امروز روز خاکسپاری یکی از رهبران آزاده جهان به نام نلسون ماندلا بوده است. در کنار زندگی پرفراز و نشیب ماندلا و سخاوت های بی حد و حصر او در قبال دشمنانش، نکته جالب توجه دیگری نیز در زندگی او می یابیم که ماندلا را در نگاه اینجانب به عنوان یک شخصیت متواضع جلوه می دهد و آن در دیدار ماندلا با رهبر معظم انقلاب اسلامی اتفاق می افتد،که خود را مدیون انقلاب اسلامی می دانست.

متن زیر بخشی از نامه ی یکی از دوستان مسلمان ساکن کشور آفریقای جنوبی، به نام مسعود هست که سال گذشته برایم ارسال کرد. در این نامه دوستم تلاش کرده تا رنج ها و مصائبی که مردم  کشورش در اوضاع آپارتاید تحمل کرده اند را به خوبی توضیح دهد. خواندن این نامه برای بنده حاوی اطلاعات بسیار خوبی از اوضاع تاریخی کشورش بالاخص نقش تاثیر گذار نلسون ماندلا به عنوان رهبر ضد نژاد پرستی بوده است. یکی از نکات خوب این متن ارائه اطلاعات در عین ایجاز و اختصار به خواننده می باشد که امید است مفید واقع شود.

متاسفانه با توجه به کمبود وقت تنها متن انگلیسی آن را در وبگاه قرار دادم که با آشنایی کم از این زبان هم می توانید به کلیت آن واقف شوید.

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This text sent by one of my best friend whose name is Masud from South Africa. I think it's a good way to learn more about his country and specially Nelson Mandela!

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assalamu-alaikum Reza. hope you and your family are well and in good spirits insha-Allah... 

Apartheid is an Afrikaans word-the dutch brought this language when they came to SA and it means separation. when the british decided to hand over the ruling of SA to the Afrikaners, they decided that since they are white, they must be superior to all other races-blacks, indians and coloureds- and so they took the best of everything for themselves, and made separate townships for all the 'less superior' races. the Afrikaners, or boerers as we call them, developed the infrastructure that made SA the first world country it is today, but this also led to SA becoming a 3rd world country, as the black people were treated the worst. they were all shoved into isolated bits of land, where they had to construct their own houses out of steel and zinc. these places are called squatter camps. we still have these places in existence today-in fact, just down my road is one!- because there are so many black people in our country, the government is struggling to provide for them all.

As for us indians, we were treated much better than the blacks. the boers gave us schools, hospitals, and public transport, and allowed us to create our own businesses, like my great-grandfather's shop, where he sells islamic books, clothes etc. this is why we indians-especially muslims-live relatively well-off Alhamdulillah. however, when the Group Areas Act came into place, the whites were given even better places to live, and the indians and coloured-they are a mixture of black and white- were put into these former white places or even newly developed towns. apartheid ended in 1994, before i was born, so i did not experience the cruelty of this government. many indian muslims fought for our freedom and justice, but we were lucky that the boers allowed the muslims freedom of religion- they even welcomed the legendary egyptian Qurrah Sheikh Abdul Baasit Abdus-Samad to SA, where he read most beautifully.

Have you heard of Nelson Mandela? he was locked up in jail on Robben island for 27 years, and was voted first democratic president when the boers decided to give up their power. he is now about 95 years old. he founded the ANC, our ruling government. the ANC are good in that they give us freedom of religion, but they have become corrupt, and use our tax money to fund their lavish lifestyles, instead of helping the poor. that is why we encourage muslims here to give sadaqa and lillah, so that we can aid the poor. my father is involved in inviting the poor blacks to islam. we have madrassahs for them to learn about our deen and they get groceries every month and during ramadaan and eid times.