UBUNTU DAWAH
current projects completed
PROJECTS
Project One: Kennedy Rd Informal Settlement Dawah Outreach Program One 12 May 2024
Our first program in an informal settlement. Unsure of exactly how to go about organising this, we contacted the relatively large Muslim Malawian community who had their own Jamaat Khana, the land of which was gifted to them by the Shembe Church. We sought their advice on how to go about doing it and they suggested that we have it outside the Jamaat Khana and they will spread the message of the program to the Zulu residents. We supplied them with flyers and posters.
A month later the program took place. Alhamdulillah, there were over a hundred people who attended. First a talk was given in Zulu targeting the non-Muslims by the dynamic Moulana Bilal Islam and then a talk was given in Chiyawo for the Malawian Muslim community by Shaykh Jafar Mogombo The response was positive from both communities with a lot of literature being distributed.
Despite the smooth nature of the program, we were still not completely satisfied with the turnout from the local population, most of whom seemed not to have known about the program. We thus resolved to do things differently and spread the message about future programs ourselves. As a step towards this, we would go every Sunday to Kennedy Road after this program and give Dawah on the street for approximately an hour.
Project two: Rural village number one in the Umzinto area 4th August 2024
During one of our weekly street dawah endeavours in Kennedy Rd, as we discussed how we could get Islam into the local communities, one of our Zulu Daees suggested to us that in addition to informal settlements we also target villages starting with the village he grew up in located in Braemar, an hour and a half from Durban. We agreed and decided to begin preparations for a program for the entire village. This village is one of three under a single chief and each village has its own chief as well. The local councillor also holds some authority. We began by meeting the chiefs of the individual villages and set up a tentative date for the program. On a separate meeting, we met the chief of all three villages to whom we gave gifts and received permission to work in the area. We also met the counsillour and received permission.
With this done, the program was ready to be conducted. Brother Hashim went to stay in the village for two days prior to the program going door to door and calling people. We also gave him money for ingredients as the locals are more comfortable when they cook their own food. On the day of the program, the locals began cooking early in the morning and the excitement for the program was palpable. The program commenced at 10.30am and we had three speakers, the lead speaker being Moulana Bilal Islam. Alhamdulillah, the program continued for 2 hours, and all 120-150 people were glued to the speakers, eagerly receiving the message of Islam.
When the program was over, we received lots of positive feedback. We obviously needed to set up a maktab or teaching institute in the area before we could ask them to convert. The locals also shared their difficulty when it comes to attaining water and we responded that we would try to help. All of the literature we brought was snatched up eagerly by the crowd.
Project 3: Burnwood Rd Informal Settlement program one 15th September 2024
We visited the Burnwood Rd informal settlement, 5 minutes from Kennedy Rd, and spoke to the local Muslim community who had a relatively well maintained Salaah Area that was well attended. The foreigner Muslim community was on board but expressed concern at the fact that this program might turn the locals against them. We thus assured them that the program would not be insulting and that we would seek permission of the committee members. We thus had meetings with those who oversee the activities of the informal settlements and got their approval and desire to assist us.
Since there was no hall, we had ro erect a tent in the backyard of a house who’s owner is Muslim. On the day the committee members went around the informal settlement using a loud hailer and called the people who crowded into and outside the tent. Moulana Bilal spoke for about 45 minutes, delivering the message, and thereafter SANZAF spoke about employment opportunities for ten minutes. The people appeared to really enjoy the
Project 4: Rural village number two in the Braemar area 22nd September 2024
We decided to have our first program in the second village. Since we had already met the chief of the area, we had free rein to get in touch with the chief of the village and set up the meeting. Again, we bought ingredients for the locals who cooked the food. They turned up in their droves and the program was conducted outside a school with a stunning mountain view. We had two speakers, and the crowd reacted positively, even asking for a maktab to be built in the village. The program was no less than one and a half hours in which the full message of Islam was conveyed.
Project 5: Kennedy Rd Informal Settlement program two 29th September 2024
Having learnt a lot about how the informal settlements function after our program at Burnwood Rd, the weekly dawah visits, and becoming acquainted with the committee members, we had much higher hopes for our second program in Kennedy Rd. The informal settlement has its own hall in which the program was conducted. Our program was scheduled to start at 10 but when we arrived, a church group was using it. They finished by 10.30 and many of their members stayed for our program.
This time, because we got the committee involved, they actively called the residents who showed up in large numbers, anywhere between 120 and 150 people. The program itself went well. Moulana Bilal spoke for about 45 minutes, delivering the message of Islam. Afterwards SANZAF presented some employment opportunities to the crowd and finally meals were served.
