بِسْمِ اللَّهِ
الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
(In
the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)
STATEMENT: RECENT UNREST AT
UNIVERSITIES
Following the recent
protests that have take place at universities across the country, the Union of Muslim Students' Associations (MSA
Union) of South Africa would like
to clarify and reiterate its stance on the decolonisation movement.
MSA Union is
in full support of the continued #FeesMustFall movement, fundraising campaigns by
SRCs and the broader movement towards our institutions of learning becoming
decolonised, African institutions. The fact
that our institutions of higher learning are, after 22 years of democracy, still
plagued by colonial and oppressive structural policies is, to us, an injustice
committed against the people of South Africa. With the Almighty commanding
Muslims towards justice many times in the Holy Quran, we cannot be a neutral
party in these protests, and at the very least, we must speak out against it.
We note
recent calls for peace in light of these protests – and while they might be noble,
we recognise that true peace does not exist until justice has been achieved and
these calls should not mean we stop addressing the serious societal issues in
our universities. Furthermore, calls for peace that are used as a disguise to
silence the voice of black students must be exposed as such and steered away
from. As the MSA, we do not advocate for any violence and destruction of public
property as these acts are not in the best interests of students, but we stress
that the entire movement and principle on which the student protests has been
based cannot be justifiably delegitimised because of them.
May we all find the
strength to fight injustice wherever we come across it, and may Allah SWT grant
justice to the people of South Africa.
“Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct
and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression.
He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.” (Quran 16:90)
Issued by the Union of Muslim Students’
Associations of South Africa
29 February 2016
For more
information, contact:
Nadeem
Mahomed
President
071 891
8722 | union.president@msa.org.za
Aaisha
Dadi Patel
Head of
Politics & South African and International Affairs
071 358
5104 | union.politics@msa.org.za
