Fatima Asmal is the founder, co-director and a trustee of the Institute of Learning and Motivation – South Africa (ILM-SA) a Durban-based non-profit organisation, which under the banner of its ILM for Women division, organises the annual Muslimah Today conference for women. The eleventh edition of Muslimah Today will take place on Sunday, the 18 August at the NMJ Islamic Centre. Tickets – at R322 each, including meals and a goodie bag – are available at www.ilmsa.co.za/MT2024. WhatsApp 083 271 4500 for more information.
Fatima – who is a journalist by training – chairs the Muslimah Today conference. She founded ILM-SA in 2006 and is a single mother to a 19-year-old son. She is currently memorising the Qur’an and furthering her studies in the Arabic language, and is passionate about keeping fit through boxing, as well as sharing her perspectives on various matters related to life on her social media platforms.
Weekly Gazette (WG): What does ILM-SA do?
Fatima Asmal (FA): ILM-SA is involved in various activities – we provide bursaries for financially deserving tertiary students, we support six underprivileged madrasahs in various ways and we also provide social welfare assistance for various individuals and families. We also organise educational and motivational events targeting various sectors of the community – in the form of conferences, workshops and seminars – like Muslimah Today.
WG: Muslimah Today is less than two weeks away. How are you feeling?
FA: Nervous and excited at the same time. Nervous because ticket sales are always slow at first but pick up closer to event day, and even though I know this, I get anxious and obsessively visit the ticket sales page to see if we’ve sold more tickets! Excited because Muslimah Today is one of the highlights of my year, every year. It’s simply amazing to connect with my sisters – those well-known to me, and those new to me within the context of a really beautiful and colourful gathering. I simply love dressing up and standing at that podium, cracking lame jokes but also asking serious questions and giving away prizes. I joke that I may be unmarried, but I celebrate a wedding every year in the form of Muslimah Today!
WG: Muslimah Today is in its11th year and still going strong. To what do you attribute its success?
FA: First and foremost to the Almighty – Whose Generosity and Mercy never cease to amaze me. Muslimah Today is a unique concept – I may be biased in saying this but I don’t think that there’s another event in South Africa quite like this one. Usually when you attend an Islamic event, you’ll find that the audience is dominated by one race group or one economic group. From the outset, our intention was to be non-elitist and accessible to all, and we achieve this by making it possible for everyone who wants to attend to attend through our sponsored ticket initiative. Also, we ensure that we include various types of topics in the programme – spiritual topics are always there yes, but so too are stories by every day women about how they have faced the challenges life has thrown their way. So what we end up with is a beautiful gathering of diverse women – diverse in race, culture, age, outlook, economic status – all united by their goal to be inspired and to inspire. Once you attend Muslimah Today for the first time, you’re hooked – because of the inspirational topics yes, but also because of the spirit of sisterhood which prevails at the event.
WG: How has Muslimah Today grown over the years and to what do you credit this?
FA: We started with approximately 60women at a university lecture theatre. Through word of mouth, more and more women began attending and we now host the event at more central venues catering for between 200 to 350 women. We now enjoy an ongoing relationship with various sponsors and media partners which includes Tabloid Newspapers. Muslimah Today is also broadcast nationally on television and the response from viewers is phenomenally positive. I would credit all of this, once again, firstly to the kindness of the Almighty towards us, and thereafter to perseverance on our part as well as the unwavering support of our sponsors who believed in our vision and supported it, and finally to the regular attendees whose feedback and love make it all worth the effort.
WG: What topics will be covered at Muslimah ?
FA: Amina Khatree Jamal who runs a support group for widows and divorcees, and who is involved in various other community projects will be talking about her journey as a widow. I’ve heard her share this before, and it’s truly inspirational. Shaykh Ismail Kamdar an accomplished author and an Islamic scholar will talk about something I personally feel is much-needed – keys to happiness from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Maulana Zakariyya Harnekar, an Islamic scholar from Cape Town, will explore how women are addressed and presented in the Qur’an and this is more than just about Maryam, Peace Be Upon Hher, who is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an. His wife, Ustaadhah Kareema Jassiem, a Qur’anic scholar, will recite verses from the Qur’an and explain them. Our dear former foreign minister Dr Naledi Pandor will reflect on thirty years of democracy in South Africa. And last but not least, we have what promises to be a very dynamic discussion about revert Muslimahs with Julia McMinnie, Nimerah Mohamed and Saleemah Mbandlwa.
WG:Let’s focus on you now – can you tell us what life as a single mother has been like?
FA: I wear many hats but by far the one that’s most treasured to me is being a parent to my soon-to-turn-twenty son, Amr. I have been a single parent to him ever since he was an infant of under a year old, and it has been an exhilarating journey with more ups than downs. I have enjoyed the unwavering support of my parents in raising him throughout (my dad is late as of November 2020), and have regularly enjoyed the support of my extended family members, staff and best friend as well. I have no complaints, and am grateful to my Creator for blessing me with a really strong support system and a child who is spiritually-inclined and goal-driven.
WG:Many of your social media posts are about mental health issues – why is this so?
FA: I was severely clinically depressed for a period of more than three years which only ended towards the end of 2022. I have been through other challenges – including divorce, early stages of cancer and the loss of a parent – in my 48 years on planet Earth but this was by far the most severe trial. I was hospitalised twice, had electro-convulsive therapy, saw a multitude of mental healthcare providers and was on various types of anti-depressants. Thanks to the Almighty I made a full recovery and am not on any medication. I want others to know that there’s hope, that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I want to share how grateful I am to my Creator for curing me. I also want to help remove or at least lessen the stigma attached to mental health illness. This is why I regularly post about this subject.
WG: Faith seems central to your life. Can you tell us more about this?
FA: My faith determines my purpose of existence which is to worship and glorify my Creator. Few things bring me more joy than spending time reciting and attempting to understand the Qur’an which Muslims believe is the Word of the Almighty, and worshipping my Creator in other ways too. I try to link everything that I do to my faith, so for example, I work out regularly and the intention I set for this is that my body is entrusted to me by my Creator and in order to worship Him optimally I need to take care of it. I truly believe that the world will be a happier, brighter place if more of us focused our attention on our Creator.
WG:How can one follow you on social media:
FA: My Instagram handle is @fatima_asmal and I’m also on TikTok @fatima.asmal
