About Us

Madressah Syllabus is sole distributor of Islamic Educational Organisation of Southern Africa, which is committed to the promotion of the Islamic value system, Alhamdulillah a system capable of understanding and facing the ongoing challenges of the modern world.

Almighty Allah says in the Holy Qur’aan in Surah Zumar, Verse 9:

Say: “Are those who know equal to those who do not know? Only They will remember (who are) people of understanding.”

Acting on the above Divine Message, we encourage mankind to use knowledge to seek the pleasure of the Creator by living a life of piety and obedience, doing good and eradicating evil.

ISLAMIC EDUCATIONAL ORGANISATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA MAKING EDUCATIONAL STRIDES IN HELPING TO BUILD TOMORROW’S UMMAH TODAY!

IEOSA is committed to the upliftment of Education, especially amongst the underprivileged, through the teachings, exemplary charachter & life experiences of Prophet Muhammed (S.A)

IEOSA Overview

HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN MUSLIMS

Before we explain the reasons for the establishment of the IEOSA system of Education and our Teacher Education Courses we would like to briefly give you a history of the Muslims and the rise of Islamic education in our country.

History of Muslims in South Africa

Although history has recorded that the first influences of Islam was brought into Southern Africa overland by the Southern migration of Africans through the influences of Arab traders, the current Muslims arrived in two waves by sea from foreign lands in the main.

The first wave of Muslims arrived as slaves of the then dominant Dutch power from the Colonies of Java and Malaysia in 1652.

British and Apartheid Rule

The second wave of Muslims were brought to South Africa by the British Colonial powers from India in 1860. The British who settled in the Eastern Coast of South Africa in the early 1800’s, had conquered the Dutch in the Cape and defeated the mighty Zulu nation, soon recognised the fertile coastal land as ideal grounds for the growing of sugar cane. A cheap source of labour was required to establish the sugar industry. The British brought out indentured labourers from their colony of India to work in the sugar fields. Most of these were Indians of the Hindu religion. Muslim merchants from India soon followed to establish trade in Natal.

This band of Muslims were highly industrious workers and soon established a merchant class. Generally speaking this community were apathetic to politics and concentrated on survival. However, they were most active in the establishments of schools, Madaaris and Masaajid despite all the obstacles of being second class citizens of a colonial power. In terms of the apartheid race classification this group of Muslims were classified as Asiatics.

It is as a result of these two waves in different parts of South Africa, over different times that today there are over 2 million Muslims who represent 2% of the over 40 million people of South Africa. The obnoxious and inhuman scheme of apartheid was introduced and perpetuated over three centuries. Fellow human beings deprived of dignity fell in the sweltering heat of oppression. Harsh repressive measures were taken to subdue the legitimate aspirations of the people through the man made system of apartheid. We lost our languages and thereby our life line to our countries of origin. An educational system with syllabi designed to serve the oppressors was implemented into a compulsory secular education system. The colonial divide and rule system coupled with apartheid was developed into a science by its architects.

In this scheme of things, the government which was vehemently anti‑communist recognised that Islam with its perfect ideology and a proven method of government as established by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) could serve as a bulwark against communism.

Accordingly, and for no other reason, freedom to practice religion was permitted which resulted in Islamic organisations, Madaaris and Masaajid mushrooming all over the country. This further fragmented the Muslim community. Then, when the whole world united in its condemnation and acted in unison against South Africa, the apartheid system began to crumble.

Post 1994 Democratic Election

In 1994 we had our first democratic election and a new South African order has emerged. In this new order, we Muslims are facing a myriad of challenges. We are a numerical minority in need of transfusion and motivation to play a meaningful role in establishing a just society.

A quarter of the World’s Muslim population of 1,2 billion live in Africa. With the fences of apartheid being torn down, the 2 million Muslims need to reach out to the other 300 million Muslim brothers and sisters of Africa ‑ We are of Africa. Africa was privileged to be the first continent to have received the message of Islam from the Arabian peninsula. And Africa was the first continent to give refuge to Islam in its infancy in the 7th century when the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered the first migration to Abyssinia.

Today Islam is the fastest growing religion on this continent.

WHY THE URGENT NEED FOR AN ISLAMIC SYSTEM OF EDUCATION?

In South Africa, we have a vibrant infrastructure which has withstood the heat of apartheid and emerged stronger than before. The structure is more than ready to accept the challenges of a rebirth of a new nation where Islam must not just be another religion but a potent force beneficial to the entire subcontinent. That is the proven characteristic of Islam.

In South Africa, no religious education is offered by the state. The policy of the state, pre and post apartheid is to provide secular education only. Thus the Islamic identity cannot be maintained. In view of this, Muslims had built their own schools in the form of integrated schools which included Islamic education and were subsidised by the State. As a result of the segregationist policies of the Nationalist (White) Party, and the introduction of the Group Areas Act, non-white communities were forced to move to outlying townships and reserves established by the oppressive apartheid regime.

However, despite the setback, Muslim communities began to re-establish Masaajid and Madaaris in these areas giving rise to the formation of hundreds of small societies catering for the needs of the individual communities. Each of these communities followed their own programs, syllabii, etc. In most instances, teachers who were employed were not adequately qualified, the syllabus was not clearly defined and the general educational standards were not adequate. Thus there was a cry from the community leaders to establish a structured madrasah education system which included in-depth Teacher Education and Training.

THE HAJEE AHMED MOHAMED LOCKHAT WAKUFF TRUST

To fulfil the need of a structured Madrasah Education System including Teacher Education & Training the Hajee Ahmed Mahomed Lockhat Wakuff Trust (established by Ahmed Mahomed Lockhat in 1933) set up the Islamic Educational Organisation of Southern Africa in 1985.

Alhamdulillah, since inception the Hajee Ahmed Mahomed Lockhat Wakuff Trust has played a pivotal role in the establishment of many Madaaris and various community based projects for Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

The Cator Manor area near Durban which has today one of the largest informal settlements in South Africa, had in the early 1940’s a very large working class Muslim population. Therefore, in 1942, the Trust built and till today maintains the Lockhat Musjid.

Lockhat Musjid

LOCKHAT MUSJID

In the field of education the government of the time had advised Indians that they were prepared to provide the secular education if Muslims build their own schools. To fulfill this need the Hajee Ahmed Mahomed Lockhat Wakuff Trust was the largest donor to the Anjuman and Orient State Aided Schools and was solely responsible for the Ahmed State Aided School in 1949 in Cato Manor adjoining the Lockhat Masjid. Whilst the state provided the secular education the Hajee Ahmed Mahomed Lockhat Wakuff financed the Islamic Education and other expenses to provide free education for the pupils.

In the 1960’s the Nationalists enforced apartheid by law. This resulted in businesses and communities being uprooted and relocated to under-developed areas allocated by the White regime. This had such a negative effect on the pupil roll at the School, that from a peak of 1600 pupils per year, the roll decreased to just 100 pupils per year.

In the early 1980’s a need arose to establish private Islamic schools. Thus in 1985, the Trust took a bold step by allowing the School premises to be used to set up the first Islamic Private School in the region and the second in the country, viz. Lockhat Islamia College.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We acknowledge the assistance given to us, i.e. Islamic Educational Organisation of Southern Africa(IEOSA), by:- Ustaaz Sheikh Osman Hasnoo; Moulana S.M. Loot; Hafez Yusuf Sufi Paruk; Moulana Abu Bakr Khatib; Moulana M. Abdul Qadir; Moulana A.R. Ansari; Moulana Salot; Sheik M.Y. Booley; Mahmood Dawood; Moulana A.R. Khan; Moulana Mansurul Haq Nazir; Moulana Abdur Razzaq; Moulana Jameel; Moulana Nanabhai (LMA); Moulana F. Bobat; Uzair Amod; Ebrahim Msomi; Abdul Basit Bulbulia; Saaleha Vadachia; Abdullah Mlambo; Omar Mololeki; Riaz Jamal; Sheikh Tayyab Bonamali; Farhad Mohamed, Rubina Ebrahim; Hajra Lockhat, Zubeida Docrat; Easy Computers; Trade Page; Lotus Corp. (South Africa & Middle East); Ahmed & Mukhtar Hajee; Yacoob Patel; Ahmad, Muhammad & Hawa Asmal.

EGYPT – Al-Azhar Ash-Shareef – Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar-Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sayed Thanthawy, Wakeel Al-Azhar – Dr. Fawzy Fadil Az-Zifzaf; Dr. Ali Faraj; Sheikh Abdul Basit Abdus Samad & Family; Sheikh Ahmed Al-Rouzeqi & Family; Al-Hajj Abdel Hamid Lotfi & Family; Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bakri; Sheikh Muhammad Bihayri; Director of Masaajid, Ministry of Awqaf-Sheikh Mansoor Obaid. S.M. Rashaad; Al-Hajj Tolbar Sakr & Family; Ustaaz Abdur Rahim Atiyah.

MOROCCO – Islamic Educational Scientific & Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) – Director General – Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri; Ahmedou Ali Diaw, Alhassane Souare; Dr. M. Zebakh; Ishaaq Ameen.

SAUDI ARABIA – Rabitah Muslim World League – Dr. Abdullah Bin Omar Nasif, Sheikh Adnan Khaleel Basha; Sheikh Amin Aqil Attas, Dr. Hassan Ali al-Ahdal. Islamic Development Bank (IDB)-Dr. Kayed Abdul Haq, Dr. Mohamed Hasan Salem, Dr. Omar Jah, Engineer Ahmed A.M. Awad, Hajj Mohammed Hameddudin. Ministry of Islamic Affairs-Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Ateeq. Ministry of Defence-Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Sheikh Sulaiman A. Al-Qadeeb. Dr. M. I. Seini; Sheikh Sahl El-Matrafie, Hajee Haniff. Saudi Arabian Embassy (South Africa)-The Ambassador, Dr. S. Zaydaan. PAKISTAN – Haji Zakaria Kamdar; Dr M.Afzal. ITALY – Ahmed I. Nasreddin.

KUWAIT – Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs – Khalid Abdullah al-Zayd. International Islamic Charitable Organisation – Ibrahim A. Hassaballa. KENYA – Ibrahim F. Abdullah.

SINGAPORE – Muslim Converts Assoc.- Ahmad Jelani Bin Johari.

MALAYSIA – Islamic Religious Department – Selangor – Al-Haj Mansur bin Ramli, Ustaz Ahmad Zaki bin Arshad, Muhammad Ali Bin Hasan. Dr. Malik Badri, Dr. Omar Hasan Kasule, Sr. Dato H.M. Shah, Khairuddin Shah. TAIWAN – Chinese Muslim Youth Movement-Al-Hajj Ayoub Ishaque Hsiao.. SUDAN – Sheikh Haju Ali. TURKEY – Dr Ali Arslan; Hasan Dhikr; Halil Ertekin; Sait Afsar. ENGLAND – Islamic Foundation – Leicester. NIGERIA – Sister Aisha Lemu.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Sheikh Ismail Husayn & Family, Abu Dhabi; Microsoft (Middle East).

USA – Dr. Ahmed Sakr; Ahmed Ali & Family, Ebrahim and Zubeida Lunat; Basheer Kapdi; Mohammed Kachry; Abed of Bits & Bites; Goolam Jeewa; Dr. Mohammed & Naseema A.A. Khan; Muslim Educational Trust (Portland)- The Clarke Family, Bir, Haseena & Ashiq Narain; Ayoub Ramjan and Wajdi Syed.

THE NEED FOR THE IEOSA SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

During this era, there was also a need for a structured Islamic education system. Many of the apartheid created Muslim suburbs, had informal Madaaris. This gave rise to new problems as the teachers in these informal Madaaris were not formally trained in teaching methodologies.

Alhumdullilah! In addition to this The Hajee Ahmed Mahomed Lockhat Wakuff Trust has assisted with the building of over 20 schools for the indigenous people of our country in conjunction with the leaders of these communities. In 1997 a technical college for the indigenous population in Ndwedwe, the Lockhat Training School was built and the Trust has also assisted with the building of additional classrooms at the Cato Manor Technical College.

IEOSA – The first years …

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DURBAN ISLAMIC EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY (DIES) AND ISLAMIC EDUCATIONAL ORGANISATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (IEOSA)

After surveys were conducted it became clear, that there was a need to establish a structured and formal Islamic education system. In 1985 the Hajee A M Lockhat Wakuff Trust established the then Durban Islamic Education Society, presently now known as the ‘Islamic Educational Organisation of Southern Africa’ in short IEOSA.

The Islamic Educational Organisation of Southern Africa is headed by Qaari Ahmed Yusuff Lockhat, Graduate of Al-Azhar University – Cairo; and is involved in various levels of educational and social upliftment programs.

THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY

From the outset, the Islamic Educational Organisation of Southern Africa identified 4 main problems:-

1. The need for a structured Islamic Education curriculum, student text books.

2. Teacher Training Institution.

3. Monitoring and supervising of Madaaris.

4. Curriculum and Research Centre.

Having accepted this mammoth responsibility of improving the standard of Islamic education and realising the expertise required for making such an operation successful, our Ameer, Qaari Ahmed Lockhat travelled initially in 1985 to many parts of the world and returned with new ideas and information. The Organisation initially employed a few personnel to work on a core curriculum and syllabus and to conduct regular teacher workshops and monitor the few centres affiliated to the Organisation. In this way, we hoped to merge our Islamic education with modern techniques.

On assessing the teachers, we found that some teachers were lacking in certain aspects of the pupils curriculum. In order to overcome this problem, & stemming from the realisation that a successful curriculum model depends largely upon teacher ability, & resourcefulness, our research team proposed the establishment of an intensive Teacher Education Program since no institution was providing this service & no material was available. Alhamdulillah, with the demand for our services increasing and the dire need to establish a structured Teacher Education Course, we employed specialists for each subject and appointed them as Heads of Departments. Each Head was assigned an assistant and together they researched the syllabus for their particular subject and concurrently prepared teacher support material.