Cape Town - Whoever tried to divide the Simon’s Town community by leaving a butchered pig snout at the door of the Noorul Islam Masjied failed in their “disappointing and disgusting” mission.
This was the message from Fuad Jacobs, a worshipper and member of the Noorul Islam Trust, after a gathering of Muslims and Christians at the Simon’s Town mosque in Thomas Street on Friday.
“Whoever did this tried to evoke hatred and revenge at the same time and confuse the community. They achieved the opposite - they failed, we are united,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said he was happy there had been no revenge attacks on churches and the incident had instead united the two religions in Simon’s Town.
The meeting was aimed at ensuring a strong unity among Muslims and Christians, Imam Abdul-Gakiem Raban told
the Weekend Argus.He said the number of people who showed up had been beyond his expectations. “This has shown we can live in peace and harmony,” he said.
Addressing the attendants at the mosque, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane said it had been a pleasure for him to be at the mosque to show solidarity with congregants of all faiths “that are under attack from the bigoted and narrow-minded people of this world”.
Ndungane said there had been a fanning of attitudes of racism, sexism, bigotry and religious intolerance.
“I believe the attacks on our places of worship are but one illustration of this deeper malaise that is beginning to surface,” he said.
As a religious leader who was a part of an interfaith body, Ndungane said he was happy to have been a part of yesterday’s meeting.
“Religious freedom, like all freedoms, is indivisible,” he said. Ndungane said now was not the time for religious intolerance.
Reverend Bob Commins, speaking on behalf of the Parish Council of St Francis Anglican Church in Simon’s Town and St Andrew’s Glencairn, said the council stood with Muslims “in the face of these symbols and language of hatred”.
“As we enter a future of social media, where it becomes easy for people to vomit their hatred and abuse on others, or suggest enmity and division where there is none, we must stand together with a message: the acceptance of difference, with the offer of goodwill and the hand of peace and fellowship to every person.”Police spokesperson André Traut said there had been no arrests in relation to the mosque attacks. - Additional reporting by Lauren Buckle