Muslim Judicial Council

{{Short description|Islamic organization based in South Africa}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}

{{Infobox organisation

|name = Muslim Judicial Council

|logo = Muslim Judicial Council logo.png

|location = Cape Town, South Africa.

}}

The Muslim Judicial Council SA (MJC), a non-profit umbrella body of Sunni Islamic clerics in South Africa, is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRtxXPX5lpQC&pg=PA92|author1=Albert Breton |author2=Anne Des Ormeaux |author3=Katharina Pistor |title=Multijuralism: manifestations, causes, and consequences|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd |date=2009 |isbn=9780754679448 |access-date=5 May 2011}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwGjbDurQ5IC&pg=PA129|publisher= kassel university press GmbH|title=Muslim identities and political strategies: a case study of Muslims in the greater Cape Town area of South Africa, 1994–2000|date= 2008|isbn= 9783899584066}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mjc.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=21 |title=About us |publisher=Mjc.org.za |access-date=5 May 2011}} It was established in 1945 by the Muslim Progressive Society.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwSgv7FFCAgC&pg=PA214 |title=Muslim identity and social change in Sub-Saharan Africa |publisher=Indiana University Press |date=1993|isbn=9780253312716 }} As of 2009, approximately 150 mosques were affiliated with it.

Yusuf Karaan was head mufti of the council and his son Taha Karaan served the post until his death on 11 June 2021.{{cite web |author1=ANDREW BOOSO |title=[Book Review Essay] Brannon D. Ingram, Revival from Below: The Deoband Movement and Global Islam |url=https://themaydan.com/2019/10/book-review-essay-brannon-d-ingram-revival-from-below-the-deoband-movement-and-global-islam-reviewed-by-andrew-booso/|date=3 October 2019}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CuVvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA172|title=Revival from Below: The Deoband Movement and Global Islam|isbn=9780520297999|last1=Ingram|first1=Brannon D.|date=21 November 2018}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLvCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT83|title=Muslim Institutions of Higher Education in Postcolonial Africa|isbn=9781137552310|last1=Lo|first1=Mbaye|last2=Haron|first2=Muhammed|date=26 January 2016}} As of 27 January 2024, Sheikh Riad Fataar Al-Azhari was elected as the President of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC).{{Cn|date=January 2024}}

On 1 September 2024, Sheikh Riad Fataar Al-Azhari drew controversy by saying "I am Hamas! Cape Town is Hamas! Viva Hamas! viva". The statement was widely condemned by South African Jewish Board of Deputies who called the comments "deeply disappointing and disturbing".{{Cite web |last=Feinberg |first=Tali |date=2024-09-05 |title=Top SA Muslim leader says: ‘I am Hamas’ |url=https://www.sajr.co.za/top-sa-muslim-leader-says-i-am-hamas/ |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Jewish Report |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.facebook.com/salaamedia/videos/watch-i-am-hamas-cape-town-is-hamas-sheikh-riad-fataar-president-of-mjc-sa-tells/477914275118065/ |title=11 reactions · 4 comments {{!}} [WATCH] "I am Hamas; Cape Town is Hamas!" Sheikh Riad Fataar, president of MJC (SA), tells a crowd in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town. "We support Hamas because Hamas... {{!}} By SalaamediaFacebook |language=en |access-date=2024-09-06 |via=www.facebook.com}}