S. Africa Police, Muslims Clash After Church Criticizes Islam

Police broke up a demonstration by about 400 Muslims in Cape Town on Saturday protesting a declaration by the politically influential Dutch Reformed Church that Islam is a “false religion” that poses “a great threat to Christianity.”

Whip-wielding riot police charged the Muslims as they attempted three times to march from Cape Town’s market area near City Hall to the Groote Kerk, a historic Dutch Reformed church near Parliament, in violation of a police order declaring the protest illegal under the severe security laws.

The government’s Bureau for Information, the sole authorized source of news on the continuing civil unrest, said two policemen were seriously injured when the crowd attacked with bottles and stones and that nine people were arrested.

When the marchers gathered Saturday morning, chanting, “Glory to the name of God” and “God is great,” they were quickly confronted by about 50 policemen on foot, witnesses said, and dozens of police cars sealed off the area. A police captain told them that the gathering was illegal, according to the witnesses, and gave them five minutes to disperse.

With a minute still left, the Muslims fell back, followed by the police, flexing their whips. As the Muslims moved into the market area, a policeman shouted, “Enough--hit them!” Police then charged the youths and, according to witnesses, hit passers-by, including children, as well as the demonstrators with their whips.

Two more marches were attempted, but police dispersed those as well.

The protests stemmed from a resolution of the Dutch Reformed Church’s general synod on Oct. 23 declaring Islam a threat to South Africa’s “Christian civilization” and expressing concern about its spread recently among blacks and Coloreds (those of mixed race).

The resolution was proposed by the chaplain-general of the South African police and was couched in political terms; it appeared to be a response to rising political militancy among the country’s Muslims. Islam was recognized by the synod as a minority religion, but Christians were called upon to resist “the onslaught of Islam.”

To South Africa’s small but ardent Muslim community, estimated to number nearly 250,000 now, it appeared to be part of an official “crusade” against them because of their forthright opposition to apartheid, South Africa’s system of racial separation and minority white rule.

Most of South Africa’s 2.9 million Afrikaners, who have held political power here since 1948, belong to the Dutch Reformed Church and often give its theological pronouncements the effect of government policy.

“The banning of this march and the subsequent arrests of Muslims is an indication of how serious this controversy has become,” said Moulana Faried Essack, national coordinator of the Call of Islam, reiterating the demands of Muslims for retraction of the resolution and a formal apology.