Alaa Massri was just 18 years old when she was arrested. It was the summer of 2020. Hundreds of thousands of people across the United States were protesting against the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed while being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. Massri helped organise some of the protests in Miami, Florida. She proudly wore her hijab - as she had for the […]
Our community is beset with a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart of our communal will. This crisis is evident in the erosion of what could be termed as eradication of the social fabric of our society specifically, and the loss of a unity of purpose of our community, generally. This erosion threatens the collective future of our community, and could inadvertently derail […]
By Yaseen Kippie While Muslim women in polygamous marriages are now able to inherit from their deceased spouse with the amendment of the Wills Act, Shehaam Samaai, an attorney and director at the Women’s Legal Centre, says women's vulnerabilities persist due to the lack of a legal framework under the South African constitution to protect their rights after divorce. The case involving the second wife of Osman Harneker, filed at […]
In what has been described an unprecedented move in the history of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), a female representative has been elected as a member of the ulama body’s Executive Committee. The announcement was made following a by-election on April 21, 2018, at the MJC’s Annual General Meeting. Having carved a name for herself within the community on the socioeconomic issues facing Muslim women within the Cape and elsewhere, […]
Muslim and civil rights groups on Tuesday challenged a Quebec ban on officials or anyone receiving public services from covering their faces, arguing it infringes on women's and Muslim religious rights. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the National Council of Canadian Muslims asked the Quebec Superior Court to rule on the constituationality of the law passed last month. They also asked for a stay of its implementation. Marie-Michelle […]
By Yaseen Kippie While South Africans feel the country is in bleak state given the current political upheaval and weak economy, world renowned speaker Yvonne Ridley calls our country a place of optimism, and an example for the Middle East. Ridley is a British journalist, who was captured by the Taliban in 2001, and later converted to Islam. Her study of Islam was a condition for her offer to the Taliban […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
