acknowledgements
3
my faith
...
ISLAM
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“
Whoesoever is not grateful to people is not grateful to Allah
.”
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude in appreciation of the enthusiasm,
sincerity and dedication to Islamic re-awakening of brother Muhammad
Doola without who's support this treatise could not have been accom-
plished. Special thanks to brother Muhammad Amod who provided invalu-
able technical assistance in the production of this work. Their love of Faith
is most heartening and inspirational indeed. May Allah, the Exalted, grant
them all the best of this world and the hereafter.
I would be failing in my duty if I did not display my gratitude to my mentors,
Mawlana
Hasan Docrat a truly outstanding and erudite scholar of Islam,
who very kindly proof-read the work.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to my wife,
Mu'allimah
Naeema Desai
Chothia, without whose assistance, support, encouragement and patience
this work would not have been Possible.
Finally, let me add that if this work stimulates a more assertive and active
interest in Islamic faith and doctrine amongst young Muslims, I will consid-
er the effort to have been amply rewarded.
Mawlana
Feizel Chothia
Mawlana
Feizel Chothia
has devoted his life to the cause of Islam. Born in
Johannesburg, South Africa in 1970 he was educated at the
Madrasah Arabiyah
Islamiyah
(
Dar Al-Ulum
Azaadville) institute of traditional Islamic sciences, one of the
most well known institutions of Islamic learning in South Africa. He studied under the
guidance of the eminent Islamic scholar and
Shaykh ul-Hadith
(Specialist in Prophetic
Tradition),
Mawlana
Fazlur Rahman Azmi and
Mawlana
Hasan Docrat, author of the
popular work on Arabic syntax, ‘A Simplified Arabic Grammar’ and Syllabus Co-ordina-
torof
Madrasah Arabiyah Islamiyah
. He has also acquired a post graduate degree in
Islamic Studies under the guidance of the distinguished academic, Prof. Abdur Rahman
I. Doi. He has specialist training in Islamic jurisprudence, primarily the Hanafi School of
Law, and his approach is rooted in a traditional, normative stance.
Mawlana
Feizel has
traveled widely in the cause of Islam, visiting Arabia, Palestine, South East Asia, Turkey
and England as well as living both in South Africa and Australia where he served as
Imam in numerous
Masjids
and was actively engaged in Islamic propagation, teaching
and administration, and developing curricula and materials for Islamic elementary and
afternoon schools (ie.
Madaris
- primary and secondary Islamic seminaries). Apart
from his formal training and experience, his development as an Islamic scholar within
the Western milieu and his intimacy with Western culture and its institutions has served
him well in assessing and positively engaging the challenges it poses to Muslims and
the Islamic Faith. He currently lives in Perth where he is associated with a number of
innovative projects in the field of Islamic education and literature.
Mu'allimah
Naeema Desai Chothia
is a South African born graduate of
Madrasah
Tarbiyat ul-Banat
, a popular tertiary Islamic institute near Johannesburg. She has, in
the course of her academic endeavors, also acquired a diploma in the Montessori
method of nursery and pre-school education. She has experience in teaching in pri-
mary, secondary and tertiary Islamic seminaries (ie.
Madrasah's
and
Dar ul-'Ulum's
)
and Nursery and Pre-schools, as well as conducting teenage and adult Islamic educa-
tional programs for women and new convert Muslims, both in South Africa and
Australia.
Mu'allimah
Naeema Desai is a qualified Islamic Studies directress with
twelve years of experience as not only a teacher but also as principal of Islamic primary
seminaries. She currently lives in Perth, Australia.
