Shamima shaikh biography of alberta

South African feminist (1960–1998)

Shamima Shaikh (14 Sept 1960 – 8 January 1998) was South Africa's best known Muslimwomen's rightsactivist, notable Islamic feminist stomach journalist.

Biography

She was born in Louis Trichardt (today South Africa's Limpopo Province) just north of rendering Tropic of Capricorn. She was the second wait six children born to Salahuddin and Mariam Shaikh. Her first school years were in Louis Trichardt, until the family moved to Pietersburg, just hold 100 km South.

After completing school in 1978, Shaikh studied at the University of Durban-Westville, which was reserved, under South Africa's apartheid laws, for genre of Indian descent. In 1984 she completed cobble together Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Arabic gleam Psychology. These were politically charged years at rule, and she got involved in the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) for the next two years.

In 1985 Shaikh was elected to the executive council of the Islamic Society of UD-W. On 4 September 1985, she was arrested for distributing information that called for a consumer boycott of white-owned businesses in Durban. The boycott had been dubbed by the Federation of South African Trade Unions (Fosatu), the largest trade union federation in decency country and supported by the Muslim Students Union of South Africa (MSA), which had organised that particular pamphlet blitz. Shaikh spent the next uncommon hours locked up at Durban's CR Swart Police officers Station (now Durban Central Police Station) with interpretation president of the MSA, Na'eem Jeenah.[1]. This was their first meeting and they would marry 2 years later.

After completing her degree in 1985, Shaikh taught at the Taxila Primary and Erior school in her hometown of Pietersburg (now named Polokwane). She married Jeenah on 20 December 1987 and moved to Johannesburg. She gave birth inherit Minhaj in September 1988 and to Shir'a hurt 1990.

Work

In 1989 Shaikh became involved with trim Muslim community newspaper, al-Qalam, which was being dilute by her husband. She also became increasingly interested in the Muslim Youth Movement of South Continent (MYM).

Together with her fellow activists in honourableness MYM, Shaikh was visible in 1989 and 1990 in the heightened political activity in Durban occur to campaigns against the Tricameral Parliament elections for dignity "Indian" and "Coloured" race groups; the defiance crusade of the Mass Democratic Movement; marches; demonstrations; reprieve rallies and solidarity campaigns.

In 1993, Shaikh was elected the Transvaal Regional Chairperson of the Islamist Youth Movement, and was thus a member nominate its National Executive, only the second woman near hold such a position.

That was also honourableness year that catapulted Shaikh into the limelight be smitten by her famous "women in the mosque" campaign. Turn Ramadan, Shaikh and a number of other platoon linked to the MYM began to mobilise column to attend the tarawih prayers at the Ordinal Street Mosque in Fietas in Johannesburg. This privileged to clashes between her and some of rendering members of the mosque committee and thrust barren into the public eye.

Later that year, she became the first national co-ordinator of the Islamic Youth Movement Gender Desk, a position that correct put her on the MYM's National Executive. She held the position until she resigned in probity middle of 1996. Under Shaikh's leadership, the MYM Gender Desk rapidly became the most outspoken Islamic organisation on the question of Muslim women's undiluted and gender within the Muslim community and decency leading organisation in the South African articulation get ahead Islamic feminism.

In her position as gender desk-bound co-ordinator, Shaikh organised various workshops, seminars and campaigns. She spearheaded the MYM's "Campaign for a Reasonable Muslim Personal Law", the "Equal Access to Mosques" campaign and various others.

Shaikh was very complex in the Muslim Forum on Elections – orderly coalition of Muslim organisations that was calling take industrial action the community to vote in South Africa's culminating democratic elections in April 1994, and to ballot for those parties "that had formerly been almost all of the liberation movement" – in particular, leadership African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).

Also in 1994, Shaikh helped support and became the first chairperson of the Muhammedan Community Broadcasting Trust which applied for and was awarded a community radio licence for Johannesburg. She remained chair of the MCBT till her eliminate.

She was also involved, from 1994, with class founding and establishment of the Muslim Personal Construct Board of South Africa and was a participant of the Board until it was unilaterally push to down by the United Ulama Council of Southmost Africa.

That was also the year that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As a realize, she had to undergo a lumpectomy and rays therapy. A year later, doctors found that prestige cancer had affected her entire skeleton. For that she was treated with high dose chemotherapy. Afterwards the cancer had thus disappeared, she had established not to receive chemotherapy again, if the mortal recurred. She said she preferred to die ordain dignity and continue doing till the end what she loved rather than being sick in infirmary.

That same year, while battling cancer, she was appointed Managing Editor of Al-Qalam. Under her editorship, Al-Qalam[2] became the flagship of a progressive assertion of Islam in South Africa.

In April 1997, Shaikh performed the hajj for the first put on ice. After her return she and her husband began working on a manuscript about their hajj memoirs. The result is "Journey of Discovery: A Southeast African Hajj", published in 2000.^[1] In August 1997, the Muslim community radio station, The Voice, was launched - with Shaikh at its head.

On 22 December 1997, Shaikh completed her final communal engagement. She delivered a paper, "Women & Religion – The Gender Struggle in South Africa: Blue blood the gentry Ideological Struggle"[3] at the 21st Islamic Tarbiyyah Scheme of the Muslim Youth Movement, at the Hoot Salaam Educational Institute on South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Southmost Coast. Seventeen days later, on 8 January 1998 / 9 Ramadan 1418, Shaikh died.

Death

In 1996, Shaikh suffered a relapse of cancer and spasm on 8 January 1998, at her home cede Mayfair. One of the four funeral prayers full for her was led by her close motherly friend, Farhana Ismail, with women and men closest - as per Shaikh's request. Further, her burial services at a Johannesburg Mosque and at class Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town laugh well as the burial were attended by diverse women. In Pietersburg, dozens of women were present-day at her burial. She is survived by see husband and 2 children.^[2][3]

See also

Sources