Single Muslims Blog

[Cape] Muslim Women in the History of Cape Town Muslim Women in the History of Cape Town Wednesday, 04 August 2010 21:13 Late Dr Achmat Davids The role of women in history and their contribution to nations, societies and communities seems to be a theme greatly neglected in the records of history. True to the gender bias displayed in its morphological structure, the term "history" depicts essentially the story of males. It is "his" stories which are important. Men are the dominant characters and history is essentially a depiction of "his" achievements and "his" contributions. Occasionally some of the "sisters" do become "brothers" and finds a centre place in "his story". For this, their contribution or their sacrifice must be exceptional. Yet without women, would there really have been a "history"? What this essay intends to do, is to pay tribute to the achievements of women, the sacrifices they made and the suffering endured. It wants to show how their "ordinary" contributions helped to create a holistic past. At the same time it wants to show that without women, "history" might not have been possible. It is a fact of Cape Muslim history that the first two mosques in Cape Town was the result of the initiative of women. Saartjie van Kaap in 1809 purchased from her mother, Trijn, two properties in Dorp Street Cape Town for the sum of 3,000 guilders. One of these properties was already used as a mosque by a congregation of which her husband, Achmat of Bengal, was a member. Thirty years later, while compiling her will, she declared that this property shall continue to be used as a mosque for as long as Islam as a religion would be allowed in this colony.THE REMARKABLE SAARTJIE It is the purchase of her properties in Dorp Street, which caused Margret Cairns, a Cape Historian, to hail Saartjie as a remarkable woman. Mrs Cairns writes : "It was a distinctly unusual occurrence at that date for a woman to buy immoveable property during the subsistence of a marriage. As far as is known," she continues, "Saartjie's case is an isolated instance for the period." What is more remarkable Saartjie ignores the impression created in official documents that her properties are those of her husband. It is only in 1841, with the compilation of the will, that she shows her independence of mind, the strength of her character is further amplified. In 1843, after her husband's death, she added a codicil to her will, which almost caused a change of history at the Auwal Mosque.Dissatisfied with the actions of her sons, who became involved in the establishment of the Nurul Islam Mosque in Buitengracht Street, she appointed Ghatieb Abdol Barrie as the person to be responsible for her burial. She went further and appointed him as the successor of her husband as Imam of the mosque. As owner of the property she ignored completely the competency of her sons to succeed their father as the Imam. Mochamad Achmat only became an Imam at the mosque in 1852, after the death of Ghatiep Abdol Barrie. SAMEDA'S INDEPENDENCE A similar independence of mind is displayed by Sameda of the Cape, the wife of the very popular Imam of the Palm Tree Mosque, Jan van Boughies. In 1848, two years after his death, Sameda left his property, this income that Ghatieb Moliat in 1873 brought about the necessary repairs to building and its upper-storey mosque.It was Sameda's will which ensured the continued existence of the Palm Tree Mosque, especially during the period 1860 to 1880 when continued Supreme Court litigations could so easily have led to the sale of the mosque. Some of these litigations resulted from the ownership of her immoveable property, especially the furniture she left behind. JAREAS PROTEST Another remarkable Muslim woman is Jarea of Cape Town. It was her insistence on the rights as a slave owner which caused a major inquiry into the administration of the fire services of Cape Town. Muslim Free Blacks were conscripted into the fire services from 1736 onwards. The conditions under which they had to serve were terrible. When a fire broke out they had to leave whatever they were doing to attend to the fire. Apart from this they were also responsible for the maintenance of the machines. On the second Monday of the month, they had to present themselves for a two hour exercise from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., clean the machines and leave the pipes out to dry, and return in the evening to pack away the equipment. They were not paid for their fire brigade services, but if they were to leave town they needed a pass. To make matters worse, non-attendance at a fire or neglect of equipment was punishable by corporal punishment - "25 lashes" -or imprisonment on "bread and water for 3 to 8 days". Fire brigade duty was the most hated of the regulations imposed on the Cape Muslims. They found it unnecessary and designed to curtail their freedom of movement and to frustrate and oppress them. Ingenious mechanisms were devised in an effort to dodge this service. For almost ninety years the Cape Muslims meekly accepted the injustices imposed upon them through the fire brigade services, never complaining to the authorities of the difficulties it created for their social, religious and economic life. This changed in 1821, when the free woman, Jarea of Cape Town penned a memorial protesting against the forcible conscription of her husband, Absolm of Batavia, into the fire brigade. Jarea's memorial is an interesting one. In it she claimed that she has been warned, that unless she released him for such services, she would be imprisoned. Absolm, she argued was her slave, by whom she was married by Muslim rites. As a slave he could not be conscripted into the fire brigade, a service reserved for free Malays. Her marriage to him does not make him a free man, as Muslim rite marriages were not recognised in the Colony. On inquiring why she does not set him free, she replied that freedom would make him prey for other women. Why must she set him free, merely to lose her husband to another woman. Jarea's memorial was the first letter of protest penned by a Free Black on the conditions under which thev served in the fire brigade. This letter was in 1824 followed by a Saayer of Cape Town. It was these letters which set into motion the appointment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the compulsory services of Malays and Free Blacks in the fire brigade. The findings of this Inquiry, with the evidence of Imam Achmat and Imam Jan of Boughies transformed the fire brigade services in Cape Tlown. WOMEN AND SLAVERY All three women in the case studies above were slaves who had acquired their freedom. The position of women in the Cape slave society was not an easy one. Slave women were double prejudiced against -being woman and being slaves. While our three subjects were lucky to acquire their freedom, the vast majority were not. The mother of the first Imam of Uitenhage, Imam Jan Berdien or Jabaruddin, Eva, died in slavery. The Imam, in 1828, applied to purchase the freedom of his three sisters, Rosina, Rachet and Galati, from the estate of their owner Joseph Peroo. Slavery at the Cape was not as mild as we at times are made to believe. Human beings cannot be subdued in oppression or slavery simply through persuasion. They must be brutalised into subjugation. Cape history is full of incidents of slaves being broken on the wheel with their limbs torn from their bodies; beaten with cat-o-nine tails and impelled through the anus. There is also a case of a slave woman who was tied up in a sack and drowned in Table Bay. Slaves constantly lived in fear of a whipping either by a master or mistress, who would illegally whip them. Alternatively they were sent to the fiscaal's office, there to be punished by Caffers for any misdemeanour. These Caffers, though slaves themselves, did not have an iota of sympathy for their unfortunate brethren. They were even more vicious than the slave masters in their application of punishment of their fellow slaves.Being a female did not ease the burden of slavery. Slave women were under constant threat of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. Their status as slaves implied that their bodies belonged to their master who could use it at his whim or fancy. It was a common practice in Cape Town for slave owners to force their female slaves to have connection with their guests. Slave owners profited through such connection. Should the slave girl become pregnant, her child automatically becomes the property of her owner. Then too, a light complexion slave fetched a good price in Cape Town. Many of these slave girls were reluctant to have such connections, but were forced into the bedroom by their owners. Then too, slave women were forced 'to cohabit' with their masters, whether they wanted to or not. Some of them opted to become run-away slaves; face the severe punishment which such desertion entails, rather than suffer the sexual indignity of "cohabitation". A case in point is that of the run-away, Spas of Cape Town. From a young age she was forced 'to cohabitate' with her master, Cornelius Erigelbrecht. If such "forced cohabitation" is not rape, it is difficult to understand what constituted rape in the master-slave relationship in Cape "Town. The Statutes of India, the laws in terms of which the Cape was governed, clearly place "force cohabitation" in a definition of rape. The indulgence of masters in "unruly passions and their making use of compulsory means in forcing a slave to obey any such commands which are contrary to law and morality," were prohibited. This placaat of the Statutes was never used to bring about a conviction. Not a single case is recorded where a slave master was convicted for raping a slave woman. In the one case recorded, the master's son was absolved from the crime because of the alleged licentious behaviour of the young slave girl. On the other hand, a male slave, charged with rape, was viciously punished, even executed, even though the evidence shows that he was seduced by the white woman.This is clearly illustrated by the beautiful 24 year old white woman, Maria Mouton of Middleburg, who had a love affair with her slave, Titus of Bengal. This love affair resulted in murder. Franz Joost of Lippstadt, Maria's husband was murdered, by Maria and some slave accomplices, on the 31st of January, 1714. Titus was not directly involved in the murder, but as Maria's lover, the court nevertheless sentenced him publicly impelled through the anus until death resulted. It is recorded that while he sat in this deplorable state, "he often joked and scoffingly said that he would never again believe a woman". This case vividly depicts the different degrees of protection given to white women and that of slave women at the Cape of Good Hope. The morality, dignity and sexual vulnerability of white women were at all times protected. The wife of Van Bruel's of Drakenstein was in 1716 "living a very evil life with her slave." For this she was only threatened with excommunication from the Drakenstein church unless she sold her slave. She said she would comply, but her husband was having great difficulty selling her slave lover, would the church be patient? A response, as Robert Shell points out, so reminiscent of St Augustine's human plea: "Let me be chaste, oh Lord .. but not yet." Thus while white women were at all times protected and their shame covered or dismissed, no such protection was afforded slave women. Female slaves at the Cape were not afforded any social protection; while at the same time she was provided with little protection from the law. If slave women suffered sexual abuse and exploitation by their masters, they also suffered physical abuse from their mistresses. The master's abuse of slave women, as we have seen, resulted from the power which the social, legal and political structures vested in him as an owner of human chattel. This sexual abuse in most cases angered the slave mistress. the concern was not the harm inflicted upon the slave woman. It was the humiliation she experienced as the wife, and her inability to stop her husband's infidelity which were her concerns. Very few turned against their husbands. It was the victims of the sexual abuse, the slave women, who had to stiffer the cruelty of this anger and vengeance. This cruelty and vengeance is clearly illustrated in the case of the Stellenbosch mistress who murdered and then disembowelled her slave maid whom she suspected of having being made pregnant by her husband. The details of this case as related by the Cape diarist, Samuel Hudson, is gruesome. Even after the slave maid denied that she was pregnant and that her master had never made any advances to her, she was still beaten. Not satisfied with the beating, the mistress killed her by cramming hot bread down the throat of the unfortunate girl, while she was held down by a strong male slave. So fierce was her jealousy, that after killing the maid, she cut her open to determine if she was pregnant or not. These are some of the cruelties and indignities faced by Muslim slave women in the slave society of the Cape. That the majority of them under such circumstances opted to remain Muslim and continued to be enslaved could be attributed to their steadfastness to Islam.'Tribute need to be paid to this steadfastness, and recognition should be given to the severe and restrictive social and political conditions under which they lived and laboured. In 1831, with the establishment of the slave infant school, it was slave women who refused to send their children to this institution; opting instead to send them to the madaris, which proliferated in the homes of several Imams in Cape Town. They were seeking an alternative education, free from the yoke of Colonialism, for the socialisation of their children. The Muslim schools or madaris, provided that alternative. The conditions of slavery also conditioned them to develop a sense of independence and a sense of liberalism not generally experienced in other Muslim communities at the time. When some of them acquired their freedom and built up some means, they would purchase for themselves husbands whom they reverted to Islam. It was the freed slave woman, Saleja of Macassar, who purchased Jan of Boughies, gave him his freedom and allowed him to play an important role as an Imam in Cape Town. It was the freed slave woman, Rosa of the Cape, who ran a very successful candle making business and contributed considerably to the wealth of her husband, Min Kajamolin. During the second half of the nineteenth century many former slave women could be counted among the Muslim property owners in Cape Town. Rebecca of Cape Town owned several properties in Strand and Vanderleur Streets. Similarly Rasmie of Cape Town owned several properties in Zonnebloem as well as properties in Faure she inherited from her grandfather, Min Kajamolin. In the execution of their wills their independence of mind and their administrative skills are clearly displayed. Women also played important roles in broader community issues. In the male dominated Cape society women organised their own congregational structures within mosques, appointing their own leader, the Motjie Imam, and adopted those responsibilities normally neglected by males. Their role in Cape society and the making of the Cape Muslim community has been wide ranging. In many instances they directed the course of Cape Muslim history. Yes, there were women who threw stones during the first urban black uprising when the authorities, in 1886, tried to close the Tana Baru Cemetery. ! Happy Woman's Day

If our site is looking a bit crazy and confusing, its because we're upgrading it to a world class internet facility. Thank you for your patience. Ramadan mubarak to all. Fatima Barron

When you meet, don't be alone Umar related that Rasulullah said: "Whenever a man is alone with a woman the Shaytan makes a third" (Tirmidhi). Also, Ibn Abbas related that Rasulullah said: "Not one of you should meet a woman alone unless she is accompanied by a relative within the prohibited degrees" (Bukhari, Muslim). Meeting alone, in the hotel room of one or the other potential spouse for example, is forbidden. The two cannot be in a situation where no one else can see or hear them. Instead, a discreet, chaperoned meeting should be set up. The chaperone, while allowing the two to talk, is in the same room, for example. As well, parents or guardians should set a time limit, recommends Winnipeg-based social worker Shahina Siddiqui. A whole day, for example, is too long for this kind of a meeting. When you speak, be businesslike and to the point. The purpose of meeting and talking to each other must also remain within Islamic guidelines. That means no flirtatious speech of a sexual nature on either side. Imam Nur Abdullah says some of the topics discussed can include each other's interests, financial situation of the man, who is Islamically responsible for providing for his wife and children, and the two potential spouses' relationship with their parents. He notes that conversations between potential mates cannot be talking just for the sake of talking. There should be a firm and clear intention of either pursuing engagement and marriage, or, if one of the two or both the man and woman feel they are not compatible, a quick end to the relationship. This ensures both sides are safe from getting hurt more than they could in this kind of a situation and remain within the bounds of Islam, Insha Allah. With regards to questions pertaining to a person's sexual history (for example, has s/he had a boy/girlfriend, does s/he have any type of sexually transmitted diseases), Imam Nur Abdullah says these things have to be investigated at the very beginning, when the communication for marriage begins. This is not something that should be brought up at the last stage. Other topics that should also be discussed at the early stages include level of Islamic knowledge and practice, future career and education plans, home making skills and where the couple will live right after marriage and in the future (state and/or country). The Imam also says the couple can even get a blood test to ensure both are healthy. Some states even require this before marriage. Seeking marriage is something highly recommended in Islam. While looking for a potential mate should be something Muslims help each other with, this cannot be done at the expense of Islamic rules pertaining to modesty and respect between the sexes. Fatima Barron

Get someone to help Marriage is not something to throw yourself into all by yourself. Getting the help of someone, especially parents, relatives, an Imam, and/or respected and trustworthy members of the Muslim community to either look for the right spouse and initiate and participate in a communication process is very important. In fact, even some non-Muslims have come to see this as a more viable way of meeting someone instead of getting involved in the disappointing dating game or picking someone up in a nightclub or bar. Involving others, by the way, does not mean signing over your right to say yes or no to a marriage proposal. It simply increases the likelihood of finding out important information about a prospective partner in a way that maintains rules of Islamic modesty (i.e. not meeting alone, see next point). Getting that third party involved also helps verify if the person you are interested in is decent, honest and respectful. This person(s) often checks out references, asks about the individual's character and behavior, and looks out for your best interest in general. This person should be a trustworthy Muslim, since you are seeking a Muslim in marriage, and would want someone familiar with the Islamic way of doing things. For those blessed with Muslim parents, remember that they are probably your best allies and helpers in seeking the right husband or wife. They have known you all of your life, and have your best interest at heart. However, parents must be open and attentive to what their children are looking for, and never forget the element of choice. Ultimately, it is their son or daughter who is going to make the final decision. They must never become too pushy or aggressive, whether this pressure is being applied on their own son or daughter, or on the person s/he is interested in. If parents, other family members, an Imam or members of the community are not available, you can also try seeking a husband or wife through the matrimonial services offered by a number of different Muslim organizations. Always ask for references This is also where your "third party" comes in handy. Not only will they be able to be your reference. They can also check out a prospective mate's references. A reference can include an Imam who knows the brother who proposed to you, a sister who knows the woman you may want to marry well, a family friend, a boss, a co-worker, and/or business partner. A note about honesty and references: the people you ask may know something not very nice about your prospective spouse. Remind them that if they reveal this information, they would not be backbiting from the Islamic perspective. In fact, in the case of seeking marriage, complete information should be given about an individual, both good and bad. The advice of one of the companions of the Prophet, Umar Ibn al-Khattab can help in this regard:

1. Ask Yourself: Why am I getting married? 'Because all my friends are' is not a legitimate reason.This is a good question to ask even if you are meeting the person to make a final decision because it will be a reminder about the real purpose of marriage from an Islamic perspective. Marriage from an Islamic perspective, is part of faith and it is part of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). As well, "my intention should be I am looking for someone with whom I will build a family",says Imam Muhammad Nur Abdullah of St. Louis, Missouri, a member of the North American Fiqh Council. He has conducted pre-marriage counselling in the U.S.for the last 20 years. Marriage is a commitment and relationship that starts in the Dunya (world) and will continue Insh- Allah in Paradise together," he adds.

How many people know what these words mean in English? If you are still clueless, then it means that you have to respond to an invitation. If you still don’t get it, let the people know whether you are coming or not. The importance of this response is so that the person who is organizing the event needs to know exactly how many people to cater for or for seating arrangements. When the invitation says RSVP, it means that you have to let them know well in advance whether or not you will be attending. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the Face2face on Saturday 5/12/09 due to a poor response and people responding too late. Regrettably I only informed the four people who responded in time of the cacellation. Some people informed me hours before the function, some after the supposed starting time, and the rest simply didn’t bother. The worst were the ones who responded the following day. What part of RSVP don’t people get? In Islam it is necessary that you RSVP. Whether it is a formal affair or just a family and friends gathering. To those people who did let me know in time, I apologize. So now, I have to take time out from my busy schedule to arrange another event during December. I can undersatand that the gujaaj returned from Haj and that many people were busy, but you could have notified me all the same. It is extremely infuriating when one has to wait for people to respond each month. I have come to this conclusion that the majority of members do not wish to attend these monthly events, and therefore the next Face2face will be the last. If members feel they want to continue having these events then I am open to suggestions. Fatima Barron

Blog October 2009 Muslims seeking on wrong website Why are there so many young people looking for someone to love and marry on the Internet? They are found on just about every website. Amongst the most popular are Facebook, Twitter and Gumtree. Recently I have researched two other websites namely Zoosk and Woome. The idea was to find out how many Muslims were registered here. The question is: ‘Why do Muslims seek other Muslims on a non-Muslim website?’ What do they wish to achieve with a website where the membership is mainly non-Muslim? Now it used to be that young people attended weddings in the hope that they find the person of their dreams there. Parents used to broker shamelessly on their children’s behalf in order to see them married to the “right” person with the “right” background and ultimately the next wedding you as a young single muslim attended, would be your own. Thus this very, uncomplicated method of finding a spouse, stayed around for a long time. Some young people were successful in wooing someone on their own at these weddings and similarly their young friends met spouses at their weddings. That was the way it was. Now young people don’t attend weddings as much as they used to, and if they do, it is not with the intention of finding a prospective life partner. They waste hours on Facebook talking about nonsensical issues,their problems and broadcast their private life to rest of the world. One has to wonder about their intellect and and the need to tell all. So why am I on these websites? To advertise and network of course. The problem is that there are very few Muslims on these sites. In order to contact anybody, one has to be a member. That’s exactly what I had to become in order to contact or be contacted by the other members. It had interesting results to say the least. I realized that I needed to get these Muslim members to visit www.singlemuslims.co.za. So I came up with simple but ingenius strategy. It was a big risk that I took but it paid off. After I signed up two members in one week from one of these sites, it became easier. I don’t feel guilty about luring potential muslim members from these sites, because as far as I am concern, I’m doing them a favour by steering them in the right direction. After all, you see a doctor when you’re ill and not a vet. Like I suspected they didn’t find many muslim members to contact. This ultimately led to their contacting non-muslim members which is a complicated and a mostly futile endeavour, as muslim women are not allowed to marry non-muslim men according to the Shariah of Islam. If you still don’t get the gist of this blog, then let me spell it out to you in simple terms: Log on to www.singlemuslims.co.za and get a life. A happy one with the one that was found by us, especially for you.

The worst relationship that you can find yourself in is most definitely an abusive relationship. Only you know how and when it all started. What you probably don’t know is how and when to end it. If you are being physically abused then you should have left or done something about it the first time it happened. Now if you have been in this abusive relationship for a very long time, you probably have become so used to it and you have reached the stage of learned helplessness. At this stage of your life you have decided to give up and do nothing. You don’t even complain anymore. You go with the flow and literally roll with the punches. You even have “good” days. The days when there are no violent outbursts and it’s all quiet on the western front. You even fool yourself in believing that things are changing. In fact all you do now is waiting for things to change. You start to think that this “peace” will last forever. You tell yourself perhaps you don’t have to leave. Because as long as you are left alone and the abuse stops, you can survive the marriage. You wouldn’t have to experience the embarrassment of a divorce. You can show everyone that they were wrong in their assumptions of your unhappiness. You start to make excuses. There are the children. Who is going to take care of them when you leave? Where will you go? You don’t have a job. No, you tell yourself. It’s better if I stay. At least we have a place to stay. The children wouldn’t have to be uprooted. We would have to find a place, a new school. No, it’s just too much effort. Rather the enemy you know. At least he’s supporting us, so it’s not that bad. Until the next violent outburst. You don’t know what you did wrong. You were so careful. The house was clean. You cooked his favourite food, not too much salt. You made quite sure everything was perfect. But you know you’re fooling yourself. The honeymoon phase is over and it’s back to square one. When will it end you ask yourself. Only you can end it of course. The abuser needs someone to abuse. Take away the victim and the abuser becomes powerless. Its time to take back your power. You have to reach deep within you to stand up and assert yourself. You have to use that last bit of energy and make that move. It’s now or never. You realize things are never going to change and this is the moment you have dreaded. Your next move can make or break the situation. You make your decision. You dial that number. Who is on the other side of the line? The Police? Your best friend? A family member? Now that you have taken that step, www.singlemuslims.co.za will provide counseling for you and your children free of charge. You will learn new coping skills; acquire problem-solving skills and get advice on how to get your life back on track again inshallah. Email us at info@singlemuslims.co.za or call 021 7612302/0723106836. Fatima Barron

We have sadly come to the last week of Ramadan. Everyone went into it with a positive mindset. This year it was going to be different. We were going to make more salaah, read more quran, give more charity, be more forgiving, more patient, spend more time with the family and generally get our dunjah and aaghierah affairs in order. If you have accomplished that then you would be entering the next phase a positive being with a good plan for your future inshallah. Maybe some of us have been thinking of finding someone new to share the future with after a failed relationship; or maybe you have decided its time to end your current relationship as it isn’t working anymore. Some of us have never been married and maybe you have decided its time to end this lonely life and find someone to grow old with. Whatever you have decided, you have come to the right place. We at www.singlemuslims.co.za will allay all your fears of starting over or making a new beginning. Some of you are scared to try again. Maybe you’ve been hurt so badly and you don’t think you can go through this again. Some of you have been alone so long that you can’t imagine sharing your personal space with a complete stranger. All this will change when you meet someone through www.singlemuslims.co.za because your life will never be the same again. It is spring and a beautiful time of the year to fall in love. You will feel rejuvenated and glad to be alive. How wonderful to have someone to love and be loved in return. All problems will seem smaller because you have someone to share them with. No more will you have to struggle on alone. The world will be a more beautiful place to live in. You will have someone to come home to; or someone to wait for your return. Your days and nights will be filled with happiness and you will feel secured and safe in the arms of your loved one. You will look forward to the weekend because you won’t be going out alone anymore. If you are ready for all the above then we are ready for the interview. We will set your mind at ease during the interview and you will be able to tell us exactly the kind of person you are looking for to share the rest of your life with. If the person is not on our data base there will be a short waiting period; but we at www.singlemuslims.co.za will do everything in our power to match every member to the best of our ability. So what are you waiting for? Go to the home page, click on registration, and send us your details. We are waiting to make your dream partner come true. Fatima Barron

Dear members
It is with great excitement and exhilaration that I have the pleasure of announcing that the new look singlemuslims.co.za was officially launched today. I hope that all our members will derive the utmost pleasure and optimal satisfaction with our new service.
Unfortunately the Face2Face for end of July was cancelled due to the fact that I had a bout of flu for three weeks and was unable to make any arrangements or to confirm with the members. My new team and I have also been very busy upgrading the new and improved singlemuslims.co.za to optimize accessibility and to attract more single muslims. I am aware that the cold weather makes the members just a tad reluctant to come out and meet other single muslims. Who wants to go out in the cold, rainy weather any way. However, you don't have to be disappointed.
 Instead, I'm inviting all registered members to log on and chat in the comfort of your warm indoors. Each member has been assigned a username and password which will be sent on 31/7/09. All registered members are welcome to chat for free. Should you not receive your username and password on this date, then you should contact us immediately.
In a few weeks it will be Ramadan but that does not mean that everything has to come to a standstill. Our office will be open and consultations will continue. The next Face2Face will be scheduled for after Ramadan and I'm sure by that time the weather would have improved. I hope that event will be well attended and that cupid will shoot its love arrows at many a single muslim present Insha-Allah.
I want to take this opportunity to wish all our single muslims and their families a Ramadan Kareem and Eid Mubarak.

Salaam
Fatima Barron