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The attack on a mosque in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, should not be assumed to be part of sectarian violence.
This was the message from Durban-based Islamic scholar, Shaykh Rafeek Haseen, after three men stormed the Imam Hussain Mosque on Thursday afternoon, stabbing three congregants multiple times.
One of the victims succumbed to his injuries. The Shia mosque was also set alight by the perpetrators who fled in a Hyundai.
But Haseen cautioned against turning this into a sectarian issue.
“It may be a case of money laundering or a personal issue between the perpetrators and the victims. I do not think we should jump to conclusions that this attack is motivated by sectarianism,” Haseen told Voice of the Cape.
The secretary general of Jamiatul Ulama South Africa, Moulana Ebrahim Bham, told Radio Islam that they condemned the attack which “fosters nothing but tension, mistrust and insecurity within communities”.
Bham also warned against the assumption that it was related to sectarian violence.
“So the moment we make examples and we start using the aspect that this has happened in Pakistan and other places, we might be giving an impression that this is necessarily so,” he said.
The Muslim Judicial Council also expressed shock and condemned the “senseless crime”.
“We reiterate and emphasise the core Islamic teaching and principle of ‘respect for all human beings’,” Shaykh Isgaak Taliep, secretary general of the Muslim Judicial Council, said.
Taliep said the MJC “strongly calls on the South African Police Services (SAPS) as well as ALL [sic] other relevant government structures to do the necessary criminal investigations” so that the criminals can can face the full might of the law.
The chairperson of the portfolio committee on police, Francois Beukman also condemned the attacks.
“A mosque is a religious institution, and South Africa’s Constitution guarantees and protects the right to religious practices,” Beukman said.
“This kind of attack on three innocent people is totally unjustified. We want our communities to live in harmony, practising their religions without fear.”
KZN police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that one person had died.
Police are investigating two counts of attempted murder and one of murder.
The motive for the attack was still not known.
