Abdullah Haron

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Abdullah Haron , (born February 8, 1924 in Newlands-Claremont, district of Cape Town ; † September 27, 1969 in Cape Town), also Abdullah Haroun or Imam Haron , was a South African Muslim cleric and activist of the anti-apartheid movement . He died in unexplained detention on the premises of the South African Security Police .

Life

Abdullah Haron grew up in a family who lived in the affluent commercial suburb of Newlands-Claremont of Cape Town. He was the youngest of his siblings. His mother Asa Martin died early and his father Amarien Haron could not look after him. His father's sister took him in and encouraged his development up to his own marriage with Galiema Sadan on March 15, 1950.

As a child, Abdullah Haron attended Talfalah Primary School through 6th grade. For two years he was in Mecca to the Islam to study, where he at Sheikh Abdurahman Alawi al-Maliki received instruction. In Cape Town further studies of Islam followed with Sheikh Abdullah Taha Gamieldien and Sheikh Ismail Ganief. The latter moved Abdullah Haron to take an intensive part in social activities, especially for social tasks among the poor population groups. He was also influenced by the ideas of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Arab-Indian currents of thought.

Abdullah Haron was installed as an imam at the Al-Jamia Mosque in Cape Town (Stegman Road, Claremont ) in 1955 . In this role he promoted discussion groups, adult education courses and discussion groups on Islamic topics. As an imam, he ran his mosque as an “open place”. Together with friends from his religious background, he founded the Claremont Muslim Youth Association - CMYA (Claremont Muslim Youth Association) in 1958 . The monthly magazine The Islamic Mirror , published by her in 1959, reported on the activities. This regional publication initiated the establishment of the Muslim News , in which Abdullah Haron was also involved and even its editor. This magazine covered political, cultural and religious topics from the Cape region, other South African cities and major Arab countries. It was published between 1960 and 1986.

At the beginning of the 1960s, Abdullah Haron initiated discussion groups with the Claremont Muslim Youth Association , for which he invited politically active people from non-Muslim circles. These included the trade unionist Ray Alexander Simons from the Food and Canning Workers' Union (FCWU) , Zacharias Johannes De Beer from the Progressive Party (PP) and Eulalie Stott from Black Sash , a non-violent opposition group of white South African women. Abdullah Haron was also in contact with Albie Sachs , Alex La Guma , Robert Sobukwe and Raymond Hoffenberg, a professor critical of apartheid at the University of Cape Town .

During the late 1950s and 1960s, he took a critical stance on the inhuman character of "racial legislation" in his sermons and lectures. During a Friday sermon in 1960, Abdullah Haron emphasized the concept of human brotherhood in Islam and called on the Muslims in his homeland to support the black population in the plight of apartheid to the best of their ability. At an event on May 7, 1961 in Cape Town, he described the Group Areas Act as “inhuman, barbaric and un-Islamic” and emphasized that the apartheid laws were “a complete negation of the fundamental principles of Islam”, stating: “We can one Do not accept enslavement ”. He also commented: with "... the Suppression of Communism Act , they suppress anti-communists like the Duncans and Luthulis ...". With his commitment he supported the PAC and the ANC without being a member.

In the 1960s, like many people, Abdullah Haron and his family fell victim to the provisions of the Group Areas Act. They had to leave their home in the Cape Town district of Lansdowne and moved out of town to Athlone .

In 1968, Abdullah Haron went abroad. There were several reasons for this trip. He wanted to meet PAC members on neutral ground and prepare for his daughter's studies in London . First, Abdullah Haron went to Saudi Arabia , where he met the Minister of Education Hasan Ali Abdullah. During this time he also had a visit to King Faisal . Abdullah Haron then turned to Cairo , where he spoke to PAC representatives and held a Muslim conference, which was also attended by delegates from the PAC and ANC. After a stopover in the Netherlands at the International University Exchange Fund , he visited London. Before returning to South Africa, he received a warning that the security police were interested in him and that he should emigrate. A dossier of his activities had been built up over many years . For reasons of age, he felt unable to make a fresh start and returned to South Africa.

Arrest and death

On May 28, 1969 (for Mawlid an-Nabi ) he was summoned by the Cape Town Security Police Office in Caledon Square, where he was immediately arrested. This was justified with Section 6 of the so-called Terrorism Act, the Terrorism Act (actually: General Laws Amendment Act, Act No 83/1967 ). He has since been detained for four months without any contact with the outside world. He was denied contact with his family. He is said to have been tortured here and he died during this detention period. United Party MP Catherine Taylor raised the question of the reasons for Abdullah Haron's arrest on June 10 and 13, 1969. The then police minister replied that it was not in the public interest to discuss these reasons.

The unclear circumstances surrounding his death in police custody continued to preoccupy the public and parliament. Representative CD Taylor reported on September 18, 1970 on her findings from her extensive inspection of files and discussions with the chief of the security police of the Western Cape District . With her parliamentary questions of July 21 and 24, 1970 to the Minister of Justice, she shed light on subsequent personnel decisions and the investigative practice of the security police in relation to the investigation into the circumstances of death. At the end of September 1970, the Prosecutor General of the Cape Province declared that there was no basis to continue the investigation into the possible involvement of persons in the death of the detainee.

The circumstances of his death during his detention in a facility run by the security authorities have not yet been clarified. The family suspects a murder. The fall from a staircase was recorded in official documents. His family filed a lawsuit against the police and received financial compensation as a result.

His grave is in the Mowbray Cemetery in the Crawford district of Cape Town, where he was buried on September 29, 1969. 30,000 people attended his funeral. This is said to have been the largest mourning procession in Cape Town to date.

further reading

  • Barney Desai, Cardiff Marney: The killing of the imam . Imam Abdullah Haron Education Trust, 2012, ISBN 9780620550741 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1969 . Johannesburg 1970, p. 70.
  2. ^ SAIRR: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1970 . Johannesburg 1971, pp. 55-56.
  3. ↑ Rebecca Davis: A man of principle: The life and death of Imam Haron . at www.ru.ac.za (English)
  4. ↑ JISC: bibliographic evidence .

further reading

  • Muhammed Haron: The "Muslim News" (1960-1986). Expression of an Islamic Identity in South Africa . In: Louis Brenner (Ed.): Muslim identity and social change in Sub-Saharan Africa . Indiana University Press, Bloomington, etc. 1993, pp. 210-225, ISBN 0-253-31269-8
  • Muhammed Haron: Muslims in South Africa. an annotated bibliography . Cape Town 1997 (South African Library in association with Center for Contemporary Islam, UCT), ISBN 0-86968-119-2
personal data
SURNAME Haron, Abdullah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Imam Haron
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African Imam
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Cape Town
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1969
Place of death Cape Town