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Leaders
& Legacies
The
RAM & SARA SALOJEE WAQF & BIOGRAPHY PROJECT
Muslims have been part of the struggle for
human rights and freedom since their
arrival on the shores of
South Africa
in the early 17th century. We recall the revered names of Tuan Guru, Shaykh
Yusuf, Hadjie Matarim and others (May Allah be pleased with them) who made the
ultimate sacrifice against Dutch and British colonizers and slave masters.
During the apartheid era, several more Muslim names come to the fore: Imam
Abdullah Haron, Ahmed Timol, Sulmin “Babla” Saloojee,
Dr Haffejee and many others.
Today there are many veterans in our midst who gave selflessly to the struggle
for universal human rights, freedom, and service to the community.
On behalf of the Community and well wishers,
Awqaf SA is initiating and
facilitating the honouring of
all those persons. In so doing, Awqaf SA is launching a Community Leaders Waqf
(Endowment Fund) with subfunds
that will be named in honour
of our brothers, sisters,
and compatriots, both past and present.
It is envisaged that these endowment funds will benefit especially
previously disadvantaged South Africans in their quest for social justice and a
better education.
The first of these funds will be in honor of Dr Rashid Ahmed Mahmood (RAM) (74) &
Mrs Sara Salojee for their contribution. A
commemorative biography of Dr Salojee has also been undertaken by Awqaf
SA and should be published by the third quarter 2009.
Dr RAM, and always with the unstinting support of
his wife, lifelong partner, and companion, Sara,
gave selflessly to the anti
apartheid struggle for freedom and justice in
South Africa
. Dr Salojee was arrested together
with several other member of the
community during the Tricameral Parliament protests in the 1980s
and was placed under house
arrest for several years. He also played a leading role in the United Democratic
Front alongside Trevor Manuel, Allan Boesak and others. As
a community member he served and still serves on several organisations including
the Lenasia Muslim Association, JISS, Central Islamic Trust, Suliman Nana
Memorial Trust, South African Hajj & Umrah Council, Islamic Council of South
Africa, the Islamic Marriages Committee of the SA Law Commission, and Awqaf SA. He
serves as a Member of the Gauteng Legislature and is the current chairperson of
the Health Portfolio Committee in the Legislature. He
is a member of the Religious Affairs Committee of the ANC.
Dr Salojee’s early schooling was
at the “Mias Farm”
boarding school in Midrand and
then later at the
Johannesburg
Indian
High School
. He also actively participated in
soccer, table-tennis, bridge, and cricket in
the Nylstroom and Kliprivier dorpies. He
has a son and a daughter.
As Muslims in
South Africa
, we are proud of the legacies that
our leaders and forebears leave and
left behind. We are proud of them as outstanding role models. We are proud
of their selfless
contributions. We are proud of them for the leadership that they gave and are
still giving. Throughout the country they
have left great infrastructure of
masjids, schools, madressahs, and organisations that we have inherited and that
we benefit from. They participated
in the struggle for freedom and justice. They gave their lives. They sacrificed
their families and comforts. Indeed, we have been the beneficiaries of those
legacies. Our children and future generations will also be beneficiaries. Now
we have a greater responsibility: not only should the legacy be safeguarded but
also to ensure that they be continued and are further developed. How
are we going to do that? We should never forget the Ihsaan
of those that have done good to us and to humanity.
Their names will be forever etched in Allah’s timeless records, and
lest we forget, in the memorials, such
as the Community Leaders Waqf, that
we establish. Let us never forget
the struggles, sacrifices, torture, slavery, and incarceration that our leaders
and forbears endured for us.
Today it is our turn. Today we have to make sacrifices for the multitudes of
poor and suffering. Today we have to contribute to the development of our own
communities as well as those around us. Today we have a greater responsibility.
We call on the business community, professionals, workers,
housewives, and home executives to contribute
towards the Community Leaders Waqf as a token of our Ihsaan
and appreciation. Where will this
fund be invested? The fund will be invested largely into income earning
property. What
will the income be used for? The income streams out of the investments will
be used to fund a variety of community development, poverty
alleviation and humanitarian projects including
scholarships and bursaries, maths,
science, and literacy upgrade; and
cataract and dialysis projects. The beneficiaries of these projects will be
largely the poor and needy from all communities.
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