The Sunday Mail
Desire Ncube
FIFTEEN students from the country’s ten provinces have been awarded full scholarships to study for a degree in Islamic Studies in South Africa.
The students, who left Zimbabwe for South Africa last Friday, have been enrolled at Al-Mustafa International University in Johannesburg.
The university, headquartered in Iran, was established to demystify stereotypes and end Islamophobia with the Islamic Republic of Iran spearheading the initiative.
Zimbabwean students will join others from South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Botswana who also have been enrolled at the same university.
Al-Mustafa International University representative, Sheikh Ahmed Hamidu, said the university sought to empower Africa with knowledge and life skills to uplift living standards.
“The university extended its hand to the people of this beautiful country of Zimbabwe, we came here and selected students and we offered them a full scholarship to study a Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies which they will pursue among other disciplines like Political Science,” Sheikh Hamidu said.
“Islam has become the religion that most people have stereotyped, a number of people view Islam as a religion of terrorism, war and a number of bad things and this is why we want to send the message and tell the world that Islam is a religion of peace.
“It promotes peace and it is a religion that command people to live with fellow humans in peace and co-existence. These are the fundamentals of Islam.”
Sheikh Hamidu added that Iran was also offering the scholarships to non-Muslims.
“These students are going to promote the Islamic values within the African people; the University will give these students insights in social injustice, spiritual uplifting which have a huge impact in our life.
“Everyone knows that when the spirit is down everything becomes down and problematic, but when one’s spirit is high people are capable of doing anything for their good and for the good of their communities.”
He said Islam did not promote hatred, tribalism and sexism; but rather commanded people to love one another without discrimination.
Sheikh Ishmail Duwa, who assisted in the student selection process, said they were confident the scholarship winners would raise Zimbabwe’s flag high through hard work and good morals.
