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Action, rooted in justice, compassion, integrity and inclusion, is the truest form of da’wah and the most enduring heritage Muslims can offer South Africa.
By NONTOBEKO AISHA MKHWANAZI
EVERY September South Africans turn their attention to heritage. Schools, workplaces and communities host celebrations of food, dress, poetry and dance. It is a moment of colour and pride but also of reflection on the history that shaped us.
For Muslims this September has added depth. Rabi-ul-Awwal, the month in which the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born, coincides with Heritage Month. This year also marks 1500 years since his birth. For many Muslims Rabi-ul-Awwal is marked through Moulood gatherings, recitations, lectures and festivities.
The overlap of these celebrations offers a profound opportunity. It challenges Muslims to rethink heritage not as something preserved in clothing, food, poetry or gatherings alone but as something lived through action. Heritage must be dynamic, transformative and relevant to the challenges of the present.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ grew up in a society steeped in tribal customs, poetry and ritual. He did not dismiss these forms of heritage outright. Instead, he purified and redirected them. The pilgrimage, long part of Arabian culture, was renewed as an act of devotion to one God. Poetry, once used for tribal boasting, became a vehicle for praising God and spreading truth. But his most powerful legacy was not ritual or culture. It was his character. His honesty, compassion and justice drew people to Islam long before formal structures of da’wah were established. His heritage was lived through action. For Muslims in South Africa this is the ultimate lesson: food, clothing and celebrations may express heritage, but action is what gives heritage lasting meaning.
In South Africa Heritage Month celebrations often emphasise the outward symbols of culture. These expressions are meaningful but they cannot be ends in themselves. When heritage is confined to performance it risks becoming shallow. Celebrations without action do not transform society. They do not convey the essence of Islam to those who watch from the outside. For heritage to function as da’wah it must extend beyond the symbolic into lived reality. A fair business deal, kindness to neighbours, honesty in public service or compassion to the poor are the everyday acts that give heritage real weight.
Muslims in South Africa face several challenges in turning heritage into lived action. Inequality and poverty continue to affect sections of the community with stark divides between the privileged and those on the margins. This raises the question of whether heritage can be meaningful if it does not address the realities of hunger, unemployment and exclusion. Islamophobia and misrepresentation remain present, fuelled by global politics but felt locally, often framing Muslims as outsiders rather than integral citizens.
Heritage lived through justice and compassion offers the most effective counter to such misperceptions.
South African history provides clear examples of heritage lived through action. Imam Abdullah Haron, who was killed in detention in September 1969 by the apartheid regime after 123 days in solitary confinement, used his identity as a Muslim scholar to oppose apartheid. He did not restrict his heritage to sermons or rituals. He built bridges with oppressed communities, stood firm against injustice and sacrificed his life in the process.
His heritage was prophetic: standing with the oppressed and challenging tyranny. This is the type of heritage that speaks powerfully to South Africans across divides.
From West Africa, Uthman Dan Fodio offers another model. He inherited a tradition of Islamic scholarship but recognised its decline. Through writing, teaching and leadership he revitalised this heritage and made it serve the needs of his society. He called for justice, empowered women scholars and reformed leadership structures. His heritage was not in the form of festivals or attire but in the transformation of society. He turned inherited values into action, making Islam relevant to the people of his time.
For South African Muslims Dan Fodio’s example is a call to avoid heritage as nostalgia and instead see it as a resource for reform.
The coincidence of Rabi-ul-Awwal and Heritage Month this year is not accidental. It invites South African Muslims to reimagine heritage as action. The Prophet’s 1500-year legacy is best honoured not by reciting it alone but by living it. In our context this means resisting oppression like Imam Haron, reforming society like Uthman Dan Fodio and affirming dignity through inclusive practices.
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As the President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for African Oulema and the Ameer of the Soweto Shura Council, Shaykh Thulani Zaid Langa, reminded participants at the 4th International Conference on Islamic Civilisation in Southern Africa on Saturday September 13 at Kirstenbosch, Cape Town:
‘Given South Africa’s rich multicultural fabric and diverse Muslim community, which includes indigenous African converts, descendants of Malay, Indonesian and Indian heritage as well as recent immigrants, the Banu Arfida phenomenon in Prophet Mohammed’s ﷺ Seerah provides a compelling blueprint. It argues for an internal acceptance of this varied identity, emphasising cohabitation over assimilation and fostering the authentic expression of various cultural traditions within Islamic practice. This prophetic model offers a timeless framework for nurturing inclusivity, establishing mutual respect and bridging understanding between the varied South African Muslim community and the rest of society.’
This is the call of the moment. As Heritage Month and Rabi-ul-Awwal overlap Muslims are challenged to live a Prophetic vision of heritage. Celebrations must not end at the symbolic. They must inspire action. That action, rooted in justice, compassion, integrity and inclusion, is the truest form of da’wah and the most enduring heritage Muslims can offer South Africa.
- This article was first published in the September 19, 2025 print edition of Muslim Views.
