In the far reaches of the African continent, the south of the country of South Africa, coastal Cape Town is located. Its diverse area extends over a mixture of a group of tall mountains that surround the city as well as two vast oceans that protect it from several sides, overlooked by the graves of the first Muslims who came to the city, as a witness to their first recorded arrival. In the country's history, which was after the Dutch settled in the region in the 17th century.
The arrival of the Muslims was under the supervision and leadership of the Dutch East India Company, which took a rest and passage station for itself in Cape Town for its ships that were trading between the Netherlands and India. They were imprisoned on charges of inciting riots against the Dutch government, and the Supreme Court in Batavia (now the Indonesian island of Java) sentenced them to exile and evacuation, according to what journalist and historian Shafik Morton indicated.
The most diverse Islamic community
A visitor to Cape Town cannot miss the beauty and charm of the bright colors of the homes of the "Bukab" (over the head) neighborhood, known as the "Muslim Quarter" since the 18th century, which is located at the foot of the city's famous "Table" Mountain.
The early inhabitants of the neighborhood arrived from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as other Asians who were slaves.
Among the arrivals were politicians exiled and convicted of crimes, as well as skilled craftsmen, religious leaders and scholars who passed on their knowledge to new generations in South Africa.
Morten says, in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, that the first recorded Muslim in the history of South Africa was Ibrahim Batavia, who arrived as a political prisoner and prisoner, and then continued to enter Muslims, most of whom were political prisoners and detainees and were forbidden from showing their religion or inviting others to it.
He also emphasized that Muslims who arrived in South Africa as slaves did not come only from Indonesia but from West North Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka, in addition to India, adding that in the late period of the British occupation, more than 50% of the Muslim population were Africans.
Morton said that the prevalence of blessing and "dignities" in Cape Town is evidence of the existence of scholars and their positive impact on the Muslim and non-Muslim community, and their graves are still present and taken care of as a reminder of their history and their life stations.
Morton explains the role of political detainees in entering Islam (Al-Jazeera)
Diversity facing occupations
Ibrahim Rasul, the former governor of Cape Town and former ambassador of South Africa to the United States, says that the Muslim flocks who were deported from Indonesia to Cape Town followed, then, to Sheikh Sayed Mahmoud, and those with him from his family and friends.
Mahmud was the owner of the Sufi order from a family of arithmetic and lineage in Indonesia, and that is why he was not imprisoned, but he was exiled away from the city, as it was enough in the eyes of the Dutch to banish him from his homeland where he was threatening their rule there, and yet he remained under their watch.
From here began the first emergence of an Islamic society in South Africa.
Rasul returned to say that Imam Abdullah bin Qadir bin Abd al-Salam al-Sufi, who had contributed to the struggle against the English occupation, was imprisoned on the same Robben Island where the late President Nelson Mandela was exiled, and he wrote the Qur’an in his handwriting as well.
A messenger who worked as South Africa’s ambassador to Washington and was a parliamentary member of the National Assembly and won the Mandela Prize for Health and Human Rights (Al Jazeera)
After many decades, Rasul himself was one of the fighters against the apartheid regime in South Africa, and he participated in the struggle against "apartheid", which led him to imprisonment and house arrest before the collapse of the apartheid regime in 1993, where he became a special advisor to Mandela later.
It is noteworthy that the first truly democratic elections in South Africa, which Mandela won, reflected positively on the Muslim community as Muslims began to take their political and social rights, and their influence and influence extended further in the fabric of society, in appreciation of their participation and sacrifice in the struggle against the occupations of the sixties, seventies and eighties of the last century And more recently, against the apartheid regime.
This was reflected in the relative weight of the Islamic component, especially the Indians, in the first government formation following the democratic transition in South Africa in 1994, where Rasul explained that the ministry included more than 4 Muslim ministers, and there were about 10 Muslim ambassadors representing their countries. Abroad.
The former Cape Town governor added that some Muslim personal status legislation, drawn from Islamic law, had been passed.
A journey of prosperity in the Cape
According to historians, the early Muslims greatly contributed to the formation of the fabric of Muslim and non-Muslim South African society from the beginning of the introduction of Islam and then its spread, until the stage of fighting occupations and the apartheid regimes that passed through the country.
And one of the most prominent symbols of the stage of struggle, with the people of the country, was Imam Abdullah Harun, who was born in 1924 in the southern neighborhoods of Cape Town and traveled to Mecca to receive Islamic studies.
It is considered one of the symbols of the Islamic struggle against the apartheid regime, according to Qasim Khan, Director of the Imam Harun Foundation.
Qasim Khan explains the role of Imam Harun in opposing the apartheid regime (Al-Jazeera)
Khan explained, in his interview with Al Jazeera Net, that the participation of Muslims in South Africa in the struggle against apartheid has exceeded its size, in terms of being a minority in the state, but its impact was so great that you do not find violence against Muslims and discrimination against them, at the present time, Out of respect and appreciation for their work, and because the image they presented to the Muslims was very noble, according to what he referred to.
Muslims have an influential political presence on the level of regional and international issues, in addition to their active participation, including the clear role of the Muslim community in the Earth Summit and its interaction to counter Israel's participation in it, which prompted the United States to withdraw in solidarity with Tel Aviv, where Muslims were able, in cooperation with Associations opposing racial discrimination, organizing demonstrations against Israel and America, and in support of the Palestinian cause, during the summit.
The matter was repeated in the position taken by the Muslim community on the anti-terrorism law, as many Islamic organizations confirmed their rejection of the law, and considered such legislation not only unnecessary, but also threatening the basic freedoms for which the opponents of the apartheid regime had long fought, and that they were fully compliant. To American pressure.
The Muslims participated in the current federal government with ministers, deputies and a number of ambassadors, and the constitution had been amended earlier to make the country multi-religious, not Christian, as was the case in the past.