As the holy month of Ramadan draws to a close and Muslims celebrate Eid ul Fitr, Moegamat Gallant from Lansdowne celebrates 30 years as the local bilal.
In his family, the 46-year-old dad of one is known as “the Fighter” and “the Champ” after surviving three open heart surgeries as a baby.
Moegamat aka MG, is also the Life Coach and Head of Sport at Groote Schuur High School in Newlands.
He is the mu’athien, or as we say in Cape Town, the bilal at Al Jaamiah Mosque in Stegman Road, Claremont, where he does what is known as “voorwerk innie masiet”, using his beautiful and powerful voice to chant praises.
His duties range from rendering the call to prayer (athaan), the poedjies during Taraweegh prayers in Ramadan, to the emotional chants of praise to send blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and leading the taqbeer at the sighting of the new moon.
At 10 years old, MG was already able to recite the Qur’an and he recalls: “At approximately nine years old, I was in class, part of a rehearsal for a school recitation coming up.
“I was observing things from the back and the girls were not able to get things right and then, out of excitement, I recited the verse and hit the notes.
“The concert was adjusted and I was given the lead role.”
He was just 18 months old when he had his first open-heart surgery due to a defect in his heart.
“Shortly after birth, the opening between two major blood vessels closes but in my case, it remains open and this is called Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).
“The surgeon who performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant operation, Doctor Christiaan Neethling Barnard, was called to step in.
“He was about to leave on vacation but put his plans on hold and the third operation was successful.”
Watch MG’s inspiring story on the Cape Malay “JAWWAP” Channel on YouTube.