This document provides the programme for a conference on extremism. It is divided into three sessions with panels of speakers discussing various topics related to extremism such as ISIS, media coverage of extremism, and perspectives on extremism from religious and civil society organizations. There will be introductory and closing remarks as well as time for questions and answers between the panels. Tea and lunch breaks are scheduled between sessions. Brief biographies of each speaker are also included at the end, outlining their relevant backgrounds and areas of expertise.

1. Programme
08h10 - 08h40: Registration
08h40 - 08h50: Opening Qira’ah and Dua
08h50 - 09h00: Welcome: Shaykh Ighsaan Taliep (Principal, IPSA)
Session One: Chair: Minhaj Jeenah
09h00 – 09h30: The Mainstreaming of Extremism in the West
Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool (World for All Foundation)
09h30- 10h00: Extremism and the Muslim Community
Shaykh Seraj Hendricks (Research Head, IPSA)
10h00 – 10h30: Extremism and National Security
Honourable Minister Fikile Mbalula (Ministry of SA Police) tbc
10h30 – 10h50 Q & A Session - Panel Discussion
10h50 - 11h10: tea break
Session Two: Chair: Dr Zahraa McDonald
11h10 – 11h50: ISIS and Media Coverage in South Africa
Khadija Patel (Editor in Chief, Mail and Guardian)
Karen Jayes (Co-ordinator, CAGE AFRICA)
11h50 -12 h50: Why a Research Agenda Tracking Muslim
Extremism? Moderating Media Hysteria, Identifying Root
Causes & Mitigating the Effects
Dr. A. Rashied Omar (Imam, Claremont Main Road Masjid)
Na`eem Jeenah (Director, AMEC)
Raeesah Cachalia (Institute for Security Studies)

2. 12h50 – 13h15: Q & A session - Panel Discussion
13h15 - 14h15: Lunch Break
Session Three: Chair: Fazlin Fransman
14h15- 14h55: ISIS: Perspectives from the `Ulama'
Dr. Andrea Brigaglia (Acting Head, Religious Studies UCT)
Mawlana Sulaimaan Ravat (Presenter, Radio Islam)
14h55 – 15h15 ISIS: Perspectives from Muslim Organizations`
Prof Ebrahim Arnold (Academic Manager, IPSA)
Advocate AB Mohamed
15h15 - 15h45: Q & A Session – Panel Discussion
15h45 – 16h30: Closing Commentary
Shafiq Morton (Journalist, VOC);
Na’eem Jeenah (Director, AMEC);
Cathlene Dollar (Religious Studies, UCT)

3. Speaker Profiles
Shaykh M Ighsaan Taliep is the Principal of International Peace College South Africa (IPSA),
the first and currently the only registered Islamic tertiary institution offering a SAQA
accredited degree program. Shaykh Ighsaan is also President of the United Ulama Council of
South Africa (UUCSA) since 2014. He served as the 2nd
Deputy President of the Muslim
Judicial Council (MJC) from 2004-2016, and is also part of the working committee for the
formal recognition of Muslim Personal Law with the South African legal system. Previously,
Shaykh Ighsaan held the positions of Deputy Principal at IPSA (2005-2011), IPSA
Administration and Finance (2005-2008) and Academics (2009-2011). He was also the
Principal and a lecturer at Darul Arqam Institute (DAII) 1995-2004. Strongly motivated by
and committed to community development and fostering youth intellectually, Shaykh
Ighsaan’s research areas include Fiqh of Minorities, Interfaith and Muslim Community
Studies.
Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool is a South African activist, politician and diplomat, who served
as the South African Ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2014. Prior to this his
positions have included Member of Parliament in the National Assembly, Special Advisor to
the State President and Premier (governor) of the Western Cape Province. Ambassador Rasool
has a prominent history of involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle starting at High School
and including leadership in the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the African National
Congress (ANC). He has had to make sacrifices like spending time in prison and being under
house arrest. Ambassador Rasool has been involved in both the Islamic Movement (as co-
founder of the SA Call of Islam) and the Interfaith Movement. He has been active in
mobilizing Muslims and the broader faith communities toward a deeper understanding of
Islam and faith under conditions of oppression (under apartheid) and currently under
conditions of globalization. He has built up extensive experience in Government, having led
various Departments like Health, Welfare, Finance and Economic Development. As Premier
of the Western Cape, he was instrumental in attracting foreign investment and making
significant strides towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). For such
contributions to South Africa’s reconstruction and development, Ambassador Rasool has been
the recipient of a number of leadership awards. He is founder of the World for All Foundation
that rethinks the intellectual tools available to Muslims and faith communities, and creates
co-operative relations between faiths, cultures and communities at a global level. During
2015 to 2016, Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at
Georgetown University’s Al Waleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
and now remains a Senior Fellow.

4. Shaykh Seraj Hendricks is a leading scholar of traditional Islam, specialising in Islamic Law.
He also spent a number of years studying at the feet of his illustrious uncle, the late Shaykh
Mahdi Hendricks. Shaykh Seraj was actively engaged in the anti-apartheid struggle in South
Africa during the 80′s and 90s. Some of his previous positions included being the head of the
Muslim Judicial Council’s Fatwa Committee, lecturing at various tertiary institutions and
sharing his insights at numerous conferences. Shaykh Seraj’s primary interests are in Sufism,
Islamic civilization studies, inter-faith matters, gender studies, socio-political issues and
related ideas of pluralism and identity. He also has a specialized interest in the Maqasid al-
Shari’ah (Objectives/Purposes of Islamic Law) and Fiqh al-Aqilliyat (The Fiqh of Minorities).
Shaykh Seraj has been ranked as one of the world’s 500 most influential Muslims
consecutively in 2009 and 2010, in a study undertaken by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies
Centre. He is currently Resident Shaykh at the Azzawia Institute in Cape Town, and has
recently been appointed as Head of IPSA’s research department, Institute for the Study of
Current Islam (ISCI).
Honourable Minister Fikile April Mbalula is the Minister of Police of the Republic of South
Africa. He is also a member of the African National Congress (ANC) National Executive
Committee from December 2009 and a member of Parliament since 6 May 2009. Mr Mbalula
is trained in Leadership Skills by the Careers Research and Information Centre, and as a
Councillor by the Organisation for Appropriate Social Services in South Africa in
psychotherapy. He was an Area member of the United Democratic Front in 1989; Secretary
of the ANC Provisional Youth Committee in 1990; regional Secretary of the African National
Congress Youth League (ANCYL) from 1991 to 1994; provincial Secretary of ANCYL from
1994 to 1996 and Secretary of the ANCYL Political Education from 1996 to 1998. Mr
Mbalula has served as Secretary-General of the ANCYL from 1998 to 2004 and as a President
of the ANCYL from 2004 to 2008. Prior to his appointment as Minister of Sports and
Recreation, he served as Deputy Minister of Police from May 2009 to Oct 2010. Mr Mbalula
served as the Minister of Sport and Recreation of the Republic of South Africa from 1
November 2010 until 25 May 2014.He then became the Minister of Sport and Recreation of
the Republic of South Africa from 26 May 2014 until 30 March 2017.

5. Khadija Patel is the editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian and co-founder of the The Daily
Vox. Khadija pushes words on street corners and was recently recognised as one of 25
individuals who are reshaping influence and engagement in the media. She has been
published internationally by Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Quartz and The Daily Maverick,
among others, and is currently completing her first book. Since 2015, Khadija has been a
research associate with WISER (Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research at the
University of Witwatersrand) and previously published a community magazine that was
distributed internationally. She is also a respected commentator on television and radio, both
locally and internationally.
Karen Jayes has served 12 years as a journalist, writing for the Mail and Guardian, the Cape
Times and various magazines. In 2013 she authored her first novel, For the Mercy of Water,
based loosely on the situation in Palestine regarding water access. The novel won the Sunday
Times Award. As well as working as a lecturer part-time, she is currently also a researcher,
writer and spokesperson with CAGE Africa. CAGE is an international advocacy organisation
which campaigns for a return to the rule of law and negotiation as a means of ending the
War on Terror. CAGE highlights when abuses of justice occur in the name of the War on
Terror, and the organisation speaks out against drone strikes, rendition, torture and
detention-without-trial.
Dr A Rashied Omar earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Cape Town. He
has also completed programmes in Islamic religious education in Cape Town, Sudan, Pakistan
and Malaysia. He is currently a Research Scholar of Islamic Studies and Peacebuilding at the
University of Notre Dame, USA. In addition to being a University-based researcher and
teacher he also puts theory to practice and serves as Imam at the Claremont Main Road
Mosque, trustee of the Institute for the Healing of Memories and is a member of the Interfaith
Council for Ethics Education, Arigatou International (Japan).
Na’eem Jeenah is the Executive Director of the Afro-Middle East Centre, based in South Africa.
Na'eem's publications include Pretending Democracy: Israel, an ethnocratic state. He has an
MA in social sciences from the University of the Witwatersrand, and is reading for a PhD in
Political Studies. His areas of specialization include the Middle East, Political Islam, South
African politics and terrorism.
***Raeesah Cachalia

6. Dr Andrea Brigaglia was born in Palermo (Italy). He has studied at the University of Naples
“L’Orientale”, where he has combined the study of Arabic and Hausa languages with Islamic
and African history. He has obtained a Laurea in Islamic Studies in 2000 and a Doctorate in
African Studies in 2005. In his doctoral thesis, he looks at the history of the discipline of tafsir
(qur’anic exegesis) in Hausa-speaking Northern Nigeria in the twentieth century, exploring
it as a major arena allowing for the interaction of ‘ulama’ (religious scholars) and society,
and for the articulation of intellectual and cultural change. He is currently working on the
translation of his thesis in English for publication, while at the same time trying to develop a
new research interest in some aesthetic and material aspects of West African Islamic religious
culture (in particular, calligraphy and the transition from handwriting to a modern book
market).
Mawlana Sulaimaan Ravat is an executive member of the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa and a
respected Aalim in the South African Muslim community. Mawlana Ravat is a presenter on
Radio Islam International’s morning show and hosts a weekly show on ITV. Mawlana
holds an honours degree in Islamic Studies from the University of Johannesburg and is a
graduate of Darul Uloom Azaadville.
Advocate AB Mohammed SC is one of the first students of the esteemed Sheikh Yusuf Booley.
As prominent law graduate among student leaders, and of eminent Sheikhs, he established
the Muslim Youth Movement in 1970. This was a historic event that resonates to this day
under various national structures engaged in charitable, educational, social, economic and
political activities in collaboration with South African Civic Society as a whole. His tenure
and experience gained over a period of some 50 years beginning as: a student leader in his
university days; Muslim Youth Movement's first National President; the first President of a
national Muslim organisation; the Founding Director of the first shariah compliant Albaraka
Bank; Chairman of the Juma Musjid; prominent participant in the religious, economic,
political and diplomatic fields concerning national and international affairs of Muslims,
combined with his own personal career as an eminent Senior Counsel, and former Acting
Judge of the High Court of South Africa, as well his experience in business and industry,
presented a rare and unique opportunity for his contribution to the welfare of not only the
South African Muslim Community but to Civic Society as a whole.

7. Professor Ebrahim Arnold is the Academic Manager of IPSA, the former Vice-Dean (Academic
Affairs) of the Prince Sultan College for Business (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) and the former Head
of Department of Accounting (University of the Western Cape). He is an ad hoc reviewer for
The South Africa Journal of Accounting Research. He is a Chartered Accountant (SA), and
holds a Master’s Degree in Education (Higher Education Studies) at UWC. He studied the
recitation of the Holy Qur’an under the Late Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ‘Abādī, as well as
various texts of the Late Shaykh Ismā’īl Ḥanīf on ‘Aqīdah, Fiqh, Hadīth, Khuṭṭab, Rātibul
Ḥaddād as well as other texts. He is assistant Imam at Nūrul Islam Masjid, Bokaap and delivers
Khuṭṭab on a regular basis.
Shafiq Morton is an award-winning Cape Town-based photo-journalist, editor, surfer, and
radio and TV presenter with 40 years’ experience. He presents the Drivetime slot at Voice of
the Cape (www.vocfm.co.za) and is also editor of the website www.thecentrestar.com and
presents a weekly Islamic finance show on ITV. From 2009-12 he was voted amongst the
500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Institute in Jordan. He writes
op-eds for the Independent Media Group, is a contributor to the Palestine Chronicle and
writes for local papers Al-Qalam and Muslim Views. He is the author of three books,
Notebooks from Makkah and Madinah (a pilgrim’s travelogue, Surfing behind the Wall, My
Palestinian Journey and Imtiaz Sooliman and the Gift of the Givers, A Mercy to All. He has
also edited several books including the translation of the famous Meccan personality, Shaykh
Sayyid Muhammad al-Maliki’s work Manhaj us-Salaf (The Way of The True Salaf), which is
an eloquent and scholarly debunking of Islamic extremism. His blog is:
www.surfingbehindthewall.blogspot.com
Cathleen Dollar is a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University
of Cape Town. She is researching the impact of the trans-national Tijaniyya Sufi movement
on the secular-nationalist politics of republican Turkey

8. Chairs:
Minhaj Jeenah is currently the Chairperson of the Muslim Youth Movement Western Cape.
He previously, played an active role in mobilizing for the (re)establishment of the Muslim
Youth Movement in Gauteng and the National Muslim Students Association structure. He has
also been active in a number of other youth structures, including the South African Students
Congress and was the Deputy Chairperson of the UJ Students' Representative Council. He
currently works in popular education and knowledge production at social movement NGO -
Equal Education.
Dr Zahraa McDonald is a Postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for International Teacher
Education (CITE) in the Faculty of Education at CPUT. Her current research focuses on initial
teacher education, teachers and social cohesion. Her PhD focused on Post-secular citizenship
and Islamic education in South Africa.
Fazlin Fransman is a former Strategic Advisor at Parliament of the Republic of South Africa,
and has worked as a Journalist, Media Strategist and Marketing expert. She is the co-founder
the Allied Movement for Change, a civil society organisation working in Rural KwaZulu
Natal. She previously served as the Head of Fund Development and Communications at
Islamic Relief South Africa, and as Head of Afrika Tikkun's Marketing and Development office
in Cape Town. In 2009 she was selected to be part of the South Africa Washington
International Programme, where she worked as a Research Intern for Congressman William
Lacy Clay on Capitol Hill, Washington DC.