Last week on the auspicious day of Jumuah at the Karamat where Sheikh Yusuf from Makassar is laid to rest, a soccer team from Khayelitsha decided to take a big step in their lives. After being inspired by their fellow team mates, they made the decision to accept Islam.

For many years Darul Quran South Africa has been hosting Mawlid programmes on an annual basis where Islam is displayed. This may have been the boys’ first exposure to Islam.

“Some of them were not Muslim but they participated in the march with the muslim brigade through the Khayelitsha area. At the time of Mawlid they were not Muslim and we just left it at that and Alhamdullilah they are coming into the deen slowly with the Qudrah of Allah,” said Imam Adam Philander proudly.

A month ago there was a khatamal Quran programme which took place at Lentegeur mosque. A few of the boys wanted to be a part of the programme so they were brought to the mosque.

“With the Qudrah of Allah, they enquired about Islam and they wanted to accept Islam,” stated Imam Philander.

They were amazed by what they saw and heard which motivated them to accept Islam.

The rest of the team became inspired and wanted to follow in the footsteps of their fellow team mates. The remainder of the team reverted last week Friday at the Karamat festival after taking wudhu, standing in front of the jamaat and then making Jumuah salah (prayer). One of the senior leaders then said the Shahadah and Kalimah Tu Tauheed in Xhosa so that the boys could understand and then repeat.

Once that was done, many male campers were then given the honour of stating their names to the boys. The reverts were then named after the campers. The boys range from ages 12 to 19. The young boys consulted with their parents before taking the step and the older ones made the final decision after a discussion with their parents.

The reversion process seems fairly easy but the difficult task of Dawah Tu Tarbiyah still lies ahead as these children need to be reared, prepared and fed in an Islamic manner as well as to be taught about the deen of Islam. VOC