Moegamat Bedford (87) passed away during the early hours of Friday, 15 January 2021.
He was laid to rest at the Pooke Rd Karastan in Newfields.
Party leader Hon. Ganief Hendricks said in an obituary: “It’s a very a sad occasion indeed for Al Jama-ah and the broader Muslim community to have lost the oldest member of the team, Boeta Bedford who was 87.
“He was one of the founder-members of Al Jama-ah.
“Boeta Bedford passed away during the early hours of Friday.
“He was the party’s Western Cape legislature provincial constituency officer.
“He was head of ethics of the party and a true stalwart. And, he helped me with difficult disciplinary cases over the years as head of ethics.
“During the early days of the party, he and I hung up posters in almost every town in South Africa where thee was a mosque to be found.
“He was a leading member of the tablig movement and regularly spent time making itikaf and sleeping over at most of the masajid over a span of more than 60 years.
“Condolence to the tablig jamah, his family and Al Jama-ah constituency.
“The party will commemorate his life in a zoom thikr this Saturday afternoon and will distribute food to residents of Poke Road bush next to the cemetery where he was laid to rest.
Al Jama-ah’s constituency officer at our Belgravia office, Tabrez Sayed said: “I met Mr Bedford in 2019. He said immediately, he’s there for the people. ‘He was extremely keen and Allah-conscious and mostly talked about Al Qur’an, the suffering of the communities, about life in general and about the future of Al Jama-ah.
“For me, he was like a mentor and part of my family.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult to adapt myself without him and being at the office with his absence.
“He used the uber to come work in the office and to go home. The man was very humble, and he paid for his own Uber ride.
“He never ever complained, but instead was always jovial.
“People came to the office, saying they were starving. He would dig into his own pocket and buy bread for the people.
“The working part is he would sometimes go out of his way to help people.
“Almost everybody knew him.
“I took a liking to him because since I met him, he was always encouraging you, instead of downing you.
“He was always encouraging you to be positive.
“I can say this with utmost certainty, Al Jama-ah was the most important thing in his life. The party was more important to him than his family. He would sacrifice his family for the party.”
Councillor Faizel Khan says: “On this auspicious day of Jumu’ah Allah grant Marhoom Bedford the highest abode in Janna-tul-Firdous, and grant the family and members of Al Jama-ah sabr Jameel. Ameen.”
Councillor AK Dawood says: “My sincere condolences to the family of Brother Bedford, a founding-member of the Al Jama-ah political party. “He was humble and a true patriot.
“He was humble and loved by everyone.
“Brother Bedford will be sadly missed by everyone; the community he lived with and us Councillors as well as all the members of the party.
“May the Almighty grant him the highest stages in Jannah.”
Councillors Veli Luthuli says: “Boeta Bedford was one of the first few people I met when I flew to Cape Town for my very first formal meeting with Al Jama-ah.
“We will miss him a lot.
“May he rest in peace.”
Biography
Born: 13 December 1934
Place of Birth: Cape Town- Bo-Kaap/District Six
Date of Death: 15 January 2021, age 87 years.
Marital Status: Widower, was married to Fatimah Ally who passed on 14 years ago.
He married again.
Children: Eight and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren
School: Attended Habibia primary school and Habibia College
Was a successful businessman in the transport industry.
Hajee Bedford was one of the founder-members of AL JAMA-AH and served as the party’s Provincial Constituency Officer. He was Head of the party’s Code of Ethics and a true stalwart. During the early formation days of AL JAMA-AH he and the party’s President and Member of Parliament, Hon. Ganief Hendricks together hanged thousands of posters on lampposts in every town in South Africa.
He was a leading member of the Tabligh Jamaat and spent time sleeping in most of the mosques in the country over a span of 60 years.
Hajee Bedfored also known as an elder in the Tabligh Jamaat; is described as a “Sheikh” due to his leadership role he played over many years in the Islamic society in South Africa; known as an Amir, “Father” to many leaders and leader of leaders.
He mentored and gave lessons to prominent Islamic scholars such as Shaikh Abdurahmaan Alexander, Sh Irfaan Abrahams (current MJC president) and many others. They were amongst the young boys in Jamaat when he started mentoring them.
Hajee Bedford travelled widely in the service of Allah SWT. Amongst the countries he went to, the Commores Island, Seychelles, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, travelled through the whole of Africa including Congo, Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia. He spent most of his life in the path of Allah and travelled in Jamaat on foot. In India he travelled to the Nizamuddin Dargah (mausoleum) of the sufi saint, Khwaja Nizamuddin. His sole purpose in life was to help people connect and to serve Allah SWT and practice the traditions of prophet Muhammad (SAW).
He spent his life in the path of Allah to lead society on the straight path. His favourite saying: “I will remain a scholar till the day Allah takes me away.”