The Strangers Tour South Africa

“If you are hanging out with nine idiots, you probably the tenth!” Boona Mohammed's strong message boomed over the speakers, a phrase that stuck with me from the moment I had heard it. When being blessed with the opportunity of interviewing Boona Mohammed I asked him about this specific phrase, apparently his school teacher had said this to him when he complained his friends were all idiots. Glory be to Allah, it is our experiences in life that make us stronger and wiser.   

On the fifth of May, I had been extremely lucky to attend the Strangers Tour South Africa, of which prestigious overseas guests, Baba Ali, Sheikh Navaid Aziz and Boona Mohammed  were the esteemed highlights of the evening. Each one brought with them a message so strong and powerful that indeed it must have touched deep in the hearts of each and every one of us.

The programme commenced with Boona Mohammed and his extremely compelling poetry that echoed strong and emotionally over the sound system and reached deep into the hearts of the audience. His messages were focused on faith, humility and relationships with our Lord, all related in a very unorthodox yet effective manner. It is my wish to have many more inspiring youngsters like Boona Mohammed in this world. 

Boona Mohamed:

"How are you finding South Africa and our South African Muslims?"  : It is my first time in South Africa, Alhamdullilah, I am very impressed, I was very enthusiastic about coming. I think the Muslim community here has a very unique opportunity in the sense that they are in a position of influence within the society. So it always important to, once we gain a perspective, to reflect on how we can use that to please Allah(SWT) and that was part of my goal here today.

Message : Hold steadfast to the deen, and understand that you were placed in the country with a responsibility of reaching out to non Muslims or as we say not yet Muslims, we don’t know who Allah (SWT) will give hidayat too or through who, so it's important to keep an open mind and look at dawah from a practical standpoint. Even as a Muslim working in a non Muslim workplace there’s a lot you can do as a Muslim. And don’t limit your Islamic activities to just coming to Jumuah on Friday. See how you can get involved, see how you can incorporate the seeking of knowledge into your everyday life. Have an open mind and see how you can benefit the Ummah around you and not just think about yourself.

Sheikh Navaid Aziz took the stage, indeed larger than life, his presence was overwhelming, yet his mannerism beats all humility I have yet to see, Praise be to Our Lord. Sheikh Navaid addressed the audience on many issues pertaining to South African Muslims, one question however stuck with me greatly, and that is if you were in paradise right now, what would you be doing? Glory be to Our Lord, can you even imagine what it would be like? Our motivation to be dutiful to our Lord in this world is so much, yet we get caught up in day to day errands and slowly the vision of the hereafter slips by us. It is events like these that are needed as friendly reminders for our true purpose. I must say it was a pleasure to meet a man with so much of knowledge, who possesses so much of humility, something very rare in South Africa.

Navaid Aziz:

How are you finding SA :

 Alhamdulillah, this is my 3^rd time in South Africa and my first time in Pretoria. Each time you learn something new Masha Allah. This time around something that I really appreciated was, Subhanallah,  as modern and civilized as the country is you still find the Muslims quite backwards here. Unfortunately they are really holding onto their cultures and traditional ways, when Islam is much more.

Message : For the people of Pretoria there are two things I would mention. One thing I have noticed amongst the youth is that they have a huge problem in gender interaction, you have one group of people who are extremely cut off from the other gender and that is not from Islam, Islam teaches you to have tarbiya, and teaches you to deal with the opposite gender in the proper way. Then you have the exact opposite extreme, which is completely liberal, there’s no difference between  mahram and a non mahram to them. A way to deal with this is to educate the youth on how to deal with the opposite genders.

The second thing I would mention to South African Muslims is to search for an authentic version of Islam, the Islam that the Prophet (SAW) thought his ummah and that is the type of Islam we should focus on. I find there is too much of a focus here on what the Imaam said and what the Moulana said, and there is no search for actually going back to the Quran or the books of hadith and focus on what he, the Prophet(SAW) himself said and what he had taught the companions.

 Last but not least, famous from his many You Tube videos, Baba Ali graced the stage in a humorous yet enlightening manner. Praise be to our Lord, Baba Ali is indeed a natural comedian, when asking him how he finds South Africa, his response, “I found it on a map,” thus starting the interview with wholesome laughter. Baba Ali addressed the issues of the differences between men and women and how to understand your spouse. Both, watching Baba Ali on stage and interviewing him afterwards, was like watching a YouTube video right in front of me.

 

Baba Ali:

How did you find South Africa: Interesting,  it’s a completely different world than many of the other places I’ve been to. The culture is different, the people are different, different in a good way.

How do you find the Muslims of South Africa: I find that people are very opinionated, you have one extreme on one side, you have another extreme on the other side and the people in the middle, and you have the rich and the poor and people in the middle.

Personal message to our South Africans: For those of you who attended the strangers tour I really enjoyed the audience and hope that you guys enjoyed it as well. 

South Africa indeed needs many more educational events like this. I am sure that each member in the audience would have left with an intention of making some change for the better in their lives. (God Willing) Let this be the start of many more spiritually uplifting, entertaining yet educational programmes for South Africa.