Crime
The crime situation has reached such proportions that we now hear people saying things such as “They slashed him on the face. Fortunately, it seems like most of the scar can be repaired through cosmetic surgery”, or “ They hit
him badly. They broke one of his knee caps. He is fortunate that they left the other one”, or “ It could’ve been much worse”, “ Luckily they didn’t rape his wife”, or “ Make shukr that they didn’t kill him.”

Wave after wave. Banks, businesses, government offices, police stations, individuals, places of recreation and even places of worship. The suburb of Laudium has had four armed robberies on individuals in the last week (these are only cases we are aware of, without having gone to the police stations
for records of cases – so it is probably more, and this is only Laudium which
is a small suburb in Pretoria. The cashiers office at the Swartkops motor
racing track was held up on Sunday in the midst of over 10 000 people. A licensing centre was not operational on Monday because it was burgled on Sunday and fingerprints still had to be taken. The Kerk Street Masjid, in the CBD of Johannesburg was held up by armed robbers and worshippers were stripped of watches, cellphones, wallets and personal valuables, while two thugs stood watch at the door.

When and where will it stop?
Communities have become active participants in the ‘fight against crime’.
CPF’s exist in most towns. In many cases there are also community patrols and the culture of passing on information to the police has very fast become the norm. Religious leaders have, even more than normal, insisted on emphasizing the living of a life filled with moral principles. They have also encouraged people to become positively involved in whichever way possible.

In light of the present surge of the scourge of crime, community members
find themselves forced to ask many questions. Among the questions they ask are:
 Can we become the ears of the police if they refuse to listen to us, can we become their eyes if they turn and look the other way?
 Should we help them identify the victims if files keep on going missing?
 With all the restructuring in the police force, why don’t we see any results?
 Why is it that the police keep on saying that there aren’t enough resources, but police are often seen driving their families around or have police vehicles parked outside their homes at night?
 Is the government admits that crime is a really serious problem, why is it
that it doesn’t seem as if they are really serious about crime?
 Does it only hurt when you are hit, and if that is the case, we will wait forever because government ministers remain surrounded by bodyguards, etc?
 What do we have to do, to make government realize that safety and security is a right that many South Africans feel has been violently seized from them?
 How much longer can we convince those amongst us who feel that, as much as we know that it creates lawlessness, maybe vigilantism is the unlawful manner of establishing law and order?

All South Africans are role-players and stakeholders in the success of this beautiful and beloved country. Every one of us has got to come to the party, and there is no purpose and benefit in shifting the blame. The sooner that we all realize this the sooner we can start working together, individuals, communities, business and most importantly government. Whatever it takes, something has to be done, and quick.

China’s African Overtures
The Chinese President, Mr. Hu Jintao, met with the South African President
on his seven-nation tour of Africa. This visit cements China’s growing trade
and political relationship with the African continent.

Mr. Jintao’s visit follows on the Focac conference China hosted in 2006 where a new and very high-profile engagement with Africa was launched. The relationship between South Africa and China has also become important in terms of the non-permanent seat South Africa currently occupies on the UN Security Council. Mr. Mbeki stressed the importance of a new “strategic partnership” between South Africa and China. According to Mr. Mbeki this partnership will assist South Africa when it has to engage with emerging challenges in the international arena.

China’s investment in African infrastructure projects addresses one of the biggest hurdles in the way of development on the continent. No Western nation has invested anything in infrastructure on the continent since decolonization. Will China be a better “big brother” than the West in the long term? Let’s wait and see.


HIV/AIDS
HIV AIDS is a serious problem. It is becoming more and more prevalent in the Muslim community. In light of the serious threat that it poses the lives of all South Africans including Muslims, the Jamiatul Ulama, together with the Islamic Careline (the Jamiatul Ulama, Islamic Careline and the IMA are founder members of MAP – Muslim Aids Awareness Program) are focusing on HIV?AIDs in the Online Newsletter. The Jamiatul Ulama Online Newsletter last week, this week, and the for the next three weeks will carry focused articles on AIDS.

Names in the case histories are not actual names (to protect the identity of the persons), but permission to print the case histories has been obtained from the respective persons.

The Death Trap
F and M are a warm pleasant couple with a sweet little four month old baby named B.

They were both originally from Christian backgrounds but they converted to Islam in 1994 when they saw a video of Ahmed Deedat propagating Islam. F approached M with the idea of converting, and he immediately accepted, neither of them having found any peace and solace in Christianity. Aside from them not being born Muslim, nothing sets them apart from the Muslim community… nothing, that is, except for the fact that both they and their baby are infected with the HIV virus.

F first found out that she was HIV positive when she fell pregnant. She and her husband M had been married for fifteen years and had been attempting to have a baby ever since. Their barren statues was one of their main reasons for coming into the fold of Islam. After several miscarriages, they were ready to call it quits when F fell pregnant last year. Wanting to carry this baby to term, F immediately went for blood tests. The tests confirmed her pregnancy but sadly they also confirmed her to be HIV positive. F was deeply disturbed by the news, not because she feared her own life but because she feared the life of her unborn baby. However, as soon as she told M they both agreed not to abort the child and give up what they viewed as their “miracle baby”, even though the possibility of the infant being born with the HIV virus was great.

M was heartbroken by F’s disclosure of the disease but he acknowledged that the illness was a “trial from Allah”, and had already made up his mind to stand by her. A few months later, M made the courageous decision to have himself tested and was immediately given the same news as his wife. He was HIV positive. Their only hope now was that their baby would not be inflicted with the AIDS virus.

Throughout her pregnancy, F looked after her body with the utmost of care and tried to keep herself healthy. She was given medication from the beginning of her pregnancy in an attempt to save the baby from contracting the virus. At thirty-five weeks the baby stopped growing and an emergency caesarean had to be performed. Both she and M were besotted with the little boy they named B from the time he was born. “Alhamdulillah”, said F after a series of tests were done on the baby, they all proved him to be falsely uninfected with the HIV virus.

When B was two months old, he became dangerously ill. Further tests were conducted on him and it was discovered much to the disappointment of his parents that he was also HIV positive. F had not been breastfeeding him; he had been infected from birth but the virus had only chosen to rear its ugly head now. Looking at B, one would think him to be an ordinary little baby. Only his tiny frame and the persistent oral thrush that ails him give any hint of his illness. M and F felt as if their world was caving in. B is the paradox in their lives – the long awaited child born when they are on the brink of death. The only ray of light in the hopelessness of their situation is their firm faith in Islam and the belief that everything they had endured is a test from Allah.

Since their prognosis, M and F have been to various institutions and support groups seeking help through this difficult period. Their last resort was the Islamic Careline, the only place where they found emotional support and financial aid. The counsellor at the Careline helped them find strength within themselves to continue leading their lives even though death looms large in their faces. The Careline also assisted them with welfare in the form of Zakaat money because neither M nor F are employed. M took the initiative to start a home industry producing bead badges with the AIDS logo. Although they are still struggling to come to terms with the disease, F and M are grateful for the invaluable support of the Islamic Careline.

Their greatest fear with regard to telling other people about their infection is rejection. F’s family was shocked when she told them that she and M were HIV positive. They were not prepared to stand by the couple and their baby and were in no way willing to help them with money. M’s family is still in the dark and have no idea of their being infected. But because both their families are non-Muslim and they maintain minimum contact with them, it doesn’t hurt too much. Even amongst the community they reside in, nobody knows that the family are persons living with AIDS (PLWA). They show no outward signs of having contracted the virus and are afraid that once people come to find out, they will be outcasts in their own society.

There is no cure for HIV and the couple have come to accept that. They are taking each day as it comes. Doctors have offered them the slim chance that B might outgrow the virus by eighteen months with the medication he has been on since birth, but there is no guarantee of that. M and F are much closer to each other these days; they have a stronger bond because they feel as if they are balancing precariously between life and death. Their message to the Muslim community, especially the youth is ‘be aware’. As M so aptly puts it, “We are not looking for a cure, we are looking for prevention.”

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