The Jamiatul Ulama South Africa sent a delegation to the 11th Southern Africa Ulama Forum (SAUF) which started on Friday 11 October 2024, at Makeni, Lusaka-Zambia, and ended on Saturday 13 October 2024.

 

The proceedings of the convention included sessions on education, youth and the evolving role of an imam, apart from presentations on leadership, and other contemporary issues such perspectives on mental health and the potential and impact of artificial intelligence.

 

At least 300 participants attended the Saturday evening’s main session, where robust discussions ensued, on the need for ulama to advocate greater political participation and the importance of co-existence with non-Muslims especially when embarking on matters of common interest. On Dawah, delegates discussed the need to institute more strategic methodologies in order to propagate Islam on a continent that is thirsty for Deen.

 

The convention which has been billed as the most engaging and with the best participation yet, in the history of SAUF, was marked by outstanding organisational management on the part of the hosts who offered great hospitality and went to great lengths to make the participants comfortable.

 

The SAUF convention boosted networking among Ulama participants, thereby strengthening ties among scholars who also benefited from the insightful as well as informative presentations and discourses. The quality of the papers presented was impressive, showcasing innovative research whose output sparked lively discussions.

Participants included Ulama and Muslim leaders drawn from the host nation of Zambia, regional countries of Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi and Namibia, and also from as far afield as Sri Lanka and India. It was particularly encouraging to see many indigenous Ulama take part in the proceedings.

 

Delegates held a special session on the genocide in Gaza which has now entered a second year of mass killing of Palestinians and wide-scale destruction. Ulama discussed, aspects of the resistance, solidarity through activism and the International Court of Justice genocide case, as applied for by the Republic of South Africa, against Zionist Israel.

 

The biennial Forum returned to Makeni sixteen years after it was first hosted here. The inaugural SAUF convention took place at Magaliesburg in the year 2000. It was later hosted in Harare, Maputo, Lilongwe, Gaborone, Durban (twice), Johannesburg and Lolamba, in Eswatini. The South Gauteng Branch of JUSA in Lenasia, serves as the Secretariat of SAUF.

 

JUSA expresses gratitude to the hosts of the convention in Zambia and thanks all those who made the event a success, through their material contributions, time, presentations, participation and logistical support.

 

Media Desk
Jamiatul Ulama South Africa

 

10 Rabi al Thani 1446 / 14 Oct 2024