After two successful years at the Greenpoint Track, Mawlid SA will be moving its mass moulood celebration to the Athlone Stadium on the 18th January 2015. Annually global Muslims commemorate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), through thikr, qir;ah and salawat, and this remains a strong tradition in the Cape.

To mark the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal, Mawlid SA plans on hosting thousands of local Muslims from various communities on the cape flats and allowing them the opportunity to join in a mass moulood at the central venue. For the third consecutive year, the event will showcase young Qurrah, and renowned scholars from around the world.

At launch of the event at the stadium on Wednesday, ulema from all across South Africa and other parts of the world sat in attendance. The launch focused on the line up of the Mawlid SA 1436 celebrations and offered attendants a taste of the beautiful recitations and Qasaaid they can expect at the mass moulood. As a prelude to the main mass moulood, a special Barzanji Program was recited on Wednesday evening.

“Mawlid-un-Nabi celebrations revive and invigorate one’s sense of connection with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” said Mawlid SA spokesperson Nabeweya Malick.

This year’s event will once again be partnered by the City of Cape Town.

“We are once again honoured to have our special guests, Sheikh Muhammed Bin Yahya Al Ninowy, Sheikh Ahmed Al Abbassi will be rendering our special Athan, in the style of that in Madina, Sheikh Babkr Al Babkr who hails from Sudan will also be in attendance. These are only but a few of the special guests we will have,” said Malick.

The entire event will be held under flood lights during the evening and life of the Prophet will be celebrated under the evening sky. During the launch, Malick paid homage to the history of moulood in SA. Paying respects to the notable scholars and early Muslims such as Sheikh Yusuf of Macassar, Tuan Guru, Moulana Abdul Aleem Siddiqui, who all carried this tradition of moulood for generations to follow.

“We have discovered that our community simply loves nothing more than to just recite Salawat, recite the Barzanji and everything related to the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh). This year, we will be focusing on these recitations. The naseegha will also be purely based on the life of the Prophet as recorded by Tirmidhi,” Malick explained.

However, Cape Town is not the only city where Muslims will come together for the Islamic tradition. Mawlid SA has branched out to other major cities in South Africa such Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, and Port Elizabeth.
Sheikh Abduragmaan Alexander from Masjidul Quds encouraged all Muslims to observe fast on Monday, 12th December 2014 as the Prophet (pbuh) always observed fast on a Monday, as it was the day he was born.

Last year, the event was held at the Green Point stadium, attracting 25 000 Muslims and was described as “spiritually electrifying”.

This year, Mawlid SA has also launched a new website which features information, pictures and history of the moulood traditions in SA. For more information on upcoming events, visit www.mawlidsa.org. VOC (Ra’eesah Isaacs)