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Masjidul Jumuah making strides in uplifting youth

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It may have been another icy cold day in the Mother City on Sunday, but the sounds of the Quran inside Masjidul Jumuah in Westridge created a warm and inviting atmosphere, as hundreds of residents gathered for the Ahlan Wa Sahlan outreach. The Ramadan spiritual programme, the third for the month, was hosted by VOC and Gift of the Givers, as a project aimed at connecting with the local community during the auspicious month through Quran, thikr and charity.

Gift of the Givers volunteers get busy

Situated in the heart of Westridge, the masjid has become an epicentre for social activities, under the helm of Maulana Shafiq Nolan. The alim has an affinity for the youth, whom he has taken under his wing.

Maulana Shafick Nolan addressing musallees

While on the surface, the area is not one of dire impoverishment, community members say there are many socio-economic challenges, the most urgent being drug addiction.

“You will have one household that is well-off, and another that is very poor. So this is always a challenge, because the perception is that people are privileged,” said Fadiela Mckenzie, the assistant secretary general at Masjidul Jumuah.

“The Ahlan Wa Sahlan outreach is a great honour for us. If we have more things at the masjid, it will draw people to the masjid. Alhamdullilah, if these donations [AWS] are handed to the community, even for a week or two, it’s a great relief.”

Volunteers from Community Outreach Projects distribute Qurans and other reading materials at every AWS

The masjid has a madrassa, toddler’s hifz school, weekend haafith school and weekly tafseer classes. The committee plans to expand its premises and to create classrooms for other educational needs. Other programmes run by the masjid include a Senior Citizens Day and a Neighbours Day, but there is a need for a larger hall to accommodate for functions.

The masjid has an active social structure, which is now hoping to get a soup kitchen run from the masjid.

“There is a drug rehab centre in the area, and our plan is to have the patients assisting with the projects and giving back to the community. We have Muslim people going to churches with soup bowls asking for food to eat. So our goal is to have our own soup kitchen so that people do not have to approach other organisations.”

GOTG volunteers dish up the food for iftar

Mariam Bennet is a senior resident who, along with her husband, often helps with masjid projects. They have been musallees of the masjid since its inception 40 years ago.

“We have many activities and I enjoy working with the senior citizens and orphaned children. We work very hard to improve the community.”

14 year old Nazierah Hendricks said the masjid was making strides in developing the youth through various initiatives, while Rabia Begg, 19, described the community as close-knit.

“We have many neighhourhood watches and they are doing good work in keeping the community safe,” she said.

Many youth attended the program

Mymoena Jacobs, 83 years old, said homes and families are being destroyed by substance abuse, and the cycle of crime that goes hand in hand with addiction.

No one knows this better than 38 year old Sharifika Khan, a former drug addict, who served a two year and eight month sentence in the Worcester and Pollsmoor prisons for shoplifting.

“I did terrible things…I needed to steal to feed my habit. For a long time, my life has been downhill but through my spiritual worker, who’s been my backbone, I made a turnaround,” she related.

“But it’s really difficult on the outside. When you are inside, you are cut off from the world but the moment you come home that is the real test.”

The ladies section was packed

Khan said she has learnt from her past mistakes and knows that she is the only one in control of her trajectory.

“Sometimes you are weak, you think you don’t have the support system on the outside or that people have no faith in you, and you just fall back into the trap… because that’s all you know. But I made a concerted decision last year that come what may, enough is enough. So I have the support now and with the kudrat of Allah SWT, I know I can do this.”

The Ahlan Wa Sahlan outreach concludes on Sunday 18th June at the Siddique masjid in Elsies River. VOC


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