COMMUNITY NEWS

EID-UL-FITR MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERATION OF KHOJA SHIA ITHNA-ASHERI JAMAATS OF AFRICA, ALHAJ ZULFIKAR HAIDERALI KHIMJI

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the Merciful.

As we draw near the end of the month of Mahe Mubarak Ramadhan, the month of blessing and forgiveness, and bid farewell to the month of Allah (S.W.T), let us pray that He accepts our Aamaal and forgives us through His mercy. Let this not be our last Ramadhan and let us not hope for success except through Him and only from Him………… AMEEN.

On behalf of the Africa Federation, may I extend to all of you the best wishes on this joyous occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr and to thank all of you for the support and cooperation you have accorded us to achieve whatever we can for the Community. We are aware that much is yet to be done and Insha Allah we will try to serve the spiritual and material needs of all our people in Africa.

In the last fifty-six years, Africa Federation has passed through anxious times and is pressing ahead against all oddities. Apart from providing a unique kind of cohesion to our Community in Africa, its zeal to serve for the benefit of all of us remains our hallmark. This is an indication of the resourcefulness and the versatility of Africa Federation from its magnificent history. In this moment of reflection let us take pride in all our institutions.

During our twenty months in the office, we have seen many painful afflictions in the Community. Amongst the most undignified and traumatic are sudden losses of employment or some one being made redundant or trapped in low wages and the whole family receiving welfare. Furthermore, the stiff competition, recession and the introduction of new laws has forced our business fraternity to close down or switch from traditional ways of working and to adopt professionalism. This has caused redundancy within the work force and many within it are our community members. Therefore, this economic need of the Community must be addressed immediately. In the long term, however, the Community’s survival and success will depend upon the reservoir of talents and skill with which it can adapt to fast changing economic and social conditions. It must, therefore, educate its youth.

While we are dealing successfully with many challenges affecting the Community, our priority for the current term remain the provision of education in all its aspects but particularly the higher education. Since we have taken over the office, I am pleased to say that, together with the considerable moral support from the World Federation, we were able to provide scholarship loans to Alhamdulillah over 100 students with a total budget of over 800,000.00 Dollars.

One area of concern, however, that I want to share with you is the religious education needs of our youth beyond 15 years of age. The type of education given to children up to 15 years of age in our Jamaat Madressa is, of necessity, a more doctrinaire in content. As they proceed to University and on to the adult life, they do encounter many questions relating to our faith from Non Muslims and other Muslims. At this time, referring back to Madressa education so as to seek the answer is not enough. A more rationale approach may be required when answering such questions.

The abundance of scholarly work relating to our faith is available where many answers are already given in the most intellectually satisfying way. This work needs to be introduced to our young people. This is particularly so for university students, for they live within an ethos where they are subjected to many and varied ideologies, which demand of them a more rational explanation in matters of beliefs.

Africa Federation is fully determined to continue to encourage the contribution of the youths in all sphere of its work – enabling them to successfully take over the reins of our institutions and move our mission forward. By the same token, we are committed also to the establishment of a forum for women so as to unlock their potential for the greater good of the Community.

I am pleased to note that some Jamaats have already embarked on collecting the demographic data of their respective members. Unless we have the complete data we can only then effectively plan long term economic and social programmes for the Community as a whole. I am therefore requesting all member Jamaats to give priority to this important work and send in the data to the Secretariat before the forthcoming Supreme Council Session to be held in Mombasa during April 2003. In anticipation, I have identified a group of talented and qualified youths to consolidate the data and prepare strategic planning documents for wider discussion amongst the Jamaats.

Finally, may I appeal to you to please support your local Jamaat activities, as it will spur the Jamaat leaders and workers on to greater achievements. It will be more than an indication of support and will be an inspiration for unity and work. In the face of adversity facing the Umma, we must remain united with a single purpose of preserving and practicing our faith. This can only be achieved if we continue to remain united as a Jamaat, as a Regional Federation and the World Federation, always exchanging ideas, sharing joys and sorrow of each other and pursuing the common goal of remaining in the fold of Ahlulbait (A.S).

I thank Allah (S.W.T) for the opportunity given to all of us at the Africa Federation Secretariat to serve the Community with honesty and hope. On this joyous occasion let us remember all our Marhoomins and offer Sura-el-Fateha for their souls.