fyi
Note the similarities between the growth of Islam in South Africa and the growth of Islam among African Americans.
Peace, Curtis Sharif
Houston, Texas
Subject: Islam spreading in South Africa
"Islam spreading in S Africa"
(Reuters, November 17, 2004)
Black South Africans, drawn to the Islam practiced by African
immigrants, are converting in growing numbers and slowly changing the
face of religious affiliation in the overwhelmingly Christian
country.
"The numbers have gone up dramatically if you look at the census
figures ... there is massive growth especially in the (black)
townships," said Dr Shamil Jeppie, an expert on Islamic history in
Africa at the University of Cape Town. Immigrants from Central and
West Africa, escaping poverty at home for life in the continent's
economic powerhouse, have brought with them a new "Africanised Islam"
more in line with black South Africans' identities than the religion
practiced by followers with closer links to Asia.
"In the townships people see the confidence they bring. The
confidence of the African Muslim," Jeppie said. "There is going to be
a different texture, (the balance of followers) is definitely going
to change."
Currently, some 650,000 South Africans or less than 2 percent, are
Muslim. They are mostly members of the country's Indian and Coloured
(mixed-race) communities, the descendents of slaves and cheap labour
shipped to South Africa by the former Dutch and British colonial
rulers. Christianity - practised by 80 percent of the country's 45
million population - is still the dominant religion amongst black
South Africans.
But an estimated 75,000 Africans are now Muslim compared to fewer
than 12,000 in 1991 during apartheid white rule, according to
research by the Human Sciences Research Council, a government-funded
institute.
Of those, 11 percent are black Africans and that group is expected to
become the largest segment of the Muslim faithful within the next two
decades. "The gap is closing and we are finding each other," Sheik
Thafir Najjar, head of Cape Town-based Islamic Council of South
Africa, says of reconciliation since the end of apartheid in 1994.
"Under apartheid we were not allowed to share our cultures," Najjar
told Reuters. But in the end there were "a lot of similarities
between African and Muslim cultures," he added.
Najjar said the war on terrorism, led by the United States, had
heightened curiosity among Africans about Islam. "What the policy of
America has done has been to make people more aware and to show a
greater interest in Islam," he said.
Despite their growing numbers, Muslims in South Africa have generally
maintained a low profile and operate within the political mainstream.
"Islam spreading in S Africa"
(Reuters, November 17, 2004)
Black South Africans, drawn to the Islam practiced by African
immigrants, are converting in growing numbers and slowly changing the
face of religious affiliation in the overwhelmingly Christian
country.
"The numbers have gone up dramatically if you look at the census
figures ... there is massive growth especially in the (black)
townships," said Dr Shamil Jeppie, an expert on Islamic history in
Africa at the University of Cape Town. Immigrants from Central and
West Africa, escaping poverty at home for life in the continent's
economic powerhouse, have brought with them a new "Africanised Islam"
more in line with black South Africans' identities than the religion
practiced by followers with closer links to Asia.
"In the townships people see the confidence they bring. The
confidence of the African Muslim," Jeppie said. "There is going to be
a different texture, (the balance of followers) is definitely going
to change."
Currently, some 650,000 South Africans or less than 2 percent, are
Muslim. They are mostly members of the country's Indian and Coloured
(mixed-race) communities, the descendents of slaves and cheap labour
shipped to South Africa by the former Dutch and British colonial
rulers. Christianity - practised by 80 percent of the country's 45
million population - is still the dominant religion amongst black
South Africans.
But an estimated 75,000 Africans are now Muslim compared to fewer
than 12,000 in 1991 during apartheid white rule, according to
research by the Human Sciences Research Council, a government-funded
institute.
Of those, 11 percent are black Africans and that group is expected to
become the largest segment of the Muslim faithful within the next two
decades. "The gap is closing and we are finding each other," Sheik
Thafir Najjar, head of Cape Town-based Islamic Council of South
Africa, says of reconciliation since the end of apartheid in 1994.
"Under apartheid we were not allowed to share our cultures," Najjar
told Reuters. But in the end there were "a lot of similarities
between African and Muslim cultures," he added.
Najjar said the war on terrorism, led by the United States, had
heightened curiosity among Africans about Islam. "What the policy of
America has done has been to make people more aware and to show a
greater interest in Islam," he said.
Despite their growing numbers, Muslims in South Africa have generally
maintained a low profile and operate within the political mainstream.
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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