Qibla (Arabic: قبلة) is a militant Shi'a and Sunni Islamist political organization and paramilitary group based in South Africa. The radical group was founded by Ahmed Cassiem in 1979. Ahmed Cassiem was incarcerated on Robben Island by the apartheid regime for much of his adult life. The meaning of Qibla comes from the Quran meaning direction. It is in the direction of Mecca that multiple times a day Muslims pray towards.
The group was seeking to remove apartheid along with all of the other organisations which were dedicated to the fight against apartheid. The organisation has members of both Sunni and Shia persuasion. The group was also founded in order to advance Islam in South Africa, and has also been labeled as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department.
Organization
When Qibla was established in 1979 in South Africa, it was during a time of turmoil. The apartheid regime had control of the government and Islam continued to be a suppressed religion. Muslims first came to South Africa in 1658, and most had come as slaves. By the 1970s and 1980s, some Muslims began to act in an effort to establish socio-political justice. Qibla was not the only movement that was formed, along with the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the Muslim Youth Movement (MYM), and the Call of Islam (COI).
The government in South Africa, which associated itself with Iran, disregarded the growth of Islamicist groups in the country. In addition, Al-Qaeda had also taken a stronghold in South Africa. Qibla's leader, Cassiem was also seen as a radical by the United States government. They believed that Qibla was formed in an effort to create an Islamic state based on the Iranian revolution. They thought that Qibla's members were being trained militarily in Libya as well.
Qibla was originally established in an effort to combat the apartheid government and it was a socio-political movement. Qibla also had very strong religious ties and this is how some members became part of it. Cassiem and another individual named Sa’dullah Khan conducted Qur’an classes. They would at first not discuss the movement, but the classes were for individuals to find a deeper meaning in their Islamic religion. Many felt a connection with the analysis of the Qur’an that Cassiem and Khan provided and inspired individuals to want to be directly involved politically and socially. These classes also drew women in as well. Women were inspired to be involved because they felt a need as Muslim women to make a difference in what they believed in because they are often pushed to the side. Women were an important part of the group and are often disregarded for being involved with Islamicist groups. The classes allowed Qibla to establish a significant space that became a ritualistic practice utilized by the group to create unity. This allowed them to use religion as a source of motivation and as deeper meaning for individuals to want to fight for their cause. It brought in individuals who had a religious background and wanted to be a part of a cause they cared about, and Qibla and its leaders further strengthened that religious quality to inspire them. Some members do not see the group as an extremist group.
The significance of the name Qibla is not only because it is the direction of prayer for Muslims, but it is a deeper and religious direction for individuals in the group. A direction to follow to fight for the cause.
The organisation also has two affiliated sister organisations working on charity and education respectively. Mustadhafin Foundation is reported to be the first relief agency to respond in areas affected by a 1990s typhoon in Cape Town. This Qibla-affiliated organisation is currently still offering support and relief services to various disenfranchised communities in South Africa. The other affiliated organisation known as Iqraa Foundation, is an education based agency also working among disenfranchised communities.