How Christians, Jews, Muslims Fought Apartheid In Cape Town

Cape Town from a hotel window -Picture by Sixtus Mbom

By Paul Shalala in Cape Town, South Africa

Some have called it the ‘white man’s city’ others call it the ‘Afrikaner’s city’ though it is officially known as Cape Town.

My two hour flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town last week on Sunday was a bit shocking as I found myself among hundreds of white people in a huge Boeing plane operated by South African Airways (SAA).

Less than 15 people in the plane were black, the rest were of course Afrikaans-speaking people who rarely spoke English.

Actually, SAA has more flights between Cape Town and Johannesburg than any other domestic route.

This is the reason why the airline has deployed some of its biggest planes on this route.

Upon landing at Cape Town International Airport, for those of us who are used to Johannesburg which is predominantly black, we got amazed to see how white the city is.

Most of the people alighting from planes, those taking off, waiting and those who work at the airport are white.

When you move to the town center, almost everyone is white except bus drivers, guards and those who sweep the streets.

Indeed this is the ‘white man’s city.’

Even the provincial government in the larger Western Cape is predominantly white, led by the Democratic Alliance, a party which many say is for the whites though it recently elected its first ever black leader Mmusi Maimane.

Cape Town was founded by Dutch settlers in the 1600s and they were later joined by the British and Indians.

The indigenous black tribes like the Xhosa who lived in the area where pushed to the fringes and today, the city is almost white except a few settlements like Langa which are predominantly black but are barricaded by huge fences.

But what role did the people of Cape Town play in fighting apartheid which was practiced by the South African governments from 1948 until the early 1990s?

Once you ask such a question, opinion leaders here tell you that religious leaders were in the forefront of the struggle.

This blogger and a dozen other journalists from across Africa were last week in Cape Town to learn how religion is influencing the news media on the continent.

Lucky enough, the team visited a church, a synagogue and a mosque to speak to religious leaders on every aspect of life in Cape Town.

Their first visit was to Saint George’s Cathedral, the church where the revered Archbishop Desmond Tutu was installed and served the Anglican faithful of Cape Town for 10 years.

St. George's Cathedral - Pictures by Winnie Kamau

The church is located on Wale Street and has a commanding position over the city’s central business district.

The 1,300 capacity structure is what many refer to as Cape Town’s symbol of resistance against the apartheid.

It is this Anglican building where blacks sought refuge every time they were teargassed and beaten by the racist government in the past decades when segregation was legal in Africa’s largest economy.

Due to its historical significance, St. George’s Cathedral attracts thousands of tourists on an annual basis.

The cathedral is named after its first Archbishop.

On this tour, Mary Van Blerk, a volunteer tour guide, took us round all the corners of the building.

For an hour, the old lady explained all the aspects of the building from its construction, to the installation of Archbishop Tutu and the fight against apartheid.

“Construction of this cathedral started in 1901 and it was only completed in 1913. Most of the materials used in this building were from the colonial master Britain. Even the architecture is colonial,” said van Blerk.

Moving around the cathedral, I got a sense of the connection between the British Empire and the Anglican Church.

Flags from previous wars

Most of the corners of the cathedral are decorated with pictures, plaques and flags of fallen British soldiers from the Anglo-Boer wars and other battles fought in South Africa.

These decorations had inscriptions of the actual battles fought, the years and dates.

The British Royal family is also included in the decorations.

Plaques of Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to the cathedral in March 1995 and that of his son Prince Charles in November 2011 are also on display.

Asked about the role played by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the cathedral and Cape Town as a whole, van Blerk had this to say.

“Archbishop Tutu was installed in this very cathedral in 1986. On that day, we had 1,300 people who filled the cathedral to capacity. He was Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 until when he retired in 1996. He is very much loved and was a powerful figure during the apartheid era. It’s a pity he is now old and frail.”

Some of Archbishop Tutu’s notable quotes about human rights are printed on windows for visitors to read.

Archbishop Tutu is not the only celebrated church leader at St. George’s Cathedral.

The ashes of Archbishop Geoffrey Clayton, who was in charge of the Cape Town Archdiocese in 1948 when apartheid became law, are buried in the cathedral.

The archbishop’s wish was to have his ashes buried there as a protest to the racist law which barred blacks from being treated as equal citizens with whites.

In the northern side of the cathedral is a human size sculpture of the second Archbishop of Cape Town William Jones.

It is one of the items which attracts thousands of people to the cathedral.

Another crowd puller is the throne for the Archbishop which was donated and shipped from Westminster in London.

This steel structure used to serve as the seat for the Archbishop and it is the one where Archbishop Tutu sat on during his installation 30 years ago.

But today, the throne is a ceremonial item as the Archbishop seat with congregants.

Touring the cathedral is free of charge and taking photos is allowed.

Tourists from within South Africa and abroad visit the cathedral daily.

According to church records, authorities spend R10, 950 in running costs per day.

The church meets these costs through donations from the public and church collections.

Our next stop on the tour was the Great Synagogue of Cape Town which is adjacent to the South African Jewish Museum.

Rabbi Feldman talking to journalists in the synagogue

There, Rabbi Feldman, who is originally from Australia, explained the history behind the Jewish community in the area.

“This synagogue was the first in South Africa. It was built in 1841 and earlier this year we celebrated 175 years,” said Rabbi Feldman.

He explained that among the first Dutch settlers to Cape Town were some Jews who immigrated from The Netherlands.

He says they built this Syanagogue for worship and for generations, they have been making donations to maintain it.

From stained glass windows to chairs and tables, Jews have been donating items to make their place of worship look attractive.

Asked about the Jewish community’s contribution to the fight against apartheid in the country, Rabbi Feldman said Jews were in the forefront of the struggle against racism.

“Helen Sazman was the first South African Member of Parliament to challenge apartheid. She was a Jew. If you remember the Rivonia trials, 16 of the suspects were Jews. Even when Nelson Mandela was released from prison, the first house where he went was owned by a Jew.”

Before wrapping up the tour, the last visit was to the 222 year old Auwal Masjid, the first mosque to have been built in southern Africa.

The mosque has stood the test of time and has been part of the Cape Town community for over two centuries.

Malawian-born Ismail Muhammed is the mosque’s caretaker and explains the history behind the building.

Ismail Muhammed kneeling on the left

“This mosque was originally built by Imam Tuan Guru, a Malaysian muslim cleric who was exiled from Malaysia to Robben Island. He served his jail term on the island for 13 years and upon his release, he was given land by a woman and he decided to build a mosque in 1794,” said Mr Muhammed.

According to Mr Muhammed, Imam Guru gave the authorities in the Dutch East Indies (now Malaysia) a tough time due to his uncompromising stance hence their decision to banish him to Cape Town’s infamous offshore island.

The mosque caretaker adds that Iman Guru also built a madrassa where hundreds of muslim children attended school.

He said since then, muslims have been worshipping there and it has become a symbol of the Islamic community in South African.

On apartheid, Mr Muhammed revealed that a number of muslims from Auwal Masjid paid the ultimate price during the fight for the restoration of democracy in South Africa.

Visitors taking selfies at the mosque

“We have a number of our members who were killed because of being against apartheid. These people were heavily involved in the struggle.”

The Auwal Masjid was one of the first religious sites former South African President Nelson Mandela visited upon his release from prison.

After this four hour two of religious sites in Cape Town, it was clear to me that apartheid did not just affect the blacks and Indians.

It was also an impediment to religious freedoms.

The role that Christians, Muslims and Jews played in fighting this unjust law and system in South Africa showed that race should never ever be used as a basis for judgement as humans are one irrespective of their colour.

This tour revealed to me that Cape Town is not “The white man’s city” but actually it’s a multi-racial and multi-religious city.  

Muhsin Hendricks: The World's First Openly Gay Islamic Cleric

Imam Muhsin Hendricks -Pictures by Robert Wanjala

 By Paul Shalala in Cape Town, South Africa

He is a man who was married to a woman and had three children but divorced her and later married a Hindu man.

Imam Muhsin Hendricks is the world’s first Islamic Cleric to come out in the open that he is gay.

He is a well trained Islamic cleric who studied classical Arabic and Islamic Sciences at Jamia-Dirasat Al-Islamiyyah (University of Islamic Studies) in the Pakistani city of Karachi between 1990 and 1994.

Childhood and first marriage

Iman Hendricks was born 49 years ago born in Landsdown, Cape Town in South Africa.

In a wide ranging interview he recently gave me and some reporters in Cape Town, the cleric says he started noticing traits of homosexuality in his life at the age of five.

“At five, I started playing with toys for girls. And in my teenage years, I found myself loving men. 

My father never spoke about my sexuality and that gave me some peace,” said the Imam.

He claims that when he completed his clerical studies, he was forced to marry a woman.

“They forced me to marry a woman because there is a belief that an Imam cannot be without a woman. The same woman was very much in love with me.”

However, that marriage did not last.

In six years, the couple had three children and they later divorced.

Divorce and Gay Marriage

After the divorce, the cleric says his children suffered as they faced discrimination based on his sexuality.

His two daughters have since been married and he says he has a good relationship with them.

Soon after the divorce, Iman Hendricks says he went into prayer and fasting to find a way of surviving within Islam.

He dated a Hindu man for five years before they got married.

The couple has now been married for five years.

 “My ex-wife and I have since moved on. I have married a Hindu man and I know I again broke the rule. We have since adopted two children. My former wife has married another man and they have two children,” he said while laughing.

Making History as first Gay cleric

Imam Hendricks says after years of reflection and research, in 1998 he decided to come out of the closet and openly declared his sexuality which made it to the front pages of South African tabloids.

He became the world’s first Islamic cleric to openly declare he was gay and since then, a few other Islamic leaders in France, the USA, Canada and Australia have followed suit.

In 2004, the Imam went further to form The Inner Circle, a non-governmental organisation which is championing the rights of homosexuals in the Islamic world.

“The organisation offers a lot of help to homosexuals in Islam. We plan to start training our own Imams who will not be preaching against homosexuality. We currently have 18 trainers in several countries were we support other gay muslims.”

The organisation also creates what they call safe spaces for Islamic homosexuals where they can feel free to live and strengthen the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

The All Inclusive mosque

Iman Hendricks with the author during the interview

Within Cape Town, the Imam runs his own mosque where gays worship from and women are allowed to also say their prayers inside the mosque, in contrast with mainstream Islam were women don’t enter the building.

“Women do not cover their face when coming to our mosque. Both queers and straight people come for Friday prayers.”

Since 2011, Iman Hendricks has been conducting same sex marriages for muslims and people of other faiths in his mosque.

Opposition from Muslim leaders

Since becoming openly gay, the Imam’s activism has also taken him to the mainstream media.

In 2007, he released a documentary titled “A Jihad for Love” which was received with huge opposition and the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa even issued a fatwa against him.

A fatwa is an instruction issued by an Islamic authority on an issue seen to be against Islam.

In some countries, fatwas have led to followers issuing threats, causing violence and even killing people named in the fatwas. 

However, the fatwa against Iman Hendricks was not acted upon and he is still safe, travelling around the country and the world, spreading his version of Islam which embraces homosexuality.

This week he was scheduled to appear on a radio station in Durban to spread his activism.

But local muslim leaders blocked the program on account that he was no longer a muslim.

With 20 years of fighting for homosexuals within Islam, Imam Hendricks says he is not in conflict with his religion.

“Am in conflict with tradition and not Islam. I work with some Imams who are progressive in thinking. Islam does not say homosexuality is wrong, it is silent.”

Homosexuality in Islam

In a 30 minutes powerpoint presentation he made to reporters in Cape Town on Monday, Imam Hendricks quoted various scholarly works showing some poets who he claims were gay.

One of those highlighted was Abu Nawas whom he says praised teenage boys in some of his poetry.

He also showed a photo of gay men holding hands at an Islamic gathering which he says was drawn in 1798.

Asked why there are no known lesbians in Islam, the cleric said Islam is patriarchal and not much is said about women.

“The Quran says women must sit at the back not to distract men as they kneel to worship. Maybe this was done so that men do not look at women’s buts,” he said.

His organisation The Inner Circle is funded by among others, Oxfam South Africa and the Open Society Foundation.

Since he embarked on his crusade for Islam to embrace homosexuality, Imam Hendricks says he has no plans to make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca which he did before he became openly gay.

How Islam Came To Be A Dominant Religion In Nsama District

By Paul Shalala in Nsama

Muslim women clad in hijabs

It may be unusual in some parts of Zambia to see women clad in the Arabic hijab attire but here in Nsama District of Northern Province, this is a common site.

For the men, wearing the japar, a simple head dress is also part of the dressing here.

According to local Muslim leaders, Islam has been a dominant force in Nsama for hundreds of years.

But how did this religion come to this remote area?

How come this small and remote district has managed to have 18 mosques and thousands of members?

These are the questions I posed to local muslim leaders who know something about this topic.

"Islam came with a muslim businessman by the name of Abdullah. He was very kind and taught people the goodness of Islam. This is why you are seeing that hundreds of people are joining the religion here," said Abdallah Bin Sleman the Amir of Nsama Mosque.

But according to locals, Abdullah was actually a slave trader who bought slaves and transported them to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam.

However, non of the muslim leaders here agree that the slave trade in the 1800s brought Islam to Nsama.

"Islam came with good people. These people taught the word of God and brought good to society. It is these good works that have attracted people to Allah and Islam. It is not true that Abdullah bought and sold slaves," said Sheikh Yahya John of Kabuta Mosque.

The history of muslims in this area keeps changing depending on who is narrating it to you.

But according to oral tradition, Islam came with some Tanzanians who were invited to help the local Tabwa people in the 1800s when they were under attack by the Bembas who were trying to conquer Tabwaland and extend the Chitimukulu’s chiefdom.

"We had wars here. The Bembas were fighting to conquer us so that we can become their subjects. They had spears and bows and arrows but we had nothing," said Renwick Musonda, a local historian.

He says because of the abundance fish in the many rivers and lakes in Nsama, the Bembas were interested in snatching the land so that it can be of benefit to their kingdom.

"We were almost defeated and we decided to invite our muslim friends in Tanzania who had guns. They fought with the Bembas and repulsed them."

It is believed that after this victory, the Tabwa people allowed the Tanzanians to settle in Tabwaland and today, two sub-chiefs here have Tanzanian roots.

"As a way of saying thank you, we allowed our muslim friends to stay. Thats how today we have two sub-chiefs with Tanzanian blood. They are now part of us. We freely marry each other and live together," said Jonas Musenge, another historian.

But most young people in Nsama have accepted oral tradition as the best explanation of how Islam came to this region.

They are taught from a tender age that the Bembas wanted to conquer Tabwaland due to its rich fish species found in several lakes, rivers and streams.

"I was born here in Nsama and went to marry in Mporokoso where they used to laugh at us that we were defeated by the Bembas. Actually i explained to them that it was actually the Tabwas who defeated the Bembas with the help of the muslims who were better armed," said Jerian Kasankula, a local youth.

The Muchinga Escarpment

From oral tradition, it is also claimed that the hills that separate Bembaland from Tabwaland came to be known as Muchinga Escarpment because they helped protect the Tabwas from the conquering Bemba warriors.

In Bemba, the word ukuchingilila means protection hence the name Muchinga.

Despite having multiple explanations on the history of Islam in Nsama, one thing is for sure: Islam is here to stay and it has had a huge impact on society.

People's ways of life has changed and their dressing has also been transformed.

Zambia is constitutionally a christian nation but other religions are also allowed to flourish just like Islam is doing in Nsama District.