Islamic Studies in South Africa

Abstract

Background of South African Islam
In 1994, South Africans will celebrate three centuries of Islam in
South Africa. Credit for establishing Islam in South Africa is usually
given to Sheikh Yusuf, a Macasser prince who was exiled to South Africa
for leading the resistance against the Dutch colonization of Malaysia. The
fitst Muslims in South Africa, however, were actually slaves who had
been imported, beginning in 1677, mainly from India, the Indonesian
archipelago, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, by the Dutch colonists living in the
Cape. The Cape Muslim community, popularly but inaccurately known
as "Malays" and known under apattheid as "Coloreds," is the oldest Muslim
community in South Africa. The other major Muslim community was
established over a century later by indentured laborers and tradespeople
from northern India, a minority of whom weae Muslims. The majority of
South African Indian Muslims, classified as "Asians" or "Asiatics," now
live in Natal and Tramvaal. The third ethnically identifiable group, classified
as "Aftican" or "Black," consists mainly of converts or their
descendants. Of the entire South African Muslim population, roughly 49
percent are "Coloreds," nearly 47 pement are "Asians," and, although statistics
regarding "Africans" ate generally unreliable, it is estimated that
they are less than 4 percent. Less than 1 percent is "White."
Contributions to South African Society
Although Muslims make up less that 2 petcent of the total population,
their presence is highly visible. There ate over twenty-five mosques in
Cape Town and over one hundred in Johannesburg, making minarets as
familiar as church towers Many are histotic and/or architectuml monuments.
More importantly, Muslims ate uniquely involved in the nation's
cultwe and economy. The oldest extant Afrikaans-language manuscripts
are in the Arabic script, for they ate the work of Muslim slaves writing
in the Dutch patois. South African historian Achrnat Davids has traced
many linguistic elements of Afrikaans, both in vocabulary and grammar,
to the influence of the Cape Muslims. Economically, the Indian Muslims
axe the most affluent, owing primarily to the cirmmstances under which
they came to South Africa. Muslim names on businesses and buildings
are a familiar sight in all major cities and on those UniveAty campuses
that non-Whites were allowed to attend during apartheid ...