attributed the above assertions to the claim that Muslim faith and African religions have strong contradicting doctrines since the “The Muslim faith is based on Arabic culture and [has] always perceived itself to be superior to African religion”. She further claimed that according to the Muslim faith, “nobody can marry someone who is not a Muslim” and that “As a Muslim you cannot perform African religion like slaughtering sacrificial oxen and goats”. Cii News and The Dispatch - 09 February 2016. All those events happened in the backdrop of the unfortunate June 2015 brutal killing of Zaytuna Mlambo and the fatal stabbing of her brother Hashim Mlambo, in the Inchanga area of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province, by a family member apparently opposed to their conversion to Islam. Unlike with the high profile Inkosi Mandla Mandela debate, the Mlambo case has gone largely unnoticed without any media coverage. The question is; how many such cases remain unknown? 9 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat However many cannot dispute that an apple always falls next to its tree because Chief Mandla Mandela’s grandfather Nelson Mandela allegedly proposed marriage to Amina Cachalia (a fellow struggle stalwart and an old Muslim lady friend) in 1995 before he got married to Graca Machel on his 80th birthday. Cachalia turned him down. From “Mandela and Muslims: A historical Journey - Channel Islam International Broadcasting.” 10 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat BACKGROUND TO CHRISTIAN CONVERSIONS There is no doubt that the European colonial project in Africa benefited immensely from the intricate relationship they had established between the corporate merchants, royal mercenaries and Christian missionaries. This was the case that whenever the flag of their country was hoisted on conquered territory, a Christian monument was also erected. This was the case already with the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Diaz who immediately upon his arrival in the Cape in the year 1488, he erect a limestone pillar and a Christian cross. In their book, “A History of the Church in Africa”, Bengt Sundkler and Christopher Steed write, “The Portuguese were not only motivated by the hope of finding lucrative trade, but were also inspired by religious zeal, although at this time their missionary involvement did not resemble the modern missionary movement. It was rather an expression of the medieval Catholic Church in its Lusitanian form. In principle, it was directed under the exclusive leadership of the king, who acted as the Grand Master of the Order of Christ.” These quests for conquest took the Portuguese around the Cape to the Far East were they found fertile ground to rule their newly acquired possessions from. Bengt Sundkler and Christopher Steed further write that, “In the 1470s Portuguese sailors reached the mouth of the Zaire River, eager to make conquista for their king. In 1497 Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope with a squadron of four caravels and 150 men. They began to explore the East Coast of Africa, from Natal to Malindi. Then, with the aid of monsoon winds, they steered 11 of 54 | Free Copy – E-Book Version FREE TO BE MUSLIM – DEFENDING MANDLA MANDELA Malik Arafat across the Indian Ocean to India, where Goa became the centre of government and church in the Portuguese empire.” It was however soon after the arrival of the Dutch in 1652 that an intimate relationship developed between the Dutch and the Khoi people that created the foundation for Christianity to grow. However those early cordial relations soon died after the Khoi experienced a smallpox ‘massacre’ in 1713 when the Khoi became more hostile towards the Dutch.