Further enhanced on 8 February 2016, based on comments from a reader.
When I first moved to Johannesburg, I remember going to Fordsburg and seeing people raising flags on lightpoles in advance of some form of celebration. My first port of call was to ask my family member as who these dudes were. The answer given was that these are people who form part of the "Green Turban Brigade".
When I first moved to Johannesburg, I remember going to Fordsburg and seeing people raising flags on lightpoles in advance of some form of celebration. My first port of call was to ask my family member as who these dudes were. The answer given was that these are people who form part of the "Green Turban Brigade".
You also see some members of this "Brigade" putting Christmas lights on their houses and cars during Rabi Ul Awwal. Seeing these festive lights was definately a first for me. I cannot recall seeing this ever in Pietermaritzburg and moreso even on cars. Sadly I dont have a picture of this, but it certainly is something worth seeing. Dawaat e Islaam is a Sunni Muslim movement which has its foundations in Pakistan and follow the Barelwi school of thought with Salaami on Fridays. Another feature is that they also seem to have adopted the Tableeg Jamaat system of Ghusht, visiting peoples houses and shops to spread the word of Islam and call people to Mosque. The Mosque exterior does not follow the traditional mosque structure of a minaret and dome and occupies a few floors. When I entered the Mosque, the predominant language I heard was Urdu, a language I do not understand. It is only when you engage people in English, that English is spoken. The absolute majority of the people I engaged with were people from Pakistan and India who are working and residing in the area. Another good point is that since the Mosque is new, one easily notices the fresh paint and new smelling Musallahs. The Mosque interior is extremely simple and is worth a visit to experience something different. I was also informed that many Bayaans and or speeches at the Mosque is in Urdu but an English translation is also provided.