2. AMARC 3. ANC
1.5 Muslim Media Theory
There are several principles that Muslim mass media must keep in mind in the performance of their entertainment, socialisation and social responsibility roles (Pasha,
1993) Firstly, the Almighty forbids the preaching or practicing of things considered generally obscene, indecent and shameful. This means that Muslim media must avoid becoming instruments of obscenity while they pursue their entertainment and other related objectives and strategies. Secondly, Pasha (1993) makes mention of Muslim community standards: ma^rooj"(good: generally, that which means community standards) must be enjoined or at the least, encouraged, while munkar (bad: generally, that which violates community standards) must be forbidden. The mass media, in performing their entertainment functions, must be mindful of Muslim community standards and of their own obligations in this regard. Pasha (1993: 76) advocates that Muslim mass media as society's primary purveyors of information and entertainment material, and as guardians of its cultural heritage, must play an active role in the preservation and continuation of society's Muslim culture. He maps out the role of Muslim mass media as one of shouldering the responsibility of being society's watchdogs, on the alert to provide information on may oof (that which meets Muslim community standards) and support it and to identify munkar (that which violates Muslim community standards). The mass media must develop, internalise and use appropriate zones of legitimacy - what the media should cover, when and how and what, if anything, they should not cover. Thirdly, Pasha refers to principled co-operation: Muslim thought rejects partisanship based on race, gender, nationality, or class as basically jahili (primitive or pre-civilised) social conduct.
Instead, it requires people to "extend co-operation where virtue and Godliness are concerned and withhold co-operation where sin and aggression are concerned" (Qur'an,
5: 2). The fourth principle identified by Pasha is universal justice: The mass media must be "champions of justice" (Qufan, 4: 135). This imposes upon the media a social responsibility role beyond national and other local or parochial boundaries.
1.5.1 Muslim Media in South Africa
Muslim media, covering radio, magazines, books, newspapers and websites has mushroomed over the last decade in South Africa (Vahed, 2004: 1). Vahed notes that virtually every Islamic organisation, including theological institutes, has set up websites that cover the latest developments in the Islamic world, as well as theological issues.
Many of the websites are interactive, and the Muslim public is free to communicate online for fatwas (religious decrees) or advice.
1.5.1.1 Print media
South African Muslims have been producing their own publications since the early twentieth century and since the 1950s there has been a proliferation of Muslim community print media (Haron, 2001b). Monthly newspapers like Majlis, Al-Jamiat, Al- Rasheed, Muslim Views, Africa Perspectives, Al-Ummah and Al-Qalam, reflect different, and contested shades of opinion among Muslims and factor in the preservation of Muslim identities (Haron, 2001b; Vahed, 2004). Muslim magazines like The Muslim Woman, The Straight Path, An-Nisa and KZN Islam provide alternatives to mainstream magazines and cover issues affecting Muslims. They also project images of the 'ideal' Muslim or the 'ideal' Muslim woman.
The newspapers are differentiated along ideological lines; they are a platform for the various theological schools of thought discussed. Newspapers such as Al-Qalam, which is owned by the Muslim Youth Movement, and Muslim Views reflect a reformist tradition. Al-Qalam and Muslim Views were one of the key channels via which information was constantly flowing (Haron, 2001b). During the apartheid period, they formed an integral part of non-governmental organisations and civil society and fought for the formation of a democratic state alongside the alternative media with similar
objectives (Switzer, 1997; Haron, 2001b). This accolade however cannot be attributed to all Muslim media. Majlis, Al-Jamiat and Al-Rasheed provide a voice for the various strands of the Deobandi schools of thought. These newspapers opted to remain silent against the injustices of the apartheid government lest their reports were viewed as subversive by the apartheid government and its security forces and thus confined their content to non-political issues (Haron, 2001b: 4).
These publications, however, which are community based but controlled by individuals, families and organisations, have not enjoyed the opportunity of reaching mass circulation figures due to financial difficulties (Haron, 2001b: 13). In fact many community newspapers and magazines were established with great enthusiasm only to come to an abrupt halt due to infrastructural and financial constraints. Al-Qalam and Muslim Views - which was known as Muslim News prior to its re-launch in 1986 - are two newspapers that have survived, despite experiencing these challenges. The focus of both newspapers is essentially on issues that affect civil society in South Africa, especially the Muslim community and socio-political issues in the Muslim world or those that impact on Muslim minorities in other countries. In the 1970s and 1980s these two newspapers were popular because they covered anti-apartheid activities and chronicled socio-political and economic issues which deeply affected the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. Al- Qalam's former editors, Faizal Dawjee and Na'eem Jeenah, played a pivotal role in turning their newspaper into one of the most important alternative publications in South Africa in the 1980s, acknowledged so by other media organisations. (Haron, 2001b: 20).
With the advent of political changes in South Africa, these two newspapers along with other civil society structures seemed to have lost their voices of protest. Muhamed Haron (2001b: 20) claims the papers lost the colourful, vibrant touch of the 1970s and 1980s.
The credibility enjoyed by Al-Qalam and Muslim Views however did not extend to the conservative Muslims who happen to be the majority and these publications continue to be faced with the competition from conservative publications. Haron (2001b: 21) says it is the conservative Muslim press such as the above-mentioned Al-Rasheed and Al-Jamiat which are owned by Muslim judicial groups that maintain a strangle hold over the larger
Muslim population who perceive these bodies and their leaders as the guardians of Islam who ward off the challenges waged by the progressives within the Muslim community.
1.5.1.2 Radio
Muslim radio stations have grown from strength to strength. The de-regulation of the airwaves in South Africa in the early 1990s has led to the establishment of Muslim community radio stations such as Radio Islam and The Voice in Gauteng, Voice of the Cape and Radio 786 in Cape Town, in KwaZulu-Natal, Radio Azaania and Radio Al- Ansaar - the focus of this study - and Channel Islam International (CII) which broadcasts via satellite from Gauteng. CII, which started broadcasting in October 2000, is an international station as it is broadcast in over sixty countries across Africa, the UK and Europe. Its aim, and one which applies to a lot of the new Islamic media, is to bring Muslims around the world into the information age, to use the fruits of the twenty first century to provide high quality Islamic content designed to sow the seeds of religious education and growth as tools for upliftment and empowerment (Vahed, 2004: 1). CII is managed by professionals with expertise in information technology, marketing, law and finance, but the overall content is supervised by Islamic scholars. The 'new media' is playing a crucial role in forging identification with Muslims internationally (Vahed, 2004: 1). The live broadcast of the funeral of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin who was murdered by the Israeli government in March 2004, interviews with Muslims subjected to harassment in the West, and other such events are reaffirming a broader Muslim identity across the boundaries of sectarian and national divisions, notes Vahed.
This re-imagining of identity is not neutral: The new Muslim media is controlled by hegemonic groups among Muslims, usually conservative and monied, who are playing a key role in implanting a 'common' perspective consistent with their normative outlook (Vahed, 2004: 1).
Some in the Muslim community have asserted that Muslim community radio stations have rendered Muslim print publications obsolete. To the contrary, despite the competition from these stations as well as extreme financial and administrative
challenges, newspapers have survived. Further to this, since 2000 in fact there has been an increase in the number of community or development newspapers owned by various Muslim non-governmental organisations such as Al-Ummah newspaper owned by the Al- Ansaar foundation and Africa Perspective owned by the Islamic Da" wah Movement.