Drawing from a broad stream of spirituality, Ela Gandhi continues to serve humanity

There is a temptation when you meet Ela Gandhi to assume her soft, fluttering voice, attentive nature and reserved demeanor encapsulate her personality as a whole.

On that, said her friend and biographer Susan Easterbrooks, you would be wrong.

“Behind that sweet demeanor,” she said, “is the heart of a lion. It’s a gentle heart, it’s a respectful heart, but it’s also a no-holds-barred kind of heart.”  

Beyond being one of Mahatma Gandhi’s — or Ghandiji’s — granddaughters, Ela Gandhi has become a symbol of social justice in her own right, living a life of quiet — and not so quiet — resistance over the last 80 years. A new book by Easterbooks, “My Time with Ela Gandhi,” chronicles the lessons learned and stories told by Gandhi throughout their friendship.

Growing up in Phoenix, one of the oldest Indian settlements in South Africa, Gandhi later went on to serve as a social worker engaged in non-violent protests and activism, fighting on behalf of the oppressed. Along the way to helping South Africa transition to a post-Apartheid state by sitting on the Transitional Executive Committee in the South African government and as a member of South Africa’s Parliament (1994-2004), Gandhi faced house arrest for nine years and lost her son, who was killed in the struggle for justice.

Now retired, Gandhi remains committed to social justice and interreligious harmony. She founded and still chairs the Gandhi Development Trust, is a member of South Africa’s Religious Affairs Committee and works with international organizations, including Religions for Peace.

Devoted to the cause of peace, fighting injustice and crossing political and religious boundaries to do so, this is the story of Gandhi’s engaged spirituality over the long haul.

Muslims, Mandela, & South Africa's anti-apartheid movement

Apartheid fell, and the 'rainbow nation' emerged, with the release of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and the subsequent free, and open, democratic elections across South Africa in 1994; these elections followed multi-party negotiations between multiple political organizations that had recently been decriminalized. Muslims played key roles not only during the formative period of post-apartheid South Africa, but also in the struggle against the Apartheid regime. Even today, in the midst of South Africa's re-emergence onto the global scene and against the backdrop of transnational Islamic discourses, Muslims -- even as minorities -- continue to influence the shaping of South Africa.

This context provides the frame of reference for Goolam Vahed's Muslim Portraits: The Anti-Apartheid Struggle (Madiba Publishers, 2012), which compiles various narratives and stories of Islamic leaders in the struggle to assert non-racial politics in South Africa. Recently, I had the honor of publishing a review of the book for the Journal of Islamic Studies out of The University of Cape Town, South Africa (you can find the review HERE). I found the book enlightening, gripping, and relevant insofar as it illumines the political efforts of Muslims beyond the pale of jihad and mass uprisings we too often assume as the modus operandi of Muslim political efforts. 

One of the strengths of the book is its ability to humanize the anti-apartheid struggle and highlight the role that many Muslims played in toppling the racist regime. As I wrote in my review, in so doing, "the text provides a rich mosaic of various Muslim interlocutors involved in the struggle against Apartheid, including converts and immigrants, Sowetan doctors and ANC politicians, feminist activists and armed rebels, cricket players and chemists."

I encourage you to read more about the book, check out my quick review, and learn more about a) the many biographies of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and b) the wide variety of Muslim political action in the contemporary scene.