ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 
The Quran states unequivocally: “If you are grateful (to Me), I shall most certainly give you more and more, but if you are ungrateful, verily, My punishment will be severe, indeed”. (14:17)
 
Almighty Allah’s last Messenger (pbuh) is reported to have said –
“He who is not thankful to (his fellow) men, is not thankful to Allah Almighty”.
 
The gift of life, with all that it embraces of the faculties of sight, hearing, intelligence and, most importantly, Imaan, holds many blessings for which we should all be grateful. Likewise, this opportunity to serve Allah by renovating His house of ibadat, and to serve those who make ibadat and receive education, guidance and solace in its precincts daily, is a blessing that should not pass without an expression of gratitude and shukr. But in doing that, we have to acknowledge the sacrifice of others who assisted in the completion of this immense project and who sincerely gave of their precious time and energy in ensuring its success.
 
My late beloved father, Almarhoom Imam Abdul Kariem Kagee, always intoned the following in Urdu when he discussed the requirements of this center. He would say: “This Astaana (institution) is the amanat (trust) of our revered predecessors and remember, serving it is an obligation and a means towards eternal salvation”.
 
We are thankful to Almighty Allah for blessing us with a parent who served this institution till his last hour and instilled in us a passion to continue the service. Our hearts cry out in gratitude to the many personalities who likewise served the institution in the past as well as in the present, and we pray that the future will see many others carry on this often-unacknowledged task.
 
We are fortunate that Almighty Allah gave us the opportunity to witness the centenary celebrations of the founder of this and twelve other centers spread across the vast area of Southern Africa, viz. Shah Guam Muhammad Sufi (ram.) (Sufi Sahib). This great visionary and pioneer, through love, humility, perseverance and sacrifice, made it possible for us to serve those who benefit from the centers he established. And, in this way he gave us an opportunity to serve Almighty Allah.
 
History must still appreciate the greatness of this humble servant of Allah, who had few material possessions, but who, till the very end of his life, faithfully carried the torch of Imam into the darkest corners of Southern Africa.
 
I remember two stories related by my grandmother about this unique personality. One displays his intense love for his fellow beings and the other the length to which he would go to serve Almighty Allah and the Muslim public.
 
She relates that there was one merchant who always abused Sufi Sahib (ram.) and would attack him in public. However, Sufi Sahib (ram.) would reciprocate with only love and affection. He would constantly remind his disciples and children to invite a particular merchant to various Urns functions, which took place at the center. On one occasion a few days before the function, he specifically insisted that his son invite the said merchant. On the former’s return, Sufi Sahib (r.a.) inquired if it was done and what offering (niyaaz) the merchant gave. His son presented him with the old tins of the condensed milk that the merchant had given as an offering. While the others remarked about the age of the tins, Sufi Sahib (r.a.) advised that the tins be kept in a safe place. On the morning that the preparation of food began for the festivities, he requested the tins, opened them with his own hands and poured the contents into the pot in which the Kheer (sweet milk) was prepared. The words on the lips of Sufi Sahib (r.a.) astonished many around him – “O Allah, accept this offering on behalf of Mr. X and make him one inclined to you”. Instead of hate or revenge, words of love and prayer had the desired result. The same merchant was seen at the function and thereafter continuously served the cause of Sufi Sahib (r.a.)
 
The other story concerned the marriage of his daughter to Hafih Ghulam Husain. On this occasion a wealthy non-Muslim merchant gave the bride a box full of gold jewellery. That night when the bride was going home, the father came to bid farewell to his lovely daughter and on seeing the great amount of gold jewellery in her lap inquired from where it had come. Instead the bride’s mother replied: “Rustamji Farsi, the merchant, gave your daughter this on the occasion of her wedding. Looking at his daughter he said to her “Isn’t it beautiful” and she nodded her head in reply. He went further and inquired from his daughter whether it would not be even more beautiful if it were spent in the way of Allah. She nodded in the affirmative, and gave her father permission to sell it and from the proceeds purchase a piece of land on which today still exists a masjid and madressa in Tongaat (Northern Natal). Sacrifice of this magnitude is seldom seen today.
 
This remarkable man and his khalifas are still remembered today for their sacrifice, love, humility and true spirit of service to humanity. One of his khalifas, Maulana Abd al-Latif Qazi (r.a.), erected this particular center in Cape Town from an empty ground and helped transform it into the bustling and active center we see today. Maulana Abd al-Latif Qazi (r.a.) was devoted to the education and welfare of children and orphans, and inculcated in the characters of all those who surrounded him a zealous consciousness of Allah and a desire to serve His people. His example is still remembered by those who were fortunate enough to have seen him. A regular nightly routine before going to sleep was to take the orphaned children to the toilet so that they could sleep comfortably. And in those day that was hard work. Cast your mind back and picture the old Doornhoogte where water had to be pulled out of a well, with no electricity and darkness all around. But this humble servant with a lantern in his hand would go to each orphan individually, take him to the toilet, bring him back to bed and tuck him in. It is through these and other examples that we can understand the injunction of the Quran regarding Yatama and Masakeen.
 
With such illustrious founding fathers, there can be no doubt that these centers will always be special to those who visit and maintain it. The reverence and love, which most people held for these founding fathers, was one of the major reasons why everybody donated so generously towards the renovation and restoration of this complex. To them we say, “Jazakallah Bil Khair” – May Allah reward you with the best in this world and the Hereafter. This goes for every donor, be he a musalli of this masjid or one who lives far away from it. We say shukran to the donors in the Transvaal, Natal, Cape, Botswana, Lesotho and to those from abroad.
 
A personal thanks goes to each and every member of the Mosque Committee – especially those who assisted in the collection of funds, as well as members of the Building Committee who readily gave of their time. The words of our Beloved Prophet (pbuh) serve as sufficient solace: “He who builds a masjid seeking thereby the pleasure of Allah, the Almighty will build for him a house in Paradise”.
 
I would personally like to thank each of the individuals listed below for their generous assistance:
 
BUILDING WORK
1.     Hajji Umar Abrahams and his brother Boeta Husayn for their sacrifice and dedication to the actual construction.
2.     Hazrat Saeed Sufi and Basheer Bhai of Durban for their sacrifice in traveling to Cape Town to complete the dome.
3.     Mr Adam Essa and Mr Sedick Sonday who assisted in the reconstruction of the school’s roof.
4.     Muhammad, the wood-carver, for his beautiful woodwork of the balcony.
5.     Mr Buddy Sydow, the engineer.
6.     Mr Isaac Joshua, the architect.
7.     Boeta Latief Kimmie, for the tiling work.
8.     Hajji Amien Hendricks, the spray painter.
 
COLLECTION OF FUNDS
9.   Messrs. Rafiq Dawood, Anwar Aqoob, and Osman Essa of Pretoria for the sacrifice of their time and energy to assist us in our collection in the Transvaal.
10. Messrs A.S. Dada and family, Ahmed Mustafa and family and Khalid Desai for their assistance in Botswana.
11. Mr Moosa Saleh Mohamed and his son, Hashim, of Lesotho.
12. Mr Ismail Poonjani of Stellenbosch.
13. Members of my family in Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
14. Maulana Abdul Aleen & Hadji E. Khan of Ladysmith.
15. Hadji Sulaiman Essa & family & Hadji Mansoor of Piet Retief.
16. The Farouq Sheikh family of Potgietersrus.
17. The Mohamed Choonara family of Lenasia.
18. The Rafiuddin Sayed family of Potchefstroom.
19. The Majid family of Mayfair, Johannesburg.
20. The A.R. Khan family of Pretoria.
21. Mr H. Mookrey & Mr Makhzankar of Kimberley.
22. Mr Rasheed Tar & family of Pretoria.
23. Mr Wahid Kazi & Hadji Solly Sabir of Springs.
24. The Cassim Moorad family of Durnall, Stanger.
25. The Faizal Sikander Ayoob family of Pretoria.
26. Mr Goolam Abbas, the bookkeeper in Pretoria.
27. Dr Yusuf Bhamjee & family of Johannesburg.
28. The Seedat family of Marlboro.
29. The Shaikh Naak family of Mafikeng.
30. Mr Muzaffar Thokan of Wonder Flooring.
31. Maulana A H Aboojee of Laudium.
32. The Hassan Dawood family of Pretoria.
33. A special thanks to all those who made the publication of this brochure possible, especially Professor Yusuf Da Costa, Sameena Amien & Mrs Maymoena Sayed.
34. Mr. Gangreker of the Wembley Group for his generous placement of photographic material at our disposal and for sponsoring the aerial shot of the complex.
35. All the donors of this brochure.
36. All the schools and madaris who participated in the centenary celebrations.
 
In conclusion, Jazakallah to each and every donor, for it was your financial assistance that made it possible for us to complete the renovation and restoration of the masjid. My prayer is that the masjid and everything around it will fulfill the duties for which it was renovated and resorted; that of education, spiritual upliftment, social welfare and meeting every other need of those who inhabit its environment. (And also of those who do not.)
 
Iqbal, a poet of the sub-continent of India, captures the spirit that the masjid and its environment wants to instill in the lives of every musalli “Let us not only build and restore masajid, but infuse in our hearts the life and adornment the masjid is there to impose. Making us Allah-conscious and the attitude to serve humanity”.
 
I wish to add, that I am, as are the Trustee, Imam A.L. Parker, and other members of the committee, only human. We have made mistakes, erred in our judgment in certain respects. We tried, to the best of our ability, to complete the trust placed on our shoulders. I f we have erred, please forgive us our shortcomings and accept our insignificant effort in seeking His pleasure.
 
Finally, for the general public’s perusal, a provisional Statement of Income and Expenditure on the entire project appears elsewhere in the magazine. A final statement will be published at a later date.
 
MAULANA QUTBODIEN KAGEE

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