Islam in South Africa

Islam in South Africa: the cards as text

History. Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review.

  1. Card 1

    South Africa's first imams came in chains.

  2. Card 2

    Brought against their will

    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.

  3. Card 3

    Lesson: Forbidden to worship in public, Muslims at the Cape kept Islam alive in secret for generations.

  4. Card 4

    Sheikh Yusuf of Makassar

    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.

  5. Card 5

    Lesson: Sheikh Yusuf was exiled to be silenced. Instead, he founded a community.

  6. Card 6

    Tuan Guru and the first mosque

    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.

  7. Card 7

    Lesson: On Robben Island, Tuan Guru wrote out the Qur'an from memory.

  8. Card 8

    Indian Muslims in Natal

    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.

  9. Card 9

    Lesson: South African Islam has two roots, Cape and Indian, and one community.

  10. Card 10

    Against apartheid

    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.

  11. Card 11

    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.

  12. Card 12

    Lesson: Imam Abdullah Haron spoke out against apartheid and died in police detention in 1969.

  13. Card 13

    Reflect: Where was South Africa's first mosque founded in 1794?

    Answer: Bo-Kaap, Cape Town. The Auwal Mosque in Dorp Street, Bo-Kaap, founded by Tuan Guru's community.

  14. Card 14

    The end of Islam in South Africa.

Read the full sheet or swipe the cards.