I recently moved out of my mothers house after 23 years of being coddled. Now, where I come from is a small, sometimes backward suburb but we’re surrounded by the greater city of Pretoria.
I didn’t realise how much there is to appreciate about our Pretoria until I moved out: the people, the places, the food. The family. I moved to a smaller town called Middelburg (we refer to it as Middle Earth, because sometimes it really does feel like a strange mystical place of the past). Middelburg. Where I have 2 friends (okay that’s expanded to like 6 now). Where the only Halaal restaurant is an inconsistent Pakistani joint (the food is SO bad). Where the place is a dead town past 2pm on a saturday. And where interracial friendships (let alone relationships) are a thing of astonishment.
Case in point:
Last week, my roommate and I went shopping at Woolworths. When my roommate went to the till to pay I kind of lagged in the background waiting for her. Noticing me hanging about, the cashier turns to my friend and says: “Loop julle saam?” in curiosity. That’s Afrikaans for Are you guys together? We both nodded a casual “yeah” not thinking of it. She, however, paused her cashiering trying to compute this. She was silent for a few seconds, staring between my white roommate and me and then she asks me “Indian Lady?!” in disbelief.
That’s the town I live in. In Pretoria, Gauteng or basically any major city in South Africa, interracial anything is not weird at all (and it shouldn’t be!) but here in the middle (i did, I’m sorry) of SA in small towns scattered through the plains, racial segregation is a subtle ever present condition. I get that races tend to group together towards people who look and act like them. I do it too. But here, it seems socialising with different races is a rare, awkward and abnormal thing.
We were actually shopping to get something for a braai (barbecue) we were invited to. I was one of 2 non-whites and with my headscarf, the obvious non-christian in the room. But the evening was lovely and we had a pretty good time. There were some afrikaans jokes that completely sailed over my head but hey, I survived a night out of my normal zone and its up to me to do it again. Its up to us to break the mould.
One of my favourite verses of the Quran, and the one that has me astonished that racism in Islam exists is Surah Hujaraat (49) Verse 13:
“O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”
“That you may know each other”. Yusuf Ali’s translation emphasises this with “not that you may despise each other”. We were created different to love and learn from each other and it seems we, as people, as muslims, have lost sight of this message. In the current climate of the world it’s so important to remember this verse.
May God (Glory to Him, Most High) guide us all, to love each other not despite our differences but because of it. Ameen
Allāhumma ṣalli ‘alā sayyidinā muḥammadi nin nūri wa ālihī
“O Allah, send salutations upon our Master Muhammad, the Light, and his Family!”
Featured image: http://laurenkim.co.za/corporate/travel-brand-south-africa-rsa/
Muslimah in Training 