Coming out of the Shadows

Having been part of South African culture since the beginning of the 18th century, Muslims are increasingly engaging in public life since the end of the Apartheid regime in 1994. Almuth Schellpeper reports from Bo-Kaap, the Muslim quarter of Cape Town.

photo: www.travel-2-africa.com
Historic houses in Bo-Kaap

​​From the centre of town the busy Wale Street leads in the direction of Signal Hill. Suddenly it changes into a steep cobbled road, which goes directly into the Bo-Kaap, the Muslim quarter of Cape Town.

Roughly translated the term Bo-Kaap means High Cape, an elevated area situated on the slopes of Signal Hill. Here in the oldest district of Cape Town, many of the small colourful houses and mosques date as early the 18th century.

Three quarters of the inhabitants, all together 10.000, are Muslims. Their ancestors were in most cases slaves and political prisoners, who were brought to the Cape by the Dutch from the Dutch-East Indian colonies. Many came from India, Indonesia, Malaysia or Java.

Religious bonds work the community spirit

Even if the people in Bo-Kaap are often referred to as Cape Malay, this term is misleading since only a small number of inhabitants came from Malaysia. Their religion rather than their origin holds those in Bo-Kaap together. The unclear classification has probably been developed because in those days the commercial language between Madagascar and China was Malayu.

In the 18th century under Dutch law only the members of the Dutch reformed church were allowed to practice their religion. Promoting the Islamic faith at the time was not allowed with the result that Muslims were part of the first people to be imprisoned on Robben Island. Amongst those were Islamic leaders, who helped the Muslims at the Cape to keep their identity.

Tuan Guru knew the Koran by heart

Imam Abdullah Ibni Kadi Sallaan, who for the sake of simplicity was called Tuan Guru, was imprisoned on Robben Island for 13 years. There he wrote the Koran faultlessly from memory. His grave is situated on a hill in the upper part of Bo-Kaap from where one has a wonderful view of the harbour and the city.

Around Cape Town there are over 30 such shrines. Sometimes small groups of Muslims walk from one memorial to the other and recite some verses from the Koran to show respect and gratitude to their religious leaders.

After his inauguration Mandela visited mosque, church and synagogue

Enslaved Muslims who eventually survived many years of imprisonment and were later set free, could practice their religion after all. In 1794, Tuan Guru established the first mosque in South Africa, the Owal Mosque in Dorp Street, Bo-Kaap.

In front of the mosque, which is painted in light green, several palm trees rise to cast their shadows on the nearby pavement. Shortly after his inauguration as president of South Africa in 1994, Nelson Mandela visited the oldest mosque, the oldest church and the oldest synagogue of the country. He also visited the Owal Mosque in Bo-Kaap.

Muslims’ struggle against Apartheid

Less than two percent of the South African population of today are Muslims, but since the end of the Apartheid regime the number of the Muslim believers has grown and continue to do so. Most of them live in the Western Cape, in and around Cape Town.

The Imam of the Owal Mosque, Ihsaan Hendricks, is also the vice-president of the organisation Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), one of the oldest islamic judicaries at the Cape.

This organisation, established 59 years ago, played an important role during the liberation struggle against Apartheid and managed to maintain its reputation until today. The organisation had for instance the privilege of representing the Muslim community with a prayer both at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as well as at the inauguration of Thabo Mbeki, the current president.

The MJC focuses mainly on the issues of education and social welfare. Members for instance have the opportunity to deal with inheritance and materimonial matters. Besides this, 100 young people can attend courses in Arabic and Islamic studies. In addition the organisation provides halaal certificates for the Muslim community in Cape Town.

Muslim Judicial Council and government join forces against poverty

With financial support from the government, the MJC launched an agricultural project recently in order to help reduce poverty in the township of Phillipi. The objective is to teach the participants first some agricultural skills so that they are able to work indepenently in their fields later on.

The MJC is also engaged on the governmental level and participates in the National Religious Forum where leaders of the different world religions discuss their matters of concern with the president of the country.

Though the Bo-Kaap covers an area of less than ten kilometers, there are ten mosques with active communities. The first Muslims who came to the Cape at that time, came as skilled manual workers. They were carpenters, sculptors, wood carvers and plasterers who had a significant influence on the style and architectural design of the houses in the Bo-Kaap.

The centre of the quarter has been declared a national monument area which means that the facade of an original house must remain the same after renovations. Every new house has to be built in the typical Cape-Dutch style of the Bo-Kaap.

Bo-Kaap – a world of its own

The quarter survived the Apartheid regime and continues to maintain its culture and tradition. Here one can find a number of corner cafes, a halaal-butcher, a spice wholesaler, a fast food restaurant that sells fresh koeksisters, typical cap-muslim pastries, and a fish hawker who announces his arrival by blowing a fish horn, a sound that is heard all over. Especially on a Friday when the muezzin calls for the praying time and men in long white gowns walk over the cobble-stones, Bo-Kaap is engrossed in its own world.

At the upper end of Bo-Kaap, there is a long building painted in white and blue that accomodates the Muslim primary school. The school follows the normal curriculum of the state, but in addition to this the learners are able to gain more knowledge about Islam, which is welcomed by the parents.

Cemetary for Muslims and Christians

Near the end of Long Market Street one of the steep streets winding higher and higher up the hill, one can find an old cemetery where 200 years ago both Muslims and Christians were buried.

Some inhabitants of the Bo-Kaap would like to see the graveyard being declared as a heritage site by Unesco so that it will remain a cemetery in the future and not used as a plot of land for building. At present the graveyard is visibly neglected: The gras is shrivelled, the weed grows rampant and the wind blows pieces of rubbish into the bushes. The cemetery needs to be cleaned again. For this volunteer work the Bo-Kaap inhabitans come together once or twice a year.

Young wealthy people from other areas in town have realized the attractive location of the Bo-Kaap nestling at the foot of Signal Hill and bordering the centre of Cape Town with uninterrupted views of Table Mountain and the sea. They buy property here and move to the Bo-Kaap. But the old community still sticks together and shapes the character of this historical Muslim quarter.

Almuth Schellpeper
© Qantara 2004