History
From exile at the Cape to today
South Africa's first imams came in chains.
5 min, Intro, Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
Part 1 of 5
From the mid-1600s the Dutch East India Company brought slaves to the Cape from Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and East Africa, and banished political prisoners there. Many were Muslim. Public Muslim worship was banned for over a century.
Lesson
Forbidden to worship in public, Muslims at the Cape kept Islam alive in secret for generations.
Part 2 of 5
Sheikh Yusuf, a scholar who led resistance against the Dutch in Java, was exiled to the Cape in 1694 with his followers. At Zandvliet, far from town, his community became an early Muslim centre. He died in 1699; his shrine stands at Macassar.
Lesson
Sheikh Yusuf was exiled to be silenced. Instead, he founded a community.
Part 3 of 5
Tuan Guru, a prince-scholar from Tidore, was held on Robben Island from 1780 to 1793. There he wrote out the Qur'an from memory. Freed, he opened a school and, in 1794, the Auwal Mosque in Bo-Kaap, the first in South Africa.
Lesson
On Robben Island, Tuan Guru wrote out the Qur'an from memory.
Part 4 of 5
A second story began in Natal. From 1860 indentured labourers came from India to work its sugar fields; some were Muslim. Merchant families followed, mostly from Gujarat, and built mosques such as the Juma Masjid on Grey Street, Durban.
Lesson
South African Islam has two roots, Cape and Indian, and one community.
Part 5 of 5
Many Muslims opposed apartheid. Imam Abdullah Haron of Cape Town spoke out and supported banned movements; he died in police detention in 1969. In the 1980s Muslims joined the UDF and the wider struggle.
Qur'an 4:135
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّٰمِينَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ شُهَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ أَوِ ٱلۡوَٰلِدَيۡنِ وَٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَۚ إِن يَكُنۡ غَنِيًّا أَوۡ فَقِيرࣱا فَٱللَّهُ أَوۡلَىٰ بِهِمَاۖ فَلَا تَتَّبِعُواْ ٱلۡهَوَىٰٓ أَن تَعۡدِلُواْۚ وَإِن تَلۡوُۥٓاْ أَوۡ تُعۡرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرࣱا ١٣٥
135 O you who believe, stand up for justice as witnesses for Allah, even against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah takes the best care of both. So do not let your desires cause you to swerve from justice. If you distort your testimony or refuse to give it, then Allah is indeed All-Aware of what you do.
A long ayah: scroll within the card.
Lesson
Imam Abdullah Haron spoke out against apartheid and died in police detention in 1969.
Reflect, just for you
Seen by lamplight. It gives more each time.
South Africa's first imams came in chains.