LMA HISTORY
The Lenasia Muslim Association is an organization whose core function is to provide quality Islamic education to people of all ages. The LMA was founded in the 1960’s, when the level of Islamic knowledge was extremely low, and the only access to Islamic education was through books written in the Urdu language imported from India. The LMA was founded with the sole purpose of filling this void in Islamic training, which was to be done using a three-pronged approach: develop English-based syllabi, start up madrasahs, and provide teacher-training for individuals who had the enthusiasm to teach, but lacked training.
This worked beautifully, and the LMA grew from strength to strength to become a leader in the field of Islamic education in South Africa.
As a necessary accompaniment to education, the LMA introduced a welfare wing, which provides financial assistance to students and the people in need. As part of this welfare initiative, the LMA provides a daily meal to approximately 400 students.
The LMA also maintains and administers numerous Masaajid in the Lenasia area.
The history of LMA is intertwined with the history of Lenasia. The LMA was established in 1963 soon after the effect of the group areas act that forced the removal of the community to Lenasia.
Lenasia was a dustbowl with no infrastructure to provide Islamic Education, no Masjids, no Health or Social Services, no Telephones and totally inadequate amenities for a community dumped 30 kilometers from the city.
The Lenasia Muslim Association was constituted and established by concerned Muslim parents and educationists when the only school in Lenasia was The Alpha Primary School. The Primary objective of this organization was firstly to provide a sound Islamic Education for our children and secondly to erect a Masjid in the area in order to establish the five daily salaah and the Juma’ha salaah.
Since then the Lenasia Muslim Association has been striving to serve the Muslim Community of Lenasia and its surrounding areas in the field of Madrassah Education and running the affairs of seven Masajids in Lenasia and looking after the welfare and needy.
The services offered by the LMA have benefitted thousands of Muslim adults and children over the past 40 years. In fact the LMA is a household name not only in Lenasia but in many other parts of the world.
The LMA is probably the biggest teaching institute of its kind in the world. LMA textbooks and syllabi are used worldwide in England, Australia, New Zealand, America, Dubai, Botswana, Malawi and even in Saudi Arabia.
Some 24,000 children have been educated by the LMA thus far. Its educational programme has excelled from a humble beginning to a dynamic system which includes imparting of Islamic Education from the ages of 5 ½ year up to matric level. This is done through standardized text books prepared by our competent personal and published by the Association, to the extent that today by the Grace of Allah our text books have been translated into African Languages as well as in Portuguese. Despite the financial difficulties that the LMA endures in order to meet its commitments day after day, month after month and year after year, Alhamdulillah, its progress has increased in manifold ways.