Khadija Magardie
Members of the local Muslim community have expressed outrage at proposed plans to build a $15-million Islamic centre in the heart of one of the city’s most affluent suburbs. The project is being financed by the Saudi Arabian government.
The centre, which will comprise a mosque large enough for 2 000 worshippers, and an Islamic school, will be located in Houghton, north of Johannesburg.
The foundation stone for the complex was laid by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz during a state visit to South Africa earlier this year. The Saudi government has undertaken to finance the project, while its future maintenance will be the responsibility of the local Muslim community. It will be named the ”King Fahd Grand Mosque”, after the Saudi monarch, on whose behalf the mosque has been donated.
But for many local Muslims, the presence of such a facility in Houghton, is ”like taking coal to Newcastle”. The suburb is home to less than 20 Muslim families, most of whom fall within a high income bracket.
Notwithstanding what they call the ”overwhelming generosity” of the Saudi government, many feel the funding could be better utilised elsewhere, particularly in areas like Soweto, and Eldorado Park, where Muslim resources are severely limited.
The Saudi government has denied initiating the project, or having had anything to do with the location of the proposed facility. According to the Saudi ambassador to South Africa, Dr SM Zedan, a group comprising a Muslim organisation, together with the Muslim residents of Houghton, approached him with the request. As a result, he says, any disagreement over the mosque’s location should be referred to the concerned parties.
For ”Uncle Sid” Sadrudeen, who is leading the campaign against the building of the mosque, the issue is not one of ”sour grapes”, but rather one of priorities. A case in point, he says, is that of Soweto, whose Muslim community currently numbers more than 3 000, and is steadily increasing. A single mosque serves the entire area, with most worshippers being ”bussed in” from the surrounds.
A wiser move, he asserts, would be to spend money trying to better equip such areas, instead of building an extravagant facility among the rich.
In response to queries as to whether it was uncharitable to slam the Saudi government for the presentation of a gift, he says the move did not involve consultation with the entire community, and was equally unethical. The Houghton Muslim community, he says, accepted a gift on behalf of all Muslims in South Africa, most of whom have little, if any knowledge of the proposed plans.
Although formal construction of the facility has not begun, the supervisory committee of the mosque claims to have the full support of the community to go ahead. But the group opposing the construction of the facility is trying to raise public awareness among local Muslims, to put an end to what they call ”financial apartheid” carried out in their name.