Muslim body 'unaware' of ISIL recruitments in S. Africa
South African law prohibits citizens from joining the armies of foreign states, accepting foreign military assistance or taking part in armed groups.
JOHANNESBURG
South Africa's Muslim theological body, Jamiatul Ulama, has said it is not aware of South Africans being recruited to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group.
"We had not been aware of this development until media reports quoting the Iraqi envoy to South Africa, Ambassador Dr. Hushaim al-Alawi, came up in the press last Sunday. It has been a surprise to us," Jamiatul Ulama Secretary-General Moulana Ebrahim Bham told The Anadolu Agency in an email interview.
On Monday, al-Alawi told AA that South African citizens were reportedly being recruited to join and fight for the ISIL.
"Over the past few months, we have received information that South African citizens have been killed in Syria," the Iraqi diplomat said.
He said three South African nationals had been killed in Syria while reportedly fighting for the ISIL, but that their families had been told that they had been killed in a car accident.
South Africa's Sunday Independent newspaper, which broke the story on Sunday, also quoted the Iraqi envoy as saying that there were groups operating in the country recruiting for and raising funds for the ISIL under the guise of humanitarian aid.
Asked by AA if the claim would affect the work of humanitarian organizations helping refugees in the Middle East, Moulana Bham said: "There is always a concern that such claims may jeopardize the much needed humanitarian relief work for Syrian refugees."
"However, we have confidence that authorities in the country will not block genuine relief initiatives that South African organizations carry out admirably in many parts of the world," he said.
Asked if the government or the intelligence services had contacted the Muslim body for assistance, Moulana Bham said: "As has been reported in the press, even national security officials were not aware of such claims."
"Naturally, we haven't been approached by any government agency on the matter," he said.
The ISIL recently seized control of vast swathes of territory in both Syria and Iraq.
Moulana Bham pointed to legislation that criminalizes involvement in foreign military activities, stressing that the Jamiatul Ulama does not encourage involvement in any activity that contravenes the law of the land.
South African law prohibits citizens from joining the armies of foreign states, accepting foreign military assistance or taking part in armed groups.
The allegations, however, have raised worries among some Muslims that they will be profiled at airports.
"Law-abiding South Africans should challenge any profiling by any plainclothes persons at the country's airports and other ports of entry and exit," Ibrahim Vawda, a senior researcher at the Media Review Network, an advocacy group, told AA.
He said his organization appreciated the position of the South African government and Department of International Relations, which have categorically stated that they were unaware of any recruitment by the ISIL in South Africa.
"If any South African violates the country's law, then the law must take its course," Vawda said.
South Africa's state security department said it did not have any information about the recruitment of citizens by the ISIL, but pledged to investigate the claims.
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