Majlis (Arabic: مجلس, pl. مجالس Majālis), or Majles (Persian: مجلس) is an Arabic and Persian term meaning "council". The term is used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries. The Majlis can refer to a legislature as well and is used in the name of legislative councils or assemblies in some of the states where Islamic culture dominates.
In pre-Islamic Arabia, Majlis was a tribal council in which the male members participated in making decisions of common interest. The council was presided over by the chief (Sheikh). During the period of the Rashidun Caliphate majlis al-shura was formed. The majlis during the Rashidun was to elect a new caliph.
In many Arab homes, the majlis is the meeting room or front parlor used to entertain visitors. Sometimes public waiting rooms are also called a majlis, since this is an area where people meet and visit. The term majlis is used to refer to a private place where house guests and friends are received and entertained.
Majlis is also used to mean a salon (musical or scientific), especially during the Abbasid era, e.g., for discussing the recent translations from Greek. This sense is sometimes now distinguished as an "adabi majlis" ("artistic majlis").
Majlisul Ulama South Africa is a body of qualified Islamic scholars with Muftis in its ranks, providing researched Islamic education and Fatawa based on the principles of the Sharia.
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Durban South Africa Islam | Deobandi Darul Uloom Occult Sorcery Exposed | English | REACTION VIDEO |
The Deobandi Movement in South Africa
Darul Uloom Deoband was established in 1866 in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India, as part of the anti-British movement. It gave rise to a traditional conservative Sunni movement known as the Deobandi movement. The Deobandi Movement has an international presence today, with its full-fledged manifestation in South Africa, a country where the movement was initiated through the Indian Gujarati merchant class.
The Islamic education system of the Deobandi movement, as well as the necessary components of social and political organizations such as Tablighi Jamaat, Sufism and Jamiat, are fully functioning effectively in South Africa, as they do in India. Madrasas in South Africa provide Islamic higher education and are now centers for Islamic education for foreigners who are interested in receiving a Deobandi-style education. Many of their graduates, especially from Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, are Western students. Some of South African madrasas are recognized globally, providing fatwa services. South Africa is now known for producing exceptional Islamic literature through translation and compilation. Similarly, the Tabligh Jamaat is a hub in South Africa that spreads throughout South and East Africa. Graduates of South African madrassas spend their time in the path of the Tabligh Jamaat.
Through the work of several spiritual personalities of the Deobandis, the tradition of Deoband's Tasawwuf (Sufism) has taken root in South Africa. Among them are Zakariyya Kandhlawi, Masihullah Khan, Mahmood Hasan Gangohi and Asad Madani. South African Deobandi Muslims have many important and influential educational and socio-political organizations that educate the people and play an important role in religious and social activities.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, due to the migration of Muslim businessmen from Gujarat to Africa, Deobandi ideology reached Africa. In the 19th century, some Muslim students from Surat and Bharuch districts of Gujarat were admitted to Darul Uloom Deoband, and among them were some notable religious scholars. The first among them was Ahmed Bujurg Surti, who was a resident of Shimla in Surat. In 1903, he graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband. He was ordained by Bay'ah to Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, one of the founders of Darul Uloom Deoband. One of his teachers was also Mahmud Hasan Deobandi.
The first direct student of the Deoband from South Africa was Muhammad bin Musa Afrika. He was originally a resident of Simla, which is associated with Dabhel in the Surat district of Gujarat, but his family had moved to South Africa a few generations before and established residence in Johannesburg. He was a student of the hadith scholar Anwar Shah Kashmiri at Deoband. After completing his studies, he returned to Johannesburg where, alongside his extensive business ventures, he provided extensive religious services. He founded the Waterval Islamic Institute in Johannesburg for teaching Islamic and contemporary sciences. He built a building for it and bore all its expenses himself. He was responsible for providing free boarding facilities for students in accordance with the arrangements of Darul Uloom Deoband. He was the president of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Transvaal for many years. He was primarily indebted to the huge financial assistance for the construction and progress of Jamia Islamia Talimuddin. He was always interested in academic work. He founded a writer's organization in Dabhel called Majlis-e-Ilmi where the credit for publishing important books by Indian scholars was due.
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Cachalia came from a powerful tradition of political activism. He completed his studies at Darul Uloom Deoband in 1930. Deoband played a role in shaping his politics because most of his teachers were members of the Indian National Congress or the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. He was a prominent political activist in South Africa and was a member of the Joint Passive Resistance Committee in 1946 and was arrested for leading a group of women resistors.
One of the most popular personalities of Deoband was Hussain Ahmad Madani, who was the Sheikhul Hadith of Darul Uloom Deoband for a long time. At that time, some of his students were from South Africa who had come or later went to South Africa. There are a sufficient number of students from South Africa at Darul Uloom, and by the end of the 20th century, about 250 had arrived.
In 1910, the Muslims of South Africa sent a large sum of money to Darul Uloom Deoband. Since then, their support has increased and there are a lot of sympathetic and supportive of Darul Uloom in various places in South Africa, such as Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal, and KwaDukuza, and reached East Africa. Similarly, in 1920, Darul Uloom Deoband faced some financial difficulties in India, but this shortage was filled by valuable donations, especially from foreign countries, with South Africa playing a significant role in fulfilling this shortage.
Due to the partition of India, a significant portion of the funding sources for Darul Uloom Deoband moved to Pakistan. In 1963, Darul Uloom Deoband's rector Qari Muhammad Tayyib traveled to South Africa, which greatly helped strengthen the Deobandi ideology. About two thousand people from the four provinces of South Africa gathered at the airport in Johannesburg to welcome him. The mayor of Johannesburg and his wife were also present at a large police station. He stayed in Johannesburg for 15 days, then went to Durban and then to Cape Town.
Alongside Darul Uloom Deoband, several other Deobandi madrasas in India have played a role similar to that of Darul Uloom Deoband, among which is Mazahir Uloom. Jamia Islamia Talimuddin in Gujarat was a central madrasa that played a key role in creating the Indian Muslim community in South Africa. After Anwar Shah Kashmiri joined as the president of the madrasa, it reached new heights. Later, Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani, Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Yusuf Banuri, and Badre Alam Merathi joined the madrasa. Mirati later went to Medina. Similarly, other Madrasahs of Gujarat like: Jamia Hussainia Rander, Jamia Ashrafia Rander, Darul Uloom Matiwala, Darul Uloom Tarkesar, Darul Uloom Kantaria etc.
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In 1919, Indian scholars established the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, many of whom were students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. Similarly, in 1923, South African Muslims established the Jamiat Ulama Transvaal, later known as the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa, which played a role in education in addition to religious contributions. In 1955, the Jamiat Ulama KwaZulu-Natal was established in KwaZulu-Natal with the primary goal of education. Many scholars were associated with this organization.
Tablighi Jamaat is one of the main sources of influence of Deobandism in South Africa. Yusuf Kandhlawi, the second Amir of Tabligh, was interested in expanding Tabligh's activities in Africa. In 1956, under the leadership of Musa Surti, the first Tabligh Jamaat arrived in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, East Africa, Rhodesia, South Africa, Mauritius, Reunion, and other countries. After 1965, a trend of Tabligh Jamaat started in South Africa, and it became a center for the Tabligh Jamaat in South Africa.
There have been personalities who have influenced South African Indian Muslims, of whom the most notable is Zakariyya Kandhlawi. This renowned scholar was known as a Sheikhul Hadith and taught Hadith at Mazahir Uloom. He was one of the central figures of Tablighi Jamaat and was the author of more than a hundred religious texts. He was a spiritual guide who influenced many Muslims in South Africa to embrace Bay'ah or pledge of allegiance to him. Among them, he appointed several as his caliphs or deputies.
Masihullah Khan was a prominent Deobandi scholar and spiritual figure in India. He was the Khalifa of Ashraf Ali Thanwi. Under Thanwi's guidance, he came to Jalalabad in the Uttar Pradesh region of India and established a madrasa called Miftahul Uloom, which later became a large madrasa. Many students from South Africa studied at this madrasa and received Bay'ah from him.
Mahmood Hasan Gangohi was a Grand Mufti and Hadith teacher of Darul Uloom Deoband and Mazahir Uloom. As a spiritual personality, he was a senior Khalifa of Zakariyya Kandhlawi. Like Kandhlawi, he also influenced South African Muslims at the grassroots level. He authored many religious texts, including 32 volumes of Fatawa Mahmoodiyah. He had numerous South African and Gujarati students in Darul Uloom Deoband and Mazahir Uloom. Thousands of South African Muslims received Bay'ah from him, and he designated 30 of them as Khalifas or successors.
Hussain Ahmed Madani's elder son, Asad Madani, who was the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, had a significant influence among the Muslims in South Africa.
Deobandi Darul Ulooms Curriculum
The South African Deobandi Darul Ulooms offer a 6 or 7-year course. They have introduced a 1-year bridging course or preparatory course, which is aimed at students who have no prior knowledge of the recitation of the Quran in Arabic, Urdu and other essentials. From the second year, the students are introduced into Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) of the Hanafi school beginning with a book entitled Nur al-Idah by Al-Shurunbulali (d. 1658) until the sixth year culminating in the teaching of al-Hidayah by Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani (d. 1782). Also in the second year, some Hadith and the translation of the meanings of the Quran from Arabic into English are taught along with Arabic grammar, etymology, syntax and literature. Most of these are taught through the Urdu medium. Some basic Persian and some texts on the rules regarding the correct recitation of the Quran (tajwid) are also taught.
The third year is a continuation of the subjects in the second year with the introduction of some exegesis of the Quran (tafsir) and the biography of Muhammad. Subjects, such as tafsir, Arabic literature, syntax and tajwid, continue in the fourth year, with the addition of the laws of Islamic Inheritance and the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, which is based on the book Usul ash-Shashi, which is difficult for a beginner. In the fifth year, tajwid and tafsir continue along with the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence with focus on a text known as Nur al-Anwar by Mulla Jiyun (d. 1715). The new subjects are rhetoric, Islamic theology (aqidah), the Principles of tafsir and some of the rules on the modes of recitation of the Quran. In the sixth year, the students study a work on tafsir known as al-Jalalayn, a Hadith work known as al-Mishkat, and they are introduced into the principles and terminology of Hadith.
In comparison, the curriculum at Darul Uloom Deoband is similar with a few additional subjects because of the lengthier duration of the course. A comparison of the Darul Ulooms mentioned above reveals that the overall structure of the curriculum and the subjects are the same. The two South African institutions have less content in some subjects because of the 6-year course. The primary focus is on teaching the Hanafi School with an emphasis on Al-Hidayah, which deals with debates within a specific fiqh school. The different commentaries written on Al-Hidayah kept the scholars engaged and also ensured that the respective schools extrapolation of laws to new situations would always be of the highest quality. Al-Hidayah covers sections on worship, marriage, divorce, finance, business and inheritance.
It was one of the first Islamic boarding institutes and has had a significant impact on South African Muslims through numerous Islamic publications. It was the first formal institution of higher Islamic studies in South Africa, as well as the first Deobandi madrasa in South Africa, located in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. It was founded by Cassim Sema in 1973. It is called the mother of all Darul Ulooms in South Africa.
Other Madrasas and Islamic Organizations
- A student started Alim classes with one teacher in Germiston in 1972.
- Located in Lenasia with an international student population.
- Opened in 1983 in an agricultural area, it is now surrounded by the suburb of Zakariyya Park, which is named in its honor.
- Madrasah Mu'einul Islam, a school for Muslim girls, was established in Zakariyya Park, Gauteng, in 1985 under the guidance of Mahmood Hasan Gangohi.
- The institute was founded in 1994 by Mahmood Madni Desai, following the instruction of his father Ahmad Moosa Desai.
- The madrasah was founded in 1996 in Croydon, Faure and offered an ālim program and hifẓ classes to some 30 students.
- Since 2001, Darul Uloom Nu’maniyyah has been providing spiritual, personal, and character building programs to underprivileged youth, particularly from low-income communities with severe social conditions around Chatsworth.
- This is an old Islamic organization in South Africa.
- In 1923, the organization was established under the name of Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal with the aim of fulfilling the religious needs of Muslims.
- Most influential Muslim religious organization in the Western Cape.
- Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) is a Muslim Judiciary that provides religious guidance, education, Fatwa, Dawah, Halaal certification, and social development, particularly in marriage counseling.
- The Lenasia Muslim Association provides Islamic education to people of all ages in South Africa.
- It was founded in the 1960s to address the lack of Islamic knowledge and education, which was previously only accessible through imported books in Urdu.
- The organization aimed to develop English-based syllabus, establish madrasahs, and provide teacher training.
Majlisul Ulama South Africa is a body of qualified Islamic scholars with Muftis in its ranks, providing researched Islamic education and Fatawa based on the principles of the Sharia.
We acknowledge that Majlisul Ulama is known to be ‘Harsh’ in their writings. Most of the publications of Majlis Ulama are done by a single individual, namely Maulana Ahmad Sadeq Desai, and not a group of Ulema as how they sound to be. Despite our disagreement is the way he write, Mufti Ebrahim Desai has shown support for Majlisul Ulama. Also, Maulana Sadeq’s use of the word ‘Kufr’ does not imply that Maulana Saad is a Kafir, but that his ‘Ideologies’ are kufr. InshaAllah, Maulana Saad is a Muslim.
| Institution/Organization | Description |
|---|---|
| Darul Uloom Deoband | Traditional conservative Sunni movement with international presence, initiated in South Africa through Indian Gujarati merchant class. |
| Tablighi Jamaat | One of the main sources of influence of Deobandism in South Africa, serving as a hub for South and East Africa. |
| Jamiat Ulama Transvaal (Jamiatul Ulama South Africa) | Established in 1923, played a role in education and religious contributions. |
| Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) | Most influential Muslim religious organization in the Western Cape, providing religious guidance, education, Fatwa, Dawah, Halaal certification, and social development. |
| Majlisul Ulama South Africa | A body of qualified Islamic scholars with Muftis, providing researched Islamic education and Fatawa based on the principles of the Sharia. |
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