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MUSLIM VIEWS EDITORIAL TEAM
This editorial reflects on major developments at Muslim Views, past milestones and the enduring vision of the publication. Our Editor, Farid Sayed, who celebrated fifty years in journalism in 2025, founded Muslim Views almost four decades ago, in September 1986.
Independent print news media businesses in South Africa entered an irreversible decline after 2007. Muslim Views, however, remained resilient. The company acquired a property in Hood Road, Athlone, and moved offices there in December 2011. Print revenues peaked in the Ramadan editions of 2010, 2011 and 2012, with page counts of eighty, before the industry downturn gradually began affecting the publication.
Yet an astounding 104-page Ramadan edition was published in May 2019, consisting of the standard 64-page newspaper in print, and a 40-page Boorhaanol Islam Movement Taraweeg Survey insert. This milestone was reached as the board and management of Muslim Views intervened to stimulate growth and diversify revenue streams amid upheaval in the media sector. Another initiative was the launch of Salsabeel Travel in July 2019. After a successful tour to Türkiye in September that year, the Covid-19 pandemic abruptly ended the initiative as global tourism and travel collapsed.
As print advertising declined, the board appointed senior writer Mahmood Sanglay as CEO in April 2021 to chart a new course for a successful print-and-digital hybrid business. Within three months, the dormant Muslim Views website was revived. In February 2023, Muslim Views transformed from a proprietary limited company into a registered nonprofit entity named The Compass NPC. Approval from SARS followed, allowing the organisation to issue Section 18A certificates to donors. This enabled us to continue trading while inviting broader public support through donations.
In May 2023, we commenced experimenting with several creative front-page designs and launched a test newsletter. Yet these signs of renewal were also accompanied by painful losses. Muslim Views lost a valued editorial team member, Toyer Nakidien, who passed away in June 2023 after almost twenty-three years of service as subeditor and writer. The team also bid farewell to Yunus Omar, who gradually transitioned over two decades from writing, page layout and managing editor responsibilities into full-time academia at the University of Cape Town. Our regular weekly newsletter was launched in February 2024, and in June that year we completed a major overhaul of the website.
Perhaps the most profound transition came when four directors stepped down in June 2025 after decades of service. We express our gratitude to each of them, particularly Sharief Hassan, who served as Managing Director, and Shabodien Roomanay, who served as Board Chairman. Shaykh Sadullah Khan and Dr Elias Parker similarly provided valued support and guidance during this period.
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We are also pleased to announce that Professor Sindile Amina Ngubane-Mokiwa of Unisa was appointed as a board member of Muslim Views. In addition, management structures were strengthened through the support of a media veteran and the appointment of a new finance manager.
Our current production team is lean and consists of five key personnel, including the CEO and the Editor, who together constitute the editorial team. Rashaad Sallie is responsible for print-edition page layout, website design and maintenance, and newsletter posts. Rasheeda Benjamin and Shireen Saffodien are office staff responsible for accounts and sales respectively.
The Hood Road property was sold in May 2025. This month, after a year as tenants there, Muslim Views relocated its offices to Wembley Centre in Belgravia Road, Athlone in Cape Town.
It is noteworthy that, as Dr Omar observes in the editorial marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of Muslim Views, those who follow noble dreams “often write themselves into the margins of their own histories”. This deficiency is, hopefully, remedied here.
Despite turbulent times, Muslim Views continues to sustain its print edition while expanding its online and newsletter platforms. Above all, we remain committed to independent and ethical journalism, and principled engagement with the issues that matter to society. We still strive to remain true to our decades-old tagline: Breaking News, Shaping Views!
