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The December wedding of former Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool’s Muslim daughter, Tahrir, and her Hindu husband, Sanjay Naran, has been stirring up a hornet’s nest ever since photos of the event appeared on Facebook.
The wedding – attended by Higher Education Minister Naledi Pandor and members of the Muslim Judicial Council – has many in the Islamic community up in arms for allowing Hindu wedding rites to be celebrated alongside Muslim ones.
An irate Muslim community leader, who wishes to remain anonymous, told City Press on Friday that Rasool was a “shirk” [idolator] for allowing the hybrid wedding to go ahead. Rasool, though, has declared his support for the couple and called for South Africa’s Indian community to embrace diversity.
According to Islamic law, Muslims are allowed to marry a person “of the book” such as a Christian or a Jew, but they are not allowed to marry “idol worshippers” such as Hindus unless they convert to the Muslim faith.
The wedding has been the source of furious gossip this week.
“The marriage has absolutely no validity,” said the concerned source, who spoke against Rasool and the judicial council for condoning the union. “According to Shariah law, she is now living in a state of zina [adultery] with the Hindu, and the offspring from such a union will be illegitimate.”
The “unIslamic” practices at the wedding are said to have included Indian dancing and the Hindu “Seven Steps” ritual, or Saptha Padhi, which requires the couple to walk around a holy fire seven times, honouring the fire god Agni.
When City Press contacted Rasool for comment on Friday, he said he was in mosque. He did not respond to our text messages later in the day. However, this week he released a no-nonsense statement about the unholy outcry.
“I did not want to respond based on my first emotions to social media, out of fear that I may spoil the deep honour and joyfulness that marked the marriage of a wonderful and righteous daughter,” wrote Rasool.
“I did not want to create discomfort for those who participated in, and attended, the ceremony of this marriage. Also, I do not want to respond with the defensiveness that will give insult to the family and community of my new son, as if they have no inherent dignity.”
Rasool used the word “fietna” to point to gossip, slander and lies spreading among the Muslim community of Cape Town.
He said that as a public figure, he was “used to those who differ with me politically, intellectually and even theologically. But until now, none of my opponents crossed the line to impugn the honour and integrity of my family.”
He said guests at the wedding “would have witnessed the careful preservation of the maqasid [honour, chastity and faith], the observance of the fundamentals of the nikah [honourable rituals between consenting adults], signing a detailed contract of marriage ... They would also have been witness to the incorporation of urf [Western customs] like the exchanging of rings ... and Malay customs like the singing of Rosa, and Vedic rituals, given the background of the groom,” Rasool said.
This kind of adaptability, he said, had been historically crucial as Islam moved into uncharted territory, applying the fundamentals of the faith but remaining flexible on what people in those new territories were used to.
“It can always be a matter of debate whether things are complementary or not, but the debate must be based on the rational meaning of the traditions. Urf is an act of inclusion and a mark of respect – trademarks of our South African experience, whether in the interfaith services against apartheid or the ethic of our Bill of Rights and Constitution.”
But Muslim critics were not appeased. Said the source: “The consequences of this haraam, baatil [forbidden] function are most severe.”
Rasool was having none of it: “May Allah guide us all through this world where our children will encounter diversity, and give us the wisdom to remain true to our fundamentals, but open to traditions and customs which constitute universal and shared values.”
