By Ferial Haffejee, Africa South & East, 1994

There is a quiet revolution underway at mosques around the country as women demand to pray alongside the rest of the congregation. This storming of the masjid is being led by members of the Muslim Youth Movement and by its Transvaal leader, Shamima Shaikh, who gives new meaning to the adage about dynamite in small packages.

By Merium Kazmi, Thursday, 23rd October 2014, in Aquila Style

http://www.aquila-style.com/focus-points/mightymuslimah/mad-courage-shamima-shaikh/82764/

How a Muslim woman who fought for gender equality had her sanity questioned in a South African mosque. By Merium Kazmi

Contrary to popular belief, Islamic history is full of stories of extraordinary Muslim women. These women have assumed positions of power and respect by challenging cultural norms of women’s role in society, and contributing to their communities’ wellbeing and development. These range from the heroic contributions of many female members of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) family, to philanthropists like Fatima Al Fihri, who in Fez, Morocco built the University of Qarawiyin, the world’s oldest and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Today, we also have strong leaders, such as Atifete Jahjaga, President of Kosovo and also the world’s youngest female president.

Maria McCloy : In your ear

There are signs that Gautengs second Muslim radio station, The Voice, is very different from South Africas other Muslim stations. Two stations in Cape Town have proved extremely popular, while Durban has a couple in the pipeline and Gauteng boasts Radio Islam.

Shamima Shaikh, chair of The Muslim Community Broadcasting Trust, which owns The Voice (on air since August 29), says: This station is open, vibrant, exciting and Muslim, and definitely not condescending and self-righteous.

By Safiyyah Surtee, 4 June 2009

Muslimahs who work hard in shaping the depiction of themselves and their sisters in the media, and who are engaged in Islamic feminist discourse to dispel cultural and literalist concepts unjustly attributed to them, are often left flattened under the heavy heap of misrepresentations and stereotypes by both Muslim and non-Muslim agencies.

Shamima Shaikh, one of the foremost Muslim women activists in South Africa, died peacefully in the early hours of the morning, at her home in Mayfair, Johannesburg. Shamima leaves behind two young boys, Minhaj and Shir'a, and her husband Na'eem Jeenah. She will be buried in Pietersburg, the town of her birth, later today.

Shamima will always be remembered by Islamic activists all over the country for her unflinching commitment to the gender jihad. She was a founder member of the Muslim Youth Movement's Gender desk. A few years ago in the month of Ramadan, she led a group of women in a protest to a Johannesburg Masjid who had refused women permission to pray inside of it.

• She was South Africa’s best known Muslim women’s rights activist, a notable Islamic feminist and journalist.

By Professor Abdulkader Tayob

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Moving on the Exalted Friend is always a momentous occasion. But when a martyr to truth and justice moves to her Exalted Friend, it calls for more than a moment of reflection and gratitude. Perchance, we may not be counted among those who cover up (kafara).

Shamima, you have given us an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and our stations in this world. May the Exalted Friend grant you supreme satisfaction, forgiveness. May all your sins be forgiven, and transformed into righteous rewards.

O Allah, Possessor of Peace, to whom all Peace returns, grant her the Abode of Peace. Grant strength and perseverance to her family, her husband, her children, and her many friends.

By Tina Price-Johnson

Shamima Shaikh was born on 14th September 1960, the second of six children of Salahuddin and Mariam Shaikh. Her family moved from Louis Trichardt (in the Limpopo Province), South Africa to Pietersburg (now called Polokwane), where she graduated from high school. Ms Shaikh then attended the University of Durban-Westville, at that time an institution listed by the apartheid government as reserved for students of Indian ethnicity.

By Dr Shuaib Manjra

Shamima Shaikh, one of the foremost Muslim women activists in South Africa, was recalled by her Lord in the early hours of the morning of the 9th day of Ramadaan. In writing this obituary, one cannot but remember Soraya Bosch, whose obituary I wrote just about two months ago. Soraya and Shamima were close friends and sisters in a common struggle, both of whose names will feature prominently in the history of the struggle for gender equity within the Islamic tradition.

remembered.co.za

Shamima Shaikh was born on 14 September 1960 in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo Province, just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. She was the second of six children born to Salahuddin and Mariam Shaikh. Her first school years were in Louis Trichardt, until the family moved to Pietersburg, just over 100 km south.

The Star, 16 January 1998

Shamima Shaikh (37), a leading human rights and gender activist, died of cancer on January 8.

The courage with which she battled the disease was the same quality which made her a fearless campaigner for women's rights, a democratic and free South African, and the Muslim Youth Movement.

She is survived by her husband and two young sons. A commemoration will be held at the Seido Jodo Hall in Mayfair West tomorrow at 2:30pm.

“Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, either man or woman. The one of you is of the other.” – Qur’an

Shamima Shaikh was a woman whose life was dedicated to the struggle for justice, as well as continuing the deep commitment she held to upholding what she believed was the true message of the Qur’an: justice, peace and love. She considered herself an Islamic feminist, and worked within Muslim communities for women’s rights as both an activist and a journalist.

By: Staff Reporter

Sunday, January 18, 1998

The silence after the prayers for Shamimah Shaikh, who died on January 8, is broken by tributes from family, friends and comrades. They talk about a defiance and a fighter’s spirit that will never die.

The Seido Karate Hall in Brixton, Johannesburg, is full. It is Saturday, the 16th day of Ramadan.

Shaikh, who was 37, comes alive in memory. Deeply spiritual, she sought justice and challenged whomever stood in its way.

https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/nasreenamina/posts/68019

15 June 2016

by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente

When we talk about Islamic Feminisms and activisms for women rights in Islam, there are some names that have a well deserved place in the collective feminist mind: Amina Wadud, Fatima Mernissi, Shirin Ebadi, Asma Lamrabet, Kecia Ali, among others. Most of them belong to the academic world. Through their books, they have installed the cause of Muslim Feminists as a legitimate and visible struggle, both inside and outside of Islam.

OBITUARY: Shamima Shaikh, former editor of the progressive Muslim monthly Al-Qalam, and the leading Muslim gender-equality activist, dies at age 37.

FARIED ESACK

20 January 1998, Mail & Guardian

SHAMIMA SHAIKH (37), South Africa's leading Muslim gender equality activist, passed away in the early hours of January 8 at her home in Mayfair, Johannesburg. She had cancer. Shaikh left behind her husband, Naeem Jeenah, and two sons Minhaj (9) and Shir'ah (7).

https://mezquitademujeres.org/2016/06/14/shamina-shaikh/

by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente

15 June 2016

Cuando hablamos de Feminismos Islámicos y de activismos por los derechos de la mujer en el Islam, hay algunos nombres que tienen un lugar bien ganado en el imaginario colectivo de las feministas: Amina Wadud, Fatima Mernissi, Shirin Ebadi, Asma Lamrabet, Kecia Ali, entre otras.  La mayoría de ellas pertenecen al mundo académico. A través de sus libros, ellas han instalado la causa del Feminismo Musulmán como una lucha legitima y visible, tanto dentro como fuera del Islam.

By Shaikh Tahir Sitoto

Dear Shamima

The last we saw of you, you were a living mortal – your spirit fighting, refusing to give up. That memory still lingers. We remember the many moments we shared both in times of joy and sadness. The moments of struggle and celebration.

https://feminismandreligion.com/2017/05/27/shamima-shaikh/

By Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente

Shamima Shaikh’s name may be unfamiliar for you and many who are not deeply informed about Islam and gender issues in South Africa or who tend to identify Muslim women and/or activism for women’s rights in Islam with the Arab region. Why should you know about her? Because Shamima Shaikh was one of the most notable Muslim anti-apartheid activists and advocates for the rights of Muslim women in her country—a prominent feminist, journalist, radio producer, movement builder, trailblazer, and fearless activist.

Horizon Newspaper

Shamima Shaikh (37) Muslim women activist, journalist and campaigner for gender equality, lost her long battle against cancer recently.

FORMER

Shamima was former editor of Al-Qalam, the Muslim Youth Movement-owned newspaper and one of the founders of the Johannesburg-based Muslim radio station The Voice. She was Chairperson of the community broadcast trust that owns the station. Shamima launched her battle for human rights and gender equality in 1978 as a student activist at the University of Durban-Westville.

https://issuu.com/muslimviews/docs/mv_may_2017

By Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente, Muslim Views, May 2017

THE ninth of Ramadaan will be 20 years of the death of Shamima Shaikh.

By Dr Farid Esack

Published in Women in Action, Phillipines, February 1998

Shamima Shaikh (37), South Africa’s leading Muslim gender equality activist passed away in the early hours of last Thursday at her home in Mayfair, Johannesburg when her physical body succumbed to cancer. Shamima left behind her husband, Na’eem Jeenah and two sons, Minhaj (9) and Shir’a (7).

http://sister-hood.com/sister-hood-staff/shamima-shaikh-1960-1998/

They claim that Islam gave women the right to equal education and civil and economic rights, but at the end of their analysis they come to the conclusion that a woman’s place is in her husband’s home and that she should be obedient to him and the male elite. How on earth can she enjoy any liberty if she lacks knowledge, is confined to her home and has minimal control over her life? – Shamima Shaikh

SHAMIMA Shaikh, acclaimed pioneer for the rights of Muslim women in South Africa and station manager for the Mayfair-based Islamic radio station The Voice, succumbed to cancer on the same day that her final inerview with the media appeared in POST last week.

Mrs Shaikh, 37, started out as a student activist during her days at the University of Durban-Westville, defyind tradition at the time which precluded Muslim women from taking part in male-dominated religious activities by leading a group of women into the Pageview mosque in Johannesburg to pray.

Publicado por Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
el agosto 21, 2020

En el mes de la mujer sudafricana, destacamos la contribución de las mujeres que muestran un compromiso incondicional con el avance de sus comunidades. Esta semana conocemos a Shamima Shaikh, una mujer que se definia a si misma como "una dueña de casa" y fue una feminista adelantada a su tiempo, cuyo nombre ha quedado relegado en la historia de la lucha anti apartheid de Sudáfrica

By Sharon Sorour-Morris

Femina magazine

Shamima Shaikh (37), who died of cancer in recent months, was South Africa’s leading Muslim gender-equality activist, highly respected for her tenacity and bravery in the face of fierce opposition from conservative elements in her community. She led a rebellion of Muslim women worshippers at a mosque in 1994 and started an ‘alternative’ congregation where gender equality and all its implications for lslamic thought and practice were the norm.