Giving Expression to Imam Haron’s Legacy
These three aspects of the rich legacy left by Imam Abdullah Haron were highlighted by Farzana Mahomed, chairperson of the Imam Abdullah Haron Education Trust (IAHET), in her pre-khutbah (Friday sermon) talk at the Claremont Main Road Mosque on 16 September 2016.
Ms Mohamed, who delivered this year’s talk as part of the CMRM’s annual commemoration of the Imam’s death in police detention on 27 September 1969, said it was gratifying to note that these three dimensions had filtered down into many areas of South Africa’s Muslim community.
Education
Among the progressive innovations Imam Haron introduced at the Al-Jaamiah mosque in Stegman Rd, Claremont, where he officiated until his death, was the creation of discussion groups and adult education classes to cultivate critical thinking.
“Imam Haron made higher learning in Islam egalitarian, not only to empower ordinary Muslims who had no ambitions necessarily of becoming an Imam or Sheikh, but also extending this to women. At that point in time, this was new. Learned Imams and Shaikhs guarded their knowledge, deeming it sufficient that ordinary musallees (congregants) need only be aware of the basics of faith and practice, and dishing out pearls of wisdom only in their weekly khutbahs or to a select few initiates,” she said.
Youth Empowerment
“Imam Haron was instrumental in organising young people in his suburb to form the Claremont Muslim Youth Association (CMYA). Many progressive non-Muslim political thinkers and activists at the time, were invited to address to the CMYA.
“These ideas gave the Imam and CMYA members clearer perspectives on other opinions, and how they needed to respond to contemporary issues in the country. These exchanges also helped them to formulate their own ideas about Islam and society.
“The formation of the CMYA sent out several messages:
- that young people need to become organised among themselves;
- that young people do need a space to grapple with issues of faith among themselves and,
- that young people also need to grapple with contemporary issues around them,” Ms Mahomed added.
Bold and Selfless Giving
The IAHET chairperson said Imam Haron’s involvement in the alleviation of the plight of the poor beyond his own community blazed a trial for others to follow. “He was involved and assisted black African communities in Langa and Gugulethu at a time when Muslim engagement and involvement with these communities was unheard of.
“He developed close ties with particularly the banned Pan African Congress and assisted the families of those who had been imprisoned or killed. But over and above this, Imam Haron joined the ranks of those who spoke out boldly against the apartheid injustices at the time.
“In the broader Muslim Ulama at the time, this was both frowned upon and even heavily criticised. Ultimately it was also this involvement that led to his detention and eventual martyrdom in custody.”
Ms Mahomed underlined that the IAHET had incorporated two of the legacies of the Imam – education and youth – into its ambitious programme. “Apart from our bursary programme, 80 percent of our funds are spent on Early Childhood Development projects in under-resourced areas such as Gugulethu, Belhar, Bonteheuwel, Langa and Valhalla Park, where access to early learning opportunities are either limited or non existent.
“The trust believes that early childhood is a crucial stage of life in terms of a child’s physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. As such we recognise the importance of investing in very young children so as to maximize their future well-being as adolescents and eventually adults.”
“Imam Haron exemplified what it means to do good, not only for your own community, but also beyond. Not only to give in charity, but also of your time and effort. Not only to identify injustice, but also to actively speak out against it,” she concluded.