Most people live in, and are even comfortable with, an
existence of relative limitation because it is all they know.
When they ?rst start facing the reality of poverty and its
adverse affects, the prospect of having to take action to
better their circumstances may be so frightening that many
prefer to revert back to their old lives. Yet, if they are
encouraged morally and assisted ?nancially to confront
challenges so that they may bene?t from the plausible
rewards associated with education and sustainable
development projects, they will eventually be able to
conduct their lives in a devoted and prosperous way. In fact,
the intention is that they will be inspired to help others to also
emerge from a similar situation of lack and limitation. In
truth, once they've experienced the blessing of passing on
dignity and sincerity allied to poverty alleviation they won't
ever want to go back to living a life of deprivation. The basis
of this thinking is what brought about The Muslim Youth
Movement (MYM) in 1967, motivated by Dr. S.A. Thokan.
The resumption of the Divinely Ordained Pillar of Zakah in
Rustenburg initiated the start of the internationally
renowned charitable organization, the South African
National Zakah Fund (SANZAF), in the early 1970's. The
founding members comprised Dr. S.A. Thokan, Late Rashid
Patel, Rashid Surty, Late Ally Ganie, Habib Khan, Late
Ismail Omarjee, Baboo Kajee, Enver Carrim Noor, Abdool
Carrim Ganie and Farida Carrim Ganie. SANZAF asserted
that the public have a right to demand that Islamic
Institutions operate as ef?ciently as possible; and that
transparency and accountability must form an integral part
of the administration of a public institution. SANZAF has
come a long way since its early days in Rustenburg; today
many established of?ces in major centers in South Africa,
run Muslim Youth Movement programs to help uplift
disadvantaged communities
Facilitating a Digni?ed End to Poverty
At the start of the 21st Century, post-apartheid South Africa is
still struggling to alleviate mass poverty, bring about the
upliftment of neglected rural communities, implement
housing projects for low-income citizens, help fragmented
families re-build their lives and diminish high unemployment
through large-scale job creation programs. SANZAF has
since its inception in the 1970's, including the last 20 years of
the apartheid regime, been active in providing ?nancial aid to
facilitate the upliftment of disadvantaged communities,
selected from all races and denominations. Over the past 40
years, Individuals have been granted the opportunity to
further their tertiary education though study bursaries. Many
of these elected scholars are today prominent leaders in the
country's business and Government sectors. One such
individual, Mabela Matloti Steven was afforded the
opportunity to study at the University of Natal. At the time
Mabela was a youngster completing his mainstream
schooling, residing in a rural area of South Africa; today he
boasts a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of
Johannesburg thanks to SANZAF who invested in his future
more than 20 years ago to graduate from the University of
Natal. While the national economy has shown signi?cant
growth since the country's ?rst successful democratic
election in 1994, it is thanks to private organizations like
SANZAF, instituted by diligent Muslims who in collaboration
with the government address the grave socio-economic
challenges within the country. The ?nancial support
allocated through SANZAF is based on the ideological belief
of caring and sharing as enshrined in the Holy Qur'an and
Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) intervention. Some committed individuals include
founder members and trustees of the South African National
Zakaat Fund: Dr. S.A. Thokan, and Sheikh Faaik
Gamieldieen, as well as a number of devoted individuals
who were initially members of the Muslim Youth Movement,
promulgating the pristine teachings of the Qur'an at a
practical level. Other important members of SANZAF are
Mohamed Iqbal Sabat, Husein Essop Asmal, Abdool Carrim
Moosa Gani, Ebrahim Bardien,
The success of the Muslim Youth Movement is attributed to
their commitment to reaching out to all communities in
South Africa, irrespective of colour, creed, social group,
linguistic group or lineage to further the development and
empowerment of underprivileged individuals and
communities. The bulk of ?nancial support by SANZAF for
the upliftment of non-Muslim disadvantaged communities
comes from the privileged Muslim community. Muslims are
commanded to give a minimum of 2.5% of their total wealth
and assets annually (not just a percentage of their annual
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CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW