THE ESTABLISHMENT AND EXPANSION OF ISLAM AT THE CAPE August 2015
THE ESTABLISHMENT AND EXPANSION
OF ISLAM AT THE CAPE
Contents:
1. Establishment of Islam at the Cape: 1652-1800
2. The
Growth of lslam in the 19th Century
3. Cape Islamic Expansion in the 20th Century
4. Regional Islamic Increase in the 21st
Century
Introduction
In this booklet I limit myself to the establishment and the expansion of Islam in the Western Cape. The former would then refer to the period up to approximately 1800 and the expansion
thereafter up to the present. The Indian Muslims, who came to the Cape mainly as traders, are not discussed here.
Likewise, the Ahmediyya Sect, which had some influence in the Cape between 1946 and
1965, has not been researched. The latter
group has
to be regarded as peripheral for the Western Cape.
Globally, the spread of Islam could be attributed to some extent to
the failure of the Church. Right from the pristine beginnings of
the religion
there was the
combination of doctrinal hair-splitting and
the lack of
committed Christians, who could show Muhammad the way to a living faith in Jesus. In general,
these factors also played some role. In
addition to that, there were also other growth factors at the Cape.
Ashley D.I. Cloete
July
2015
Contents
in more Detail
1. ESTABLISHMENT OF ISLAM AT THE CAPE: 1652-1800
Probably
the first Muslims who arrived at the Cape were the Mardyckers. The
word Mardycka implies freedom.[1] The
Mardyckers were free people from Amboyna, a south Moluccan island of the
Indonesian Archipelago. They were brought to the Cape to
protect the newly established settlement against the
indigenous people and to provide a labour force in the same way
as they had been employed first by the Portuguese and later by the Dutch colonial
government in Amboyna. The Mardyckers arrived
at the Cape in 1658.
Islam was introduced
to the Indonesian Archipelago by trade, via the sea and not by conquest. The Islamization
gathered momentum in the East after 1450
when Muslim traders from India began to settle in their
ports of call and married the local Indonesians. The penetration of Islam in
the region was accelerated initially as a
reaction to the Portuguese and later by fear of the growth of Dutch
power, described as‘a reaction to the militant Roman Catholicism that was propagated by
the Portuguese and the Calvinism of the Dutch’ (Boxer, The
Dutch Seaborne Empire, 1966:143). This induced the Indonesian rulers to strengthen
their ties with the Muslim rulers of lndia
and with the holy city of Mecca. Their religious practices and
activities - in terms of Dutch colonial policy - had been severely
restricted. Already in 1642 it was found necessary
to issue a 'Piacaat'
(decree) which prohibited them on pain of death from practising
their religion or converting heathens
or Christians, though they were allowed
to practise in private. To allow for the
practice or their religion at the Cape of
Good Hope, Johan Maetsuycker, the
Batavian Governor, re-issued the following
placaat:
'No one
shall trouble the Amboinese about
their religion or annoy them;
so long as they do
not practise in public or
venture to propagate it amongst Christian and Heathen
... ' (Cited by Aspeling, The
Malays of Cape Town, 1883:17).
Religious Exiles
The great influx of easterners
to the Cape of Good Hope
began in 1667. The year 1667 also saw the arrival of the
first religious exiles banished to the Cape. A plaque at the tomb
on 'Islam Hill' in Constantia
commemorate these men:
' ..
.They were rulers 'Orang Cayen', men of
wealth and influence .. .Two were sent to the Company's
forest and one to Robben Island.'
Because of their
isolation by the Dutch East India Company (DETC) or VOC (Vereenigde
Oost Indische Compagnie) - to minimise their chances of
escape - the prominent exiles hardly had any influence
on the establishment and spread of Islam at the
Cape (Davids, The
Mosques of Bo-Kaap, 1980:37). Probably
the best known of the Orang Cayen is
Shaykh Yusuf of Macassar. His real name was
Abidin Tadia Tjoessoep.
After his noble resistance
against the Dutch, Tjoessoep
was regarded as a 'kramat'- a saint.
As a political convict he was exiled to the Cape
of Good Hope in I694, coming here on board of the Voetboog.
Tjoessoep and his 49 followers were housed on the farm
Zandvliet, near the mouth of the Eerste River.
Here Tjoessoep's
settlement soon became a sanctuary for
fugitive slaves. In financing this project, the Dutch authorities
made a noteworthy contribution - albeit unintentionally of course - to the establishment
of Islam at the Cape (Davids, Imams and conflict Resolution Practices among the Cape Muslim in the Nineteenth Century, Kronos
22, Journal of Cape History, 1992:85). It was here
that the first cohesive Muslim community in South Africa was established.
But almost the entire community was shipped to
Indonesia after the death of Tjoessoep in May, 1699.
The Cape was officially
made a place of confinement for high-ranking prisoners in 1681.
Many slaves came from Ternate, a flourishing sultanate
in the Moluccas, some from Macassar in the Celebes. Of all the Indonesian political exiles brought
to the Cape Shaykh Yussuf (Tjoessoep) is regarded by some scholars as the
most important. Another exile sent
to an outlying area was
the Rajah (King)
of Tambora. He lived at
Vergelegen, Willem Adriaan van der Stel's
country residence. While at
Vergelegen, he wrote
the Qur‘ran from memory. His
isolation was very effective. Thus he hardly had contact with other easterners who were at the Cape
at the time. Throughout his banishment at the
Cape there is no evidence that
the Rajah of Tambora assisted to spread
Islam in any way (Shell, 1974:24). Some regents, kings, princes and more
radical freedom fighters
such as Achmat, Prince of Ternate and the Rajah (= King) of
Madura, were
sent to Robben Island.
The Slaves
In the
years after Van
Riebeeck's arrival in 1652,
the greatest problem for the new colonists was labour. After
1717 slave labour
was favoured and
immigration discouraged.
The result was that
in 1756 there were 5123 freemen
and 6387 slaves,
the majority of whom were Indonesian - many of these
were Muslim (Townsend, Bokaap
Faces and Fačades 1977:9).
By 1767 there
were so many
slaves
that the Company forbade
further import. Achmat Davids (1980:40) gives much credit
to the slaves for
establishing Islam at the southern tip of
the African continent. The spread of lslam in
Indonesia had
been slow. When
the Dutch took over, many areas still
practised animistic forms of
worship. To
avoid costly wars,
the Dutch avoided those
areas in the Archipelago where Islam had taken root.
The islands of
Bali, Timor, Buton,
Java and the Celebes, which were barely affected
by Islam in the early 1600s, were
the places from which the
Dutch obtained their slaves. Although
most Indonesians who arrived at the Cape
were slaves, 'Islam did not arrive as an established way of living but developed into one' (Townsend, 1977:11).
They were either recent
converts or pagan on arrival.
With the
exception of a few former soldiers
from Europe, the Indonesian
slaves were the only artisans in the town. Some slaves, on payment of a fee to their owners, lived
independently of them and worked wherever they wished in the
town. This freedom enabled them to attend or hold
religious meetings, a practice which kept the slaves in contact with one
another. Rochlin (Aspects of Islam in the nineteenth century, Bulletin
of the School of Oriental Studies,1939:214)
cites from the records of George Foster of 1777
that already in the 1770s a few of these slaves met weekly in a private
house belonging to a free Muslim 'in order to read, or
rather chant, several prayers and chapters of the Koran'.
The
religious element was added predominantly by the slaves from
Bengal, the Malabar Coast and the
mainland of India. From a numerical analysis of the origin of the slaves
who came to the Cape, Frank Bradlow deduced that 'a larger proportion came
from India' than from the 'Malay Archipelago'
(Bradlow and Cairns, The Early Cape Muslims,1978:83).
The contribution of these slaves on the religious front was however
all-important.
Unlike the
Indonesians, these slaves had a long tradition of Islam. In the 18th century
they were assisted by the slaves of the Celebes,
namely the Boughies albeit - with regard
to the latter - 'we can be very sceptical about their
knowledge of and commitment to the new
religion (Islam)' (Shell, 1974:11). But the
Bugies were among the most advanced people of the Archipelago. The most
prominent of the slaves from the Celebes was the slave imam Jan van Boughies.
The Convicts
Rob Shell (1974:50)
concludes that the biggest credit for establishing Islam at the Cape belongs
to the convicts. For many years the Cape was
used as a convict station. The first convict
who was sent to the Cape arrived in 1654.
Thereafter many convicts were brought
to the Cape. Some in chains
were required to work 'zonder
loon' (without pay) for periods ranging from ten years to life.
After the smallpox epidemic of 1713, the surviving
convicts were set free. In 1743 more convicts
were brought to the Cape as cheap labour
to build a new breakwater.
When the
sentences of the convicts expired, some returned to Indonesia, but the
majority stayed on at the Cape. When freed, these convicts formed part of the 'Vrijezwarten' community. They were the people greatly responsible
for the consolidation of Islam at the
Cape of Good Hope (Davids, 1980:42).
Together
with slaves they met in homes for Islamic prayer meetings.
Several of them possessed property and were financially independent
and formed a small Muslim clergy class.
The 'ulema' (clergy), consisted
of imams (priests)
and shaykhs (learned men) was led by the Tuans (Malay word for
teacher). Davids (1980:43) highlighted their
contribution ' ... the verve and enthusiasm, with
which they propagandised the religion ... their patience, perseverance
and hope in adverse conditions and at a time
when only the Dutch Reformed Church was
officially allowed to propagate and
worship freely.' The religion was spread by word of mouth
despite harsh DEIC laws which included confiscation of the slaves plus a stiff fine 'on all
who suffered their .. slaves to embrace the
tenets of Mohammedanism' (Shell, 1997:269)
citing from Theal 's Records…Vol. 9:13lf). Cape Islam
might have faded out - after the start given by Shaykh
Yusuf - if it were not for the new politico-religious
exiles who arrived in the 18th century.
The most prominent of these Cape Muslims were Said
Aloewie of Mocca in Yemen and Imam Abdullah Abdus Salaam. They are known
respectively as Tuan Said and Tuan Guru in the oral
traditions.
Tuan
Said was brought to the Cape in 1744, listed as a Mohammedaanse priest who was
sentenced to life in chains. He served a sentence of 11 years on
Robben Island before being brought to Cape
Town where he became a policeman. It was this job
which allowed him to visit the slave quarters
and propagandise Islam.
Tuan
Guru was brought to the Cape as a State prisoner
in 1780 from Tidore, which was a flourishing
Muslim Sultanate in the Moluccas. Tuan
Guru had a thorough understanding
of Islam, in contrast to other Cape Indonesians.
One of his first accomplishments
was the writing of the Qur‘ran from memory for the use of the Cape Muslims (Zwemer, Islam at Cape Town, The
Muslim World, Volume XV: 1925:564). Tuan
Guru also wrote M'arifatul lslami wali mani (Manifestations
of Islam and faith) in 1781 while he was imprisoned on Robben
Island.
The occult Element
The religious
convicts added the occult element well before their
graves were turned into shrines through Sufism. Dangor (1994:55) highlighted that
Shaykh Yusuf, who is generally regarded as the founder of Islam at the Cape, belonged
to the Khalwatiyyah Sufi order. He was also
regarded as a ' wali
Allah' (friend of God) by the people of Maccasar from where he hailed. There
they bestowed on him the nickname of Toewang
Salamah (the blessed Master). Da Costa (in Da Costa and Davids, Pages from Cape Muslim History, 1994:22) notes 'There can be little doubt that as the
paramount spiritual director of the Khalwatiyyah order, Shaykh Yusuf must have used
the practices of that order as the social
glue with which to keep these structures intact.' Lubbe (Robben Island: The early years of Muslim Resistance, Kronos, 12, 1987:51) pointed out
that South African Muslims commemorate the Rajah
(King) whose grave on Robben Island was turned into a shrine at quite an early stage - not with
his Javanese title, but as Shaykh Madura. This denotes that he was one
of the Sufi leaders. Lubbe claimed (1987:54) that
'it is today commonly acknowledged that it was mainly due to the
presence of the Sheiks of Tasawwuw' (Sufism) that Islam was initially
established.' The Sufi orders have had
a vital role in the establishment and spread of Islam
through the centuries, as Da Costa (Islam in Greater Cape Town (Doctoral thesis), 1989:50) says: 'The
orders, binding together individuals
under a supernatural bond, were themselves a
social power.' The mystical practice of the
commemorating days after the death of Cape Muslims is today
so common that local Muslims would possibly regard this as belonging to orthodox Islam. Occult elements were
linked to the graves of the saints on the
authority of no less than the Holy Prophet of Islam himself,
e.g, that 'the grave of a Wali is unlike that of an ordinary person. their
bodies do not decay or perish, but remain intact and fresh' (Guide
to the Kramats ... , 1996:12). About a saint buried in the Muizenberg mountain it is reported that
'the grave was discovered by a lady who was
directed to it in a dream' (Guide to the Kramats ..., 1996:12). In general, Cape Muslims never doubted that
supernatural powers were operating at the shrines. However, the Islamic
community is divided on the value of prayers
at these shrines.[2] Yusuf da Costa, has showed quite conclusively (e.g.
his contribution The influence of Tasawwuf on Islamic Practices at the Cape,
Da Costa and Davids, 1994:129) how
Sufism influenced Capetonian Islam extensively. Like possibly no other Muslims,
Sufis believe in the love of God. “The
earliest Sufis... saw that obedience to God must be a heart response rather
than mere observance... They laid great stress on a personal experience of
God”, responding to Him with love. (NazirAli, Islam: a Christian Perspective,
1983:61). An occult
element became part and parcel of Folk Islam at the Cape, e.g. with the
commemoration of the deceased - 7, 40 and 100 days after their death.
Ancestor Worship and Witchcraft
Since
times immemorial
ancestor worship had been practised in primal
religions, and still is being done all over
the world. It is said that an early Cape imam
foresaw prophetically that a 'holy circle' of shrines would come about. That imam is reputed to have
stated that all Muslims who live within a holy circle of tombs 'will be free of fire,
famine, plague, earthquake and tidal wave'. Witchcraft is part of such a setting.
Islamic talismans were added. The link between Cape
Islam and the occult is typified by one of their great pioneers, Paay Schaapje (Shaykh Nuruman),
who was banished to the Cape. It was asserted that
Shaykh Nuruman, sent to Robben Island in 1770, gave talismans
in Malay script to runaway slaves. The Islamic
clergyman acquired the reputation that he
not only gave advice to slaves, but that he could prophesy the future and protect the Cape Muslims from evil. Islam profited in I785 when two
slaves ran away from Cape Town with an
Islamic talisman, which they said they had obtained
from a 'Mohammedan
priest' to protect them
from capture. Shaykh Nuruman was possibly the Muslim clergyman referred to.
The
contribution of Shaykh Nuruman to the establishment and initial spread of
Islam, has generally been
grossly underrated. The
combination of being a Sufi priest with
occult powers of witchcraft, as well as being a champion
for the human rights of the oppressed, must have made him immensely popular among
the slaves (Lubbe, Robben Island: The early years of Muslim Resistance, 1987:54). Davids (1985:39 ) wrote about
Shaykh Nuruman: 'He went about teaching Islam, instilling hope in his community while they were suffering.' No wonder that he became a
thorn in the flesh of the authorities
and was therefore promptly despatched to
Robben Island. It was on this foundation on which Tuan Guru's Marifatul Islami wal Iman. (Manifestations
of Islam and faith) could build, adding the philosophical element and including in his treatise a discussion
of amulets and sacred
cures. Islam became even more popular among slaves, a religion where they could
overcome the class barriers and be equal with others.
In Christian circles there has been general indifference until
today - possibly due to Western rationalism - to the idea that the shrines worked in
coalition with other forces for the protection
of Islam. Dr LD.
Du Plessis was an exception. He mentioned as a
matter of course the supernatural power of
water which had been left at the Kramat of Shaykh Yusuf in Macassar.
He was evidently also aware of the demonic origins
of the special powers of the doekoems
- Muslim sorcerers. Already in his book
of 1939 Die
Maleise Samelewing aan die Kaap, Dr.
I.D. Du Plessis remarked casually - not critically
at all - how the doekoem received 'bonatuurlike kragte in ruil vir sy siel om middernag op die kerkhof'[3] (Du Plessis, 1939:22). The uncritical
stance of Du
Plessis is not completely
surprising. The apartheid ideology flourished
in the Afrikaner circles from which Du Plessis originated. He was a member of the Afrikaner
Broederbond. Devout Christians in the three Afrikaans churches were uneasy
about the secretive aspects of this organisation and Freemasonry, but
the demonic roots of the latter movement had not been generally recognized.
The Colonists
In the 18th century, the Dutch colonists
contributed to quite an extent to the spread of Islam through their rejection
of slaves. The increase of
Muslims was a matter of concern for the Dutch authorities who now tried to control their numbers through
legislation. Among the decrees which had
been issued was one which prohibited the
sale of baptised Christian slaves and the
circumcision of male slaves. In the Chapter on 'Slaves' in the
Statutes of lndia of 10 April 1770, Article nine, states:
The Christians are held bound to
instruct their slaves ... without compulsion in
the Christian Religion, and have them baptized, ... and such as may have been confirmed in the Christian Religion, shall never be sold ...
The
application of the decree proved to be
counterproductive. Many slave owners at the Cape interpreted this as a threat to their
property, believing
that their slaves would become free
if they were Christianized.
These slave owners thereafter neglected every form of Christian instruction for
their slaves. Percival (An Account of the Cape of Good
Hope, London, 1804:275)
gathered the same information from hearsay as the chief motive to deny baptism. The
total registered population at the Cape in 1775 was 12,000. Approximately
half of this number was slaves, many of whom had become Muslim. By 1800, the
pews in the Groote Kerk of Cape Town, which
had been reserved traditionally for the use of slaves, were
empty Sunday after Sunday (Marais, 1939:168).
To be fair to the colonists we have
to mention that Marais said in the same
context: 'At this
very time the new interest in missionary work began
to make itself felt on behalf of
the slaves'. The South African Missionary Society (SAMS), which
was formed in 1799, from its
beginnings concentrated on the slaves.
Rochlin (Aspects of Islam in the nineteenth century, Bulletin
of the School of Oriental Studies,1939:216)
points to another reason:
'The proprietors do
not in general discourage
the embracing of Mohammedanism. They probably
prefer to have slaves of this persuasion in their wine-sellers, from the sobriety
which their religion inculcates.'
In the same context he shows that the
colonists, fearing the loss of their
property, even encouraged the spread of Islam among
them, claiming that a sober slave is an
asset around the house.
2. THE GROWTH OF ISLAM IN THE 19th CENTURY
In 1812 the tragic clause around the baptism of slves was
repealed by the governor, John Cradock, but other legislation
reinforced the slave-owners' belief that
Christianising their slaves was another way of emancipating them. In 1817
legislation
was modified to provide elementary education for
Christian slave children, but this remained burdensome to the owners. By 1823 it
was decreed that Christian slave children should be sent to government free
schools, but this was not observed by the
owners.
Objection
to Baptism as a Growth Factor
The
Christian education of the slaves in the colony was high on the agenda of the South African Missionary Society (SAMS).
When objection to baptism became known to them, they had
to act. Despairingly Rev. Vos of Tulbagh, its leader and spokesman, wrote to the authorities on the 9th of March 1812:
Sir! Exclusive
of the false prejudice of the
so-called Christians ... there is another obstacle in this
country to the progress of Christianity ... 'tis, namely that a slave who is baptized may not be sold. This circumstance is the occasion that the
proprietors of
slaves, who
may possess truly Christian hearts ... object to their being baptized
(Cited
from Theal's Records of the Cape Colony by Shell, 1974:43).
Neglect of religious Instruction
The neglect of religious instruction was
also extended by the slave owners to the slave children, 'for fear of them being lost to them on their
becoming Christians' (cited by Shell, 1974:43).
The slave-owners offered many explanations why slaves were not receiving Christian
education. The most important one was that
there were no suitable buildings for this purpose.
The sincerity of these excuses has to be
doubted. The suggestion of Aspeling (The
Malays of Cape Town, 1883:3) about the slave-owners seems to be more to the point: 'studying their own intents, (they) preferred
their slaves embracing
the Mohometan faith, in which case they
would remain in bondage.' Bird, a colonial official, came to the same conclusion. Writing in
1822, he notes that
whenever one asked a
slave why he had become Muslim, the reply was:
'some religion he must have and
he is not
allowed to tum Christian ' (Bird, State of the Colony, 1822:349).
Obstacles as a rallying Point for the Muslims
In the very early
years of the Cape of Good Hope,
racial prejudice was less common amongst
the colonists. 'Multi-racial
marriages were common
occurrences, land grants to
people of colour were made
adjacent to land granted to Whites,
the first
secular school
had a distinctive
multi-racial character, and
at least the Governor, Simon van
der Stel, had eastern blood
mixed in his veins' (Davids,
1987:60). Perceptions were however changing
fast. Already after the wedding of Krotoa,
who became Eva
after her baptism to Pieter van Meerhoff in
1664, it was deemed a disgrace for colonists to marry someone
of colour.
The Cape,
as part of the Indian Empire
of the Dutch East
India Company, was
governed in terms of
the Statutes of India. The latter were quite severe
on Islam. The religion was only tolerated at
the Cape, but great
difficulties were placed in the way of Muslims.
They were denied citizen rights, their marriages were declared unlawful and they
needed special permission to remain
in the Cape Colony. This facilitated
the separation of
mothers from children -another reason for Christian slave owners
to encourage their slaves to embrace
Islam (Shell,
1997:273). Their homes were entered and
searched by the police at their discretion and without warrants.
A side effect of these
measures was that it cemented the common Islamic bond as
repressive measures through the ages have always done.
Differences in worship
distanced the Muslim slaves from the White colonists at
the dawn of the nineteenth century. Racial discrimination
was soon added to religious prejudice. The colonists came to regard their white
skin as a symbol of supremacy and a dark pigmentation spelled inferiority.
The roots of this racial
discrimination can be found in the class differentiation which had developed in
Western Europe. At the Cape the economic differences were compounded
by racial differences, with the Cape Muslims doubly disadvantaged.
But their economic deprivation aligned them with the other disadvantaged of the
society at the time - the other slaves and the Free Blacks. They shared
with them a similar bondage,
racial oppression and a similar
social background.
The unifying factor of
oppression aided the founding of the first Cape Muslim religious school in 1793
(Davids, 1987:62). The school - more than any other factor at this
time - was the major contributor to slaves being converted to Islam. By 1807
the school had an enrolment of 372
slave and free Black students.
This number increased to 491 in 1825 (Davids,
1987:62).
Things improved for the
underprivileged especially in
the period after the promulgation of Ordonnance 1828,
which put everybody on equal
footing before the law. This was followed by the
municipal franchise in 1839 and parliamentary vote in terms of the new constitution
of 1853. But these measures were still qualified.
Thus of the 6435 Muslims in Cape
Town at the time, 830 qualified to vote in 1842,
a little
less than 50% of the total registered number of
voters (Davids, 1937:62).
The Cape Muslims
were initially disinterested in
the political structures, perhaps
because they were pre-occupied with the consolidation
of Islam in the region. 'From
their perception,
the granting of religious
freedom was not
a right but a privilege,
granted by the
infidel authority and liable
to be withdrawn at his
whim and fancy' (Davids, 1987:62).
They realised
in due course that it was only in terms of numbers that they
could make an impact on the society
at the Cape.
This called for active propagation
of Islam among the section
of the community where they
could expect the
most appeal, among the
slaves and the Free Blacks.
The Behaviour and Attitude of Cape
Christians
The majority of the
materialistic colonists rejected the slaves, even in the Groote Kerk and the Lutheran Church.
Towards the end of the 18th century the Dutch
Reformed minister of
Stellenbosch, Meent Borcherds, made no secret of his opposition
to mission work. Du Plessis referred to the growing negativity
between the colonists and missionaries, which became 'a mighty barrier of suspicion and hatred' (Du Plessis, 1911:78).
But
there were also exceptions to the rule. Rev. Michiel Vos of
Caledon, after his return from a missionary
stint in Ceylon, reported about the
celebration of the Lord's Supper with baptized
slaves in his congregation: 'some slave-owners even
chose to sit at the
same table as their slaves.' That was quite
revolutionary for the time.
Unfortunately
occasions
like these were very isolated. Thus Rev. Sanders
could write in a letter, (cited in Lightfoot, 1900:33) ' ... the black man
has no desire
to enter into the
Christian
faith, whose gates have been long shut against them
.. .The black man ... prefers joining with those who have been his friends in distress ...
' The separation of families must surely have been one of
the factors towards this attitude.
Where family ties could be broken at the mere whim of
the slave-owner, the family as an institution had little chance
to get a positive image.
Indicative
of
the attitude of colonists - which continued
long after slave emancipation - was an example how
the wife of a company official, the Fiscal Johannes Truter (who became the Chief Justice) used her house slaves. They had to
'carry her holy book and footstool to the door of
God's house, but when they arrive,
their load is taken from them, the door is shut
upon them, and
they are bound to wait in the street
until the service is
concluded: then they bear back the proud mistress'
stool and the
blessed book .. .' (Theal, Records of the Cape Colony, XXIX:221-222). The case of Truter is
especially very sad if one considers that
he had close links to the evangelical Z.A. Gesticht. The SAMS was indirectly implicated in a criminal case which can be regarded as a macabre precursor of the Steve Biko death
in custody of 1977.
Spadille, a Muslim slave, was sent to prison. He
had been accused of stealing some of Chief Judge Truter's shirts.
The slave was flogged so terribly that he died
in police custody.
Truter abused his authority to
influence the
jail surgeon to
declare that Spadille died a natural
death. Thereafter
the unfortunate Spadille was buried ' in
the darkness of the night, and silently put into the ground' (Theal, Records of the Cape Colony, XXIX:222).
If the
condescending and negative attitude of White Christians could be regarded as
the rule at the end of the 19th century, there were however also exceptions.
Eric Aspeling, a Cape Colonist, wrote for instance: ‘Care should be taken not
to excite or wound the Malays by using harsh or satirical expressions in
discussing religious questions with them’ (Aspeling,1883:18).
Efforts by the Early Muslim
Community
In the light of the repressive Statutes of India, the remarkable courage and dedication of the early Cape Muslims need to be appreciated.
Men like Tuan
Guru, Tuan Said and the other imams of the time not only used their homes for worship, but also instructed others. They
propagandised Islam at great peril to their lives and their limited freedom.
The 19th century dawned with great hope for the
Muslim community at the Cape. After !50 years of intense
struggle to establish their religion in this region, they were now on the verge of a breakthrough. In an atmosphere of partial tolerance and racial prejudice, Islam started to emerge as the religion of
the slaves in Cape Town. The first step in this direction was the
establishment of the Dorp Street Madressa (Koran School) in 1793 (Davids, 1992:87), linked to the release of Tuan Guru. This
religious school was established with very few students, but the number
increased so rapidly that soon - in 1794 - a mosque was required.
From the
first British occupation in 1795, things were beginning to turn favourably
towards them. They approached the British commander for permission to erect a
mosque, because 'the obstruction to the free exercise
of their religion was prejudicial to the conduct of the
lower classes' (Davids, 1987:59). General Craig readily
agreed to their request. When Batavian rule came in 1803, they could fall back
on this commitment, which finally led to the second Muslim
sanctuary, the Palm Tree Mosque in Long Street
(1807).
The
school and the mosques were the first religious
institutions of the Cape Muslims. The accommodation in the same
premises 'made this joint institution
a convenient vehicle and cultural ecological base for the transmission of Islamic socio-cultural ideas in
the slave community' (Davids, 1992:87).
The
phenomenal success of these institutions can be attributed to the efforts
and philosophy of the founder, Imam Abdullah ibn Kadi Abdus Salaam, who is
much better known by the name Tuan Guru. His
philosophical theology united the slaves and free Blacks. It also provided a possibility of
social mobility as well as a fair degree of protection
for the slaves from the possible harsh treatment of their
Free Black slave-masters (Davids, 1992:87). Tuan
Guru's M'arifatul lslami wali mani
(Manifestations of Islam and faith) had become the main
text book of the school and also became
the main reference book of the Cape Muslim community during
the nineteenth century (Davids, 1992:88).
Rochlin (Aspects of Islam in the nineteenth century, Bulletin
of the School of Oriental Studies,1959:50)
points out that Qur'ans were already available for local
religious purposes before 1806.
A system
of social relations evolved through Tuan Guru's writings and efforts.
The slaves and Free Black slave-owners co-existed
harmoniously. In terms of this system, it was possible for a slave to be
appointed as imam. Evidence exists which shows that slaves this
happened (Davids, 1992:88). Davids's proposition in this context that this was ‘certainly
more than what Christianity had to offer the slaves during the same period of our history,'
must be termed an understatement.
The nearest the Christians
came to this was the intention of the Dutch
missionary Johannes van der Kemp. He was eager to train
African missionaries to be used on a par with Whites, and even
to put them in charge of mission stations.
But this attitude was reversed early in the
19th century. The Moravians and the Wesleyans (Methodists)
appeared to have been the exception, to make consistent
use of indigenous people to spread
the Gospel.
.
The Muslim slaves
themselves also played a role in the spread
of Islam. Owners of domestic slaves preferred them because of their sober
habits. Another factor for the owners to encourage Islam was the fact that the best artisans
in Cape Town were Muslim: 'the artisans
set an example of industry which the owners
wished their slaves would follow' (Shell, 1974:47). The
adoption of destitute White children by charitable Malay women and the
direct addition of 'renegade white men and women' (Lightfoot, 1900:30) also
accounted for the swelling of the numbers of Muslims.
Shell (1983) categorized
the conversion of slaves. He distinguishes
between domestic and extrinsic conversion. Under
the former group..., there are the adoption of orphans, the purchase
of slaves who later adopted Islam and then there was
marriage. Extrinsic conversion occured when
someone adopted the dress of Muslims or claimed
to have been a Malay to obtain a favoured
job or to send his children to the madressa
schools. Shell (1983:34) also refers to the elaborate display of the Cape Muslim
burial as a factor for conversion for 'many potential
converts who contemplated both the Christian and
Muslim modes of internment... Unlike the Calvinist burial, the
Muslim ceremony was never a private affair; no one was excluded ... dignity
and care were bestowed on the dead of their flock.'
On the
other hand, there were also reports by word of mouth which were not favourable.
As early as 1804, Percival (1804:288) reports with
some substantiation: ' The slaves of the Malay race ... are extremely vindictive, treacherous
and ferocious; ... They are indeed a scourge to the
people they come amongst.' Even if this prejudicial judgement appears to have
been quite common, it does not seem to have affected
the spread of Islam negatively. In fact, if this was the
opinion of many colonists, it might
even have become counterproductive, in terms of
missionary prowess. Many representatives of
African tribes were willingly received into the Islamic brotherhood, with a
saying going around that 'De Slamse kerk is de zwarte mans Kerk'
(Lightfoot, 1900:30). Bird (1822:349) reported that ‘more converts among Negroes and Blacks
of every description’ are made from Paganism to the Muslim faith than to the Christian religion.
It is generally
agreed that the period of most rapid growth of Islam at the Cape was the
period between 1800 and the final
emancipation of slaves in 1838 (Shell, 1974:36). From a relatively small community in the beginning of the nineteenth century,
the Cape Muslim community grew to
a third of the population of Cape Town, about 6435 persons in 1842.
Liberalism at the Cape
Changes in Cape Town were bound to come with
the advent of the 19th century. As a result of the French Revolution, a spirit
of liberalism had emerged in Europe
which the Cape administration
could no longer ignore.
Janssens and de Mist, the new Governors on
behalf of the Batavian Republic in 1803, had been greatly influenced by the
spirit of liberalism. During their short rule, they
introduced liberal measures, among which was the granting of religious freedom
on 25th July, 1804.
The Cape Muslim community was riding on the
crest of the wave. 'With
the availability of five prayer
rooms, a burial
ground having been granted to Frans van Bengalen in 1805 by the authorities, and an
active Muslim school together
with freedom of worship and conversion without concealment, Islam in the Western
Cape really took root' (Davids,1980:47).
The spirit of liberalism, started by
Janssens and De Mist, was
continued by the British rulers.
In 1828, with the promulgation of Ordinance 50, the
Hottentots' Liberties Ordinance,
a process was set in
motion that augured well for all people of colour
even though it hardly influenced racial and
religious prejudice. At the time of the emancipation
of slaves in
1834, Islam was a flourishing religion in the Western Cape. Even in the country
districts - notably :n
Worcester and Paarl,
their numbers were increasing
(Shell, 1974:46).
The Role of Malayu as a unifying Language
Davids shows quite conclusively that the use of
a common language was a major
factor in the spread of Islam at
the Cape. The
language spoken by the Indonesians was Malayu. This language contributed
to the growth and unity of
the slave culture, which
was very religious, and attracted
non-Muslims as well. It provided a
bond for the Indonesians and a spur
for the growth of Muslim Culture
at the Cape.
Furthermore, as Shell (1974:39) points out, 'The language
certainly acted as a bar to the Christian
religion being propagated
among these Indonesians ... ' He quotes a colonial official in 1828 from Theal's Records (35:370): 'the slaves should be
assembled in a
separate place of worship and ...
a preacher, who understood
the Malay language, be appointed
by the government in the same
manner as is observed at Batavia, for their
special instruction.' There was however not reacted
upon this advice. This might have been influenced by the disappointment of
William Elliot, who at
least knew Arabic. It seems
that Elliot was not able to win the
trust of the Muslims. The Mission to Muhammedans stopped with
his resignation in 1828. Furthermore, hereafter 'all arriving missionaries leap-frogged
the heavily Islamized town to go to more successful
and frontier missions among the indigenous
peoples' (Shell, 1997:275).
The Cape Muslim
community used the common slave language Malayu to its full potential at the expense of the Christian
churches, who did not grasp the
importance of conveying religious ideas in a language easily
understood by the slaves. After Petrus Kalden and
Georg Schmidt -
respectively in the 1690s and
1737 - the new
Moravian missionaries at
Genadendal seemed to have
been the exception at the Cape
to realise the importance
of language sufficiently as a vehicle
of communication to impart religious values
and tenets at the turn of the century.[4]
Malayu was
spoken and written in Arabic
script at the religious school.
The slaves who were brought from South-East Asia to the Cape, could speak Malayu. This was already the religious
language of
the eastern slaves in
South-East Asia, prior to the
Dutch invasion of the islands.
However, Malayu did not remain the prime language very
long. The
slaves were required to communicate in
Dutch. This Dutch became creolised to form
the spoken Afrikaans of the Cape Muslim community,
and started to replace Malayu - possibly already from 1815
- as the language of instruction at the Muslim religious school. Soon
it also became the written language,
albeit in Arabic
script. The development of the new
language in the circles of the
other disadvantaged
of the society at the time
aided Islam. Their early use of Afrikaans
gave the Cape Muslim community a distinct
advantage over the other religious
groups in Cape
Town during the nineteenth century. The spoken language at
home was the same language
used in the mosque. This helped considerably
to attract converts who were not
comfortable in High Dutch or
English (Davids, 1987:70). By
1823 there was already another mosque and
a large religious school in Long Street in use for some time, as well as several smaller madaris or
religious schools (Imperial Blue
Book, 1835:210). By 1832 there were at least 12 madaris
conducted from the homes of
imams in Cape
Town (Cape Almanac, 1832).
[1] According to Bỏeseken,
Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape, 1977:77 they were called ' vrije
zwarten of mardijkers'
[2] Satanists also have their strongholds on
the heights,
e.g. at the fittingly named
Devil's Peak and
at Rhodes
Memorial.
[3] Translation: that the
witch doctor received supernatural
powers on the cemetery at
midnight in exchange for
his soul.
[4] Ds. Frans Lion Cachet took over at the Ebenhaezer
Church in Rose Street after the sudden death of Rev. Vogelgezang. This parish was at this time linked to the Congregational Church (Cachet,
1875:82).Ds. Frans Lion Cachet initiated the remarkable innovation of teaching
Arabic to the pupils. This was a display of keen insight since the Arabic
script was common at the time among the Muslim slaves. He also had evening
classes with the intention of enabling the children and adult pupils to read
and understand the Qur’an and to judge for themselves. Furthermore, two of
the recruited Dutch teachers, Arnoldus Pannevis and Cornelis P. Hoogenhout,
became staunch fighters for the Bible in the vernacular of the poor that would
ultimately become the language Afrikaans.
posted by Ashrose at
6:33 AM
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