Cape Town - A Muslim cleric body, the United Ulama Council of South Africa, says it had nothing to do with a statement issued to the media in its name and deriding academic Taj Hargey’s Open Mosque.
“Taj Hargey’s much-trumpeted ‘open church’, falsely dubbed ‘Open Mosque’ fizzled into a damp squib,” read the statement.
Issued on Friday, it carried a Vanderbijlpark address and the website www.uucsa.org.
Council general secretary Maulana Yusuf Patel said on Monday that the statement was fraudulent and misleading.
“The statement, which is purportedly endorsed by several Ulama formations, is another instance of impersonation and misrepresentation. The individual’s penchant for name-stealing and impersonating organisations borders on criminal action.”
The council had not authorised anyone to speak on its behalf and its members had not endorsed the statement.
“Our letterhead has Middelburg and Cape Town addresses, as well the names of founder members at the bottom of the letterhead,” Patel said.
“Our website address is www.uucsa.co.za.”
Cape Times
* IOL has removed the story carrying the statement from our website.