The Flying Hadji

Abstract

All things considered, becoming a Muslim theologian was high on my list of possible vocations at the end of high school. Unfortunately for me, this was not to be I was a Muslim woman with a dream at the wrong time. Instead, I became an academic lawyer schooled in secular law but specialising in an area of Islamic law called Muslim Personal Law - an area which has and continues to be manipulated by male theologians much to the detriment of Muslim women. I had inadvertently ended up with a balance - a career that would be both secular and religious. My story, although voiced as a Muslim, is not intended to be a reflection on Islam and is furthermore not divided into neat segments of context, identity and spirituality. Events in my family history, apart from being an integral part of the context, have ultimately shaped my identity and spirituality. Religion has always been an integral and accustomed part of my life. Consciously and unconsciously the seeds of Islam were implanted in my life from an early age. I went through all the phases of germination discovering my religion - from the superficial to a meaningful understanding and application of it. I have come full bloom. I was (auspiciously rather than ominously) born into the Islamic faith on Friday 13th September in my grandfather's home in Bromwell Street, Salt River, Cape Town around the time of the weekly Friday congregational prayers. My father blessed me with the name "star" after a chapter in the Qur'an. Such is the power of a name that I think all my life I have aspired to be just that. I was the left-handed, fourth daughter of six children (five girls and one son) living in an extended family. By the time I was born my paternal grandparents who hailed from India had passed on, leaving me with no fond memories of doting grandparents.