Our constitution - the supreme law of our land - is value-based and “lays the foundation for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is protected equally by the law.”
This is our wonderful, aspirational content in our constitution. It embodies in its very essence, the concept of a just and caring society. It requires each and every one of us embrace one another, and to value our cultural differences, rather than to be afraid of them.
Every person deserves to be treated with respect, from the poorest of the poor to the most powerful in our society - this is human dignity!
There can be no greater thing than to restore dignity to a
person who has been denigrated, marginalised and rendered a
nothing.
It is not something that we give to a person because we believe
ourselves generous; it is part of the core of what a person is. The constitution of South Africa reflects the values and principles of Islam.
Our essence as Muslims is respect for religions - ALL religions! Our essence is to promote the interest of others. Our essence is not to be dominant or oppress, but to build communities.
We, as South Africans, have secured the respect of the world for the manner in which we decided that we would undertake a peaceful transition from oppression to an increasingly maturing and robust democracy.
The creativity, the innovation and the determination that we have from this objective have enabled South Africans to begin the process of solving what others regard as intractable problems.
Just imagine for a moment, if Donald Trump were to cast his eyes into this mosque. He would get a huge shock, because we are showing him that which he does not believe in. Look around you. Who is in this room?
We come from many countries of the world. Women are here. We are many races. We speak many different languages.
One of the guiding principles that we draw from our constitution is the recognition that diversity is a national asset, and not a national burden.
Our constitution recognises equality. How do you celebrate equality if you are a woman at home who is physically abused every day?
If you are a young girl in a rural town whose parents say that you cannot go to school, and only the boy children will go to school? When you are a girl child and you are 13, and you are told you must get married to a 50-year-old man?
What do we do about the aspirations of our constitution so that these aspirations are the lived experience of every person in our country?
If I have a business and employ workers but do not pay them the minimum wage, I must know even if I pray regularly, as I should, I am not a good Muslim.
If I oppress my workers, no matter how much of the Qur’an I recite, no matter how many supplications I have memorised, I cannot treat those who are not as well off as I am, who depend on me, and I treat them badly, I am not a good Muslim.
If my daughters are not safe in my home, and yet I am their father, I am to be found at mosque at all prayer times - I may even be the one on whom the Imam relies on for advice, but at home, my daughters and my wife are not safe.
They cower in the corner of the room when I enter.
(Then) I am not a good Muslim!
Women are talking to us, my dear brothers and sisters, every day, and drawing attention to us in this month of “no violence against women and children” to the fact that millions of women in our country do not feel safe in their homes.
So I am putting to you that we have this wonderful framework called the constitution. We have this authoritative spiritual guide that has said to us, follow this path.
And I am asking in practical terms, how do you live your life so that these instruments matter? How do you live your life, so that those who may not have the opportunities, who may not have the guidance, who may not have the support - how might they draw on you in order for their lives to be different?
I believe that the lessons all of us draw from our Prophet Muhammad. He left them for us that each one of us will take on that example.
Imam Abdullah Haron, Dr Abdullah Abdurahmaan, Sheikh Yusuf, and many other leaders. Nelson Mandela, Cissy Gool, Amina Cachalia, Robert Sobukwe strove for a difference.
If we can draw on their example, and it might be in a small way, maybe help someone just vet the contract that they have just been given by their employer to ensure it is written in a proper way, or help a young student who is not quite clued up on how to apply for a bursary or apply to a university, or help your worker who doesn’t yet have housing to get on that housing list, and help them monitor as they go up that list.
Changing the world is a matter of small things, but leaving the world the same is just a matter of neglect.
So as we celebrate today, this wonderful mosque with exquisite design, I ask us to embrace the ideals that lay within our country’s constitution. I believe each of us can do this as we execute our duties. I ask you just to ask yourself, “Am I changing South Africa?
I believe people who are gifted with the mosque of this kind, can do no less than make the world a very good place.