In a series of events to celebrate the Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) 70th anniversary, members of the ulema joined residents at Masjidul Jumu’ah in Delft for an afternoon of Quranic recitation and thikr. The event formed part of VOC’s third Ahlan Wa Sahlan project, in partnership with aid organisation Gift of the Givers. MJC secretary general Maulana Abdul Khaliq Allie praised the Delft community for their kindness and warm hospitality on Sunday.

“Masajied, imams and residents in these areas have been asking when the programme will be back in Delft because the community really needs this kind of spiritual upliftment,” he said.

The programme started at midday with Imam Yaseen Harris delivering a presentation of the historical development of the Muslim community and the MJC. Imam Harris, Imam Mustafa Achmat and Imam Shakier presented to the mussalees the challenges faced by the Muslim community particularly in Delft. Sheikh Irfan Abrahams shed some light on the developments in Blikkiesdorp. Sheikh Achmat Sedick, the chairperson of the Muslim Broadcasting Corporation Board of Trust also addressed the audience.

“We were overjoyed to celebrate our 70 year benchmark by participating in this programme and reaching out to these impoverished communities,” said Allie.

International relief organisation Gift of the Givers brought iftar to an estimated 1800 people of the Delft community. The impoverished gang ridden area of Delft was graced with a mass iftar and the presence of the ulama to appeal to the community to unite and assist in the eradication of the challenges of poverty of these communities.

“We hope to bring people together and to resolve these challenging issues. We want to commit ourselves to work with one and all and partnering with the Voice of the Cape to continue in such work,” says Allie.

The organisation presented each person with a bottle of water, dates, a cup of soup, iftar plate and a hot meal.

Despite high volumes of people at the event, the organisation managed well under the pressure.

“We managed to feed everyone last night as we are quite used to dealing with large numbers of people,” says Gift of the Givers Western Cape co-ordinator Ali Sablay.

VOC broadcasted the Khatam al Quran from the masjid. The outreach programme is an opportunity to connect various communities and give to the less fortunate.

“Connecting impoverished communities like Delft with the listeners gives us an in depth understanding of the conditions in which those communities exist and serves as a beacon of hope for those communities to overcome their challenging conditions,” says VOC marketing manager Sukayna Johaardien.

“The programme continues to reach out to our communities giving them the opportunity to witness the climate in which challenging communities exist and tackle with these surrounding environment,” added Allie.

For the last mass iftar of the Ahlan Wasaglan programme VOC will be hosting the Ramadan Kids Project at Masjidul Ameer to celebrate the children who have experienced fasting for the first time.

“We will bring the programme to the children so they can also learn the gift of giving back to the community,” concluded Johaardien. VOC