Author: shamsadmin

By Tina Price-Johnson

Shamima Shaikh was born on 14th September 1960, the second of six children of Salahuddin and Mariam Shaikh. Her family moved from Louis Trichardt (in the Limpopo Province), South Africa to Pietersburg (now called Polokwane), where she graduated from high school. Ms Shaikh then attended the University of Durban-Westville, at that time an institution listed by the apartheid government as reserved for students of Indian ethnicity.

 

Whilst studying Arabic and Psychology at University Ms Shaikh became involved with the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO), a political group which was inspired by the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) which was founded in the 1960s to fight apartheid in South Africa.

In 1985 Ms Shaikh was elected to the executive committee of her university’s Islamic Society. The society supported a call for a general boycott by the Federation of South African Trade Unions through the Muslim Students Association of South Africa group. On 4th September Ms Shaikh was arrested for distributing pamphlets encouraging a boycott of Durban white-owned businesses. Ms Shaikh was held in a cell with the President of the MSA, Na’een Jeenah, and from this time they development a personal relationship. Neither were charged, and in 1987 they married and eventually had two children.

After her graduation in 1985 Ms Shaikh followed a career in education, taking a position as Teacher at Taxila Primary and Secondary School Pietersburg. In 1989 Ms Shaikh joined the Muslim Youth Movement and her activism increased; attending and speaking at numerous rallies and events against apartheid, notably the specific campaigns against the Tricameral Parliament elections for the “Indian” and “Coloured” race groups and the defiance campaign of the Mass Democratic Movement.

In 1993 she was elected MYM Chairperson for the Transvaal region, only the second woman to hold the position. In that year she began the campaign that was to make her famous; “Women in the Mosque”. Ms Shaikh and some other women within MYM encouraged women to attend the tarawih prayers at the 23rd Street Mosque in Fietas in Johannesburg. This led to clashes between her and in particular the male members of the mosque committee and gained much media coverage, the majority negative.

In the same year she became National Coordinator of the MYM Gender Desk, a position she held until 1996. Ms Shaikh organised various workshops, seminars and campaigns through her position with the MYM. She spearheaded the MYM’s “Campaign for a Just Muslim Personal Law”, the “Equal Access to Mosques” campaign and various others. The organisation rapidly became the leading organisation in Islamic Feminism in South Africa. Although apartheid officially ended in 1990, it was not until 1994 elections were held. Ms Shaikh was active in campaigns to encourage voters to opt for parties which had always fought apartheid through the Muslim Forum on Elections.

By 1994 Ms Shaikh had helped found and become the first Chairperson of the Muslim Community Broadcasting Trust, a position she held until her death. She also helped establish the Muslim Personal Law Board of South Africa, which sought to apply Islamic law alongside South African law for Islamic people. The Board proved fraught, with divisions arising within it and clashes with South African law, and it was eventually closed down by the United Ulama Council of South Africa.
An eventful year, 1994 was the year Ms Shaikh was first diagnosed with breast cancer. After 12 months of gruelling and invasive treatments she entered remission, but vowed not to be treated again if cancer came back, stating she preferred to live a life of quality and die with dignity at home. Whilst battling cancer Ms Shaikh became Managing Editor of Al-Qalam, which developed into a beacon of modern Islamic expression throughout South Africa.

In 1996 Ms Shaikh’s cancer came back. In 1997 Ms Shaikh completed a hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) with her husband, as part of her journey through living with cancer. The experience led to a book, Journey of Discovery: A South African Hajj, published in 2000.

In August of 1997 Ms Shaikh was head of the newly-launched Muslim community radio station, The Voice. Ms Shaikh delivered a paper entitled “Women & Islam – The Gender Struggle in South Africa: The Ideological Struggle” at the 21st Islamic Tarbiyyah Programme of the Muslim Youth Movement, at the As Salaam Educational Institute, on 22nd December 1997. This was to be her final public engagement and on 8th January 1998, the 9 Ramadan 1418, Ms Shaikh passed away.

In her husband’s words: “Shamima’s mission in life was to struggle for justice; whether against white racists propping up apartheid or Muslim misogynists who wanted to ‘keep women in their place’.”

 

Sources:

By her husband, filed under Al-Qalam: http://alqalam.co.za/remembering-shamima-shaikh/

http://persephonemagazine.com/2011/07/badass-ladies-of-history-shamima-shaikh/

http://remembered.co.za/shamima-shaikh-7011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamima_Shaikh

http://www.aquila-style.com/focus-points/mightymuslimah/mad-courage-shamima-shaikh/82764/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mmw/2009/06/remembering-shamima-shaikh/

Adapted from the author’s post at: https://www.facebook.com/notes/this-is-what-a-feminist-looks-like/fotw-11-feb-2013-shamima-shaikh/538682936171964

 

* See the author’s blog at http://fromthemindoftinapj.wordpress.com/

• She was South Africa’s best known Muslim women’s rights activist, a notable Islamic feminist and journalist.
• In 1985, she was arrested for distributing pamphlets that called for a consumer boycott of white-owned businesses in Durban. The boycott had been called by the Federation of South African Trade Unions (Fosatu), the largest trade union federation in the country and supported by the Muslim Students Association of South Africa (MSA), which had organised the pamphlets. She spent the next few hours locked up at Durban’s CR Swart Police Station (now Durban Central Police Station).
• She was later involved with a Muslim community newspaper, Al-Qalam which was being edited by her husband, and with the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (MYM). She was appointed Managing Editor of Al-Qalam, while battling cancer. Under her editorship, it became the flagship of a progressive expression of Islam in South Africa.
• She became the first National Co-ordinator of the Muslim Youth Movement Gender Desk, a position that again put her on the MYM’s National Executive. Under her leadership, the MYM Gender Desk rapidly became the most outspoken Muslim organisation on the question of Muslim women’s rights and gender within the Muslim community and the leading organisation in the South African articulation of Islamic feminism.
  She also organised various workshops, seminars and campaigns. She spearheaded the MYM’s “Campaign for a Just Muslim Personal Law”, the “Equal Access to Mosques” campaign and various others.
• She rallied around the Muslim Forum on Elections; a coalition of Muslim organisations that was calling on the community to vote in South Africa’s first democratic elections in April 1994, and to vote for those parties “that had formerly been part of the liberation movement” – in particular, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
• She helped found, and became the first chairperson of the Muslim Community Broadcasting Trust which applied for and was awarded a community radio licence for Johannesburg. She remained chair of the MCBT till her death.
• She was also involved, from 1994, with the founding and establishment of the Muslim Personal Law Board of South Africa and was a member of the Board until it was unilaterally shut down by the United Ulama Council of South Africa.

* Publishedhere, on the website “Women Who Kick Ass: We are all Wonderwomen!“

By Merium Kazmi, Thursday, 23rd October 2014, in Aquila Style

http://www.aquila-style.com/focus-points/mightymuslimah/mad-courage-shamima-shaikh/82764/

How a Muslim woman who fought for gender equality had her sanity questioned in a South African mosque. By Merium Kazmi

Contrary to popular belief, Islamic history is full of stories of extraordinary Muslim women. These women have assumed positions of power and respect by challenging cultural norms of women’s role in society, and contributing to their communities’ wellbeing and development. These range from the heroic contributions of many female members of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) family, to philanthropists like Fatima Al Fihri, who in Fez, Morocco built the University of Qarawiyin, the world’s oldest and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Today, we also have strong leaders, such as Atifete Jahjaga, President of Kosovo and also the world’s youngest female president.

 

It is unfortunate that at times we learn of these brave women only after they have passed away. For many of us, Shamima Shaikh is one such individual. A Muslim from South Africa of Indian descent, Shamima was a journalist and activist who strived to relay the Qur’an’s messages of peace, justice and equality to both a burgeoning community of fellow Muslims and the politically charged atmosphere of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. She became known for the strength and tenacity with which she fought for the rights of women – rights she believed the religion of Islam guaranteed her.

Her activism traces back to her days at the University of Durban-Westville (initially established for South Africans of Indian descent and now called the University of KwaZulu-Natal), where she studied Arabic and psychology. The university was known for its anti-apartheid political rallies which increasingly matched the socio-political direction of the country at the time.

Becoming involved with the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO), a black consciousness political organisation, she protested against an oppressive academic environment. Following her collaboration with AZAPO, she had a brief teaching stint, in addition to meeting and marrying her husband, Na’eem Jeenah, a well-known and respected academic and journalist.

Her indomitable fighting spirit would find a home in an extensive collaboration with the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (MYMSA), an organisation focused on serving the Muslim community through initiatives of education, advocacy, socio-economic development and gender justice. She would assume the role of editor of their Muslim monthly, Al-Qalam, and venture into other opportunities with MYMSA, eventually taking on a greater leadership and decision-making role in the organisation as executive chair. She became the second woman to do so in the history of the organisation.

If this be madness God, give us all the courage to be mad.

– Na’eem Jeenah, husband of Shamima Shaikh

One of the many campaigns that Shamima was involved with under the auspices of the MYMSA was the 1989–1990 series of protests against the South African legislative body (the Tricameral Parliament), who were against any political representation for coloured and Indian racial minorities during apartheid.

She also introduced the Women in the Mosque campaign, and her struggle in this regard would go on to define her work as a women’s rights activist. All of these efforts would culminate in her being appointed the national coordinator of the Gender Desk at MYMSA.

Her Women in the Mosque campaign was an important part of her advocacy work. On praying at the mosque, she said:

It is important for women to be at mosques because they are the most important centres of Islam. Decisions are taken, direction is given. It is where people meet to pray together and it promotes consultation.

The event that would unfortunately label her as “that mad Shaikh woman” took place in 1994 on one of the holiest nights of the year, 27th Ramadan.[i] In the hope of offering tarawih prayers at a Johannesburg mosque, she arrived to find their designated space occupied by male worshippers (as was often the case during crowded gatherings).

Accompanied by a small group of women from the tents set up outside, Shamima made attempts to reclaim their space, drawing rancour from some community members who considered the presence of women unnecessary. Spurred by this event, she would eventually go on to form an “alternative” congregation that respected gender equality and held other progressive Islamic values.

Although it came many years before, Shamima’s stand is similar to the efforts being made by the Inclusive Mosque Initiative in the United Kingdom, which hopes to provide a space for all Muslims – young or old, male or female, straight or gay – to pray side by side.[ii]

As the chairperson of the Muslim Community Broadcasting Trust, she oversaw the establishment of an Islamic radio station, The Voice.[iii] She had learnt of the controversy over the lack of women’s voices on other Islamic radio stations in South Africa and had hoped to correct that by ensuring that voices of Muslims from a variety of backgrounds were heard. She wrote extensively about women in Islam and published a book, Journey of Discovery, with her husband about their experiences performing the Hajj.

As an Islamic feminist, Shamima joins a growing list of individuals who have defied socio-cultural expectations and remained committed to enhancing the status of women in the region. While the struggle to implement gender-equitable programmes and policies continues today, it is heartening that Shamima’s life story continues to inspire women and girls to embark on their own struggles. Such actions spur discussion, debate, understanding and respect, all of which are necessary to accommodate the ever-growing diversity of Muslim voices in our respective communities.

Her struggle to achieve gender equality also paralleled her struggle with cancer, which would eventually take her life during Ramadan in 1998 at the age of 37. Even her departure from this world was testament to her faith in the religion of her birth and its inherent promotion of gender equality: her funeral prayers were read by a close female friend, an act unheard of in the Muslim world. This final farewell served as a perfect denouement to a life well lived.[iv] She was laid to rest in the city of her childhood, Pietersburg, and left behind her husband and two sons – as well as a lasting legacy of tenacity for asserting her God-given rights.

The Shamima Shaikh Commemorative website is a great repository of information for those interested in reading more about her.

All pictures courtesy of Na’eem Jeenah