This is widely called South Africa's first mosque, and its first imam is believed to have written the Quran from memory, in prison. It is the Auwal Mosque, in the Bo-Kaap district of Cape Town.
Tuan Guru was a prince from the island of Tidore, in what is now Indonesia. In 1780, the Dutch rulers of the Cape sent him to Robben Island as a political prisoner. While imprisoned, he also wrote a long book on Islamic teaching.
Freed in 1793, he opened an Islamic school in a warehouse on Dorp Street, and taught both slaves and free people. Muslims were not allowed to build a mosque, so they prayed in a disused quarry.
Then the warehouse became a mosque. Most sources date it to 1794, though a heritage report says 1797. The land is linked to Coridon van Ceylon, a freed slave.
In 1804, the Cape's rulers granted freedom of worship for the first time. Tuan Guru died in 1807, aged ninety-five, and was buried at Tana Baru, the old Muslim cemetery of the Bo-Kaap. That year, a dispute over leadership led to a second mosque, the Palm Tree Mosque.
The building you see today looks very different from the original. It was rebuilt in the 1930s, a minaret was added, and only two of the original walls remain.
Inside, a handwritten Quran attributed to Tuan Guru is on display. It is still a working mosque, with an Islamic school for children.
It was constructed in 1794 during the first British occupation of the Cape on land belonging to Coridon van Ceylon, a Vryezwarten (freed Black Muslim slave). Coridon's daughter, Saartjie van de Kaap, inherited the property that was being used as a warehouse, and donated it for the use as South Africa's first mosque. The mosque was constructed in 1794 with renovations completed in 1907 and extensive renovations done in 1936. It is the first mosque to observe public prayers and is where Cape Muslim traditions and the Arabic-Afrikaans language were first taught. It remains a symbol for Muslims of the recognition of Islam and the freedom of slaves to worship.
Qadi Abdussalam, affectionately known as Tuan Guru, was appointed the first imam. Tuan Guru was a religious leader and political prisoner. While in prison, he wrote the entire Quran from memory. This Quran is on display at the Auwal Mosque. Tuan Guru also used the mosque as a madrasa, or "religious" school, where he instructed both children and adults in matters of Islam. After Guru's death, Saartjie van de Kaap's husband, Achmad of Bengal, assumed the position of imam. This position was to be held by members of his family until the last imam from this family, Gasan Achmat, died in 1980. The position has since been filled by many imams, including the likes of Sheikh Salih Abadi. Currently, Moulana Mugammad Carr and Sheikh Ismail Londt are joint imams.
Due to a dispute as to who was to be the next imam of the congregation, a portion of the Auwal congregation split off in 1807 and formed Cape Town's second mosque, the Palm Tree Mosque on Long Street.
The History, Architecture and later sections are adapted from the Wikipedia article “Auwal Mosque”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article. Text has been shortened.
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