Abstract
South Africa’s Muslims, who form an integral part of a secular society that has been affected by the respective imperialist and apartheid governments’ series of discriminatory policies between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, like other religious minorities have been working toward building a democratic nation during the post-apartheid period. Since they have used all their resources at their disposal to make their inputs at different levels of the South African society during this period, this chapter intends to share their experience by providing an overview of their contribution. However, before doing the latter, the chapter aims to narrate this community’s evolution. The chapter, moreover, plans to address the South African Muslim identity by (a) reflecting on developments during the first part of the century that form part of the imperial era (circa 1910–1948), (b) assessing their activities during the apartheid era (circa 1948–1994), and (c) zooming in on their involvement in civic affairs in the post-apartheid era (circa 1994–2017). While certain parts offer a cursory synopsis of specific socio-political and economic developments, other sections provide detailed insights into educational and cultural aspects. As an important backdrop, it begins by narrating the status of the “founding fathers” in this community’s eyes.
References
Adams, C. (1933). Muhammad ‘Abdu and the Transvaal Fatwa’. In W. Sheallabear (Ed.), The MacDonald presentation volume (pp. 13–29). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Adhikari, M. (1993). Protest and accommodation: Ambiguities in the racial politics of the APO, 1909–1923. Kronos: Journal of Cape History, 20, 92–106.
Adhikari, M. (1994). Coloured identity and the politics of coloured education: The origin of the teachers’ league of South Africa. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 27(1), 101–126.
Ajam, M. (1986). The role of Dr. A. Abdurahman in the modernisation of Islam-oriented schools. Unpublished D.Ed dissertation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
Amien, W. (2010). A south African case study for the recognition and regulation of Muslim family law in a minority Muslim secular context. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 24(3), 361–396.
AwqafSA, & UUCSA. (2012). South African Muslim (Draft) charter – December 2010. BOLESWA: Journal of Theology, Religion and Philosophy, 5(1), 185–190.
Aziz, H. (2011). Life of social justice: Biography of R.A.M. Saloojee. Johannesburg: AwqafSA.
Baderoon, G. (2007). Catch with the eye: Change and continuity in Muslim cooking in Cape Town. In S. Field, R. Meyer, & F. Swanson (Eds.), Imagining the City: Memories and cultures in Cape Town (pp. 115–131). Cape Town: HSRC.
Bang, A. (2014). Islamic Sufi networks in the Western Indian Ocean (c.1880–1940): Ripples of reform. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Bangstad, S. (2005). Hydra heads: PAGAD and responses to the PAGAD phenomenon in a Cape Muslim Community. Journal of Southern African Studies, 31(1), 187–208.
Bradlow, F., & Cairns, M. (1987). The early cape Muslims: A study of the mosques, genealogy and origins. Cape Town: A.A. Balkema.
Brandel-Syrier, M. (1960). The religious duties of Islam as explained by Abu Bakr Effendi. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Da Costa, Y. (1994). The Influence of Tassawwuf on Islamic practices at the Cape. In Y. Da Costa & A. Davids (Eds.), Pages from Cape Muslim history (pp. 129–141). Pietermarizburg: Shuter & Shooter.
Dangor, S. E. (1983). A Critical biography of Shaykh Yusuf. Durban: UDW Centre for Research in Islamic Studies.
Dangor, S. E. (1994). In the footsteps of the companions: Shaykh Yusuf of Macassar (1626–1699). In Y. Da Costa & A. Davids (Eds.), Pages from Cape Muslim history (pp. 19–46). Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter.
Davids, A. (1980). The mosques of the Bo-Kaap. Cape Town: Athlone, The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research.
Davids, A. (1984). The revolt of the Malays: A study of the reaction of the Cape Muslims to the smallpox epidemics of the nineteenth century Cape Town. Studies in the History of Cape Town, 5, 55–87.
Davids, A. (1990). The words the slaves made: A socio-historical linguistic study. South African Journal of Linguistics, 8(1), 1–24.
Davids, A. (2011). In H. Willemse & S. Dangor (Eds.), The Afrikaans of the Cape Muslims. Pretoria: Protea Books.
Desai, B., & Marney, C. (1978 and 2014 reprint). The killing of the Imam. London/Cape Town: Quartet Publishers/IAHET.
Du Plessies, I., & Luckhoff, C. A. (1953). The Malay quarter and its people. Cape Town: A.A. Balkema.
Esack, F. (1988). Three strands in the South African struggle for justice. Third World Quarterly, 10(2), 473–498.
Fataar, A., & Esack, F. (Eds.). (2009). After the honeymoon: Muslim religious leadership and political engagement in the post-apartheid South Africa. Cape Town: Centre for the Study of Progressive Islam.
Gamieldien, F. (2004). The history of the Claremont main road mosque: Its people and their contributions to Islam in South Africa. Cape Town: CMRM.
Germain, E. (2007). L’Afrique du Sud musulane: Histoire des relations entre Indiens et Malais du Cap. Paris: IFAS-Karthala.
Gottschalk, K. (2005). Vigilantism vs the state: A case study of the rise and fall of PAGAD, 1996–2000. Pretoria: ISS. No. 99.
Green, N. (2008). Islam for the indentured Indian: A Muslim missionary in Colonial Africa. Bulletin of SOAS, 71(3), 529–553.
Green, N. (2010). The dilemmas of the pious biographer: Missionary Islam and the oceanic hagiography. Journal of Religious History, 34(4), 383–397.
Green, N. (2011). Bombay Islam: The religious economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840–1915. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Haron, M. (1994). Towards a sacred biography: The life & thoughts of Imam Abdullah Haron. Journal for Islamic Studies, 14, 64–83.
Haron, M. (1997). South African Muslims: An annotated bibliography. Cape Town: South African Library.
Haron, M. (1999). Samarqand-Cape Town connection: Revisiting a 10th century theological text. The Arabist: Budapest Studies in Arabic, 21/22, 73–88.
Haron, M. (2002). The South Muslims making (air)waves during the period of transformation. Journal for the Study of Religion, 15(2), 111–144.
Haron, M. (2003). Undercounting or over-counting South Africa’s Muslims: The era of democracy (censuses of 1996 and 2001). Journal for Islamic Studies, 23, 100–110.
Haron, M. (2005). Sufi Tariqahs and Dawah movements: Competing for spiritual spaces in contemporary South(ern) Africa. Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, 25(2), 273–297.
Haron, M. (2006). The dynamics of Christian-Muslim relations circa 1960–2000: From exclusivism to pluralism. The Muslim World, 93(3), 423–468.
Haron, M. (2007). The ritual prayer: Text and context in the Cape Muslim community. Islam et Societie au Afrika du Sud, 1, 81–99.
Haron, M. (2009). South African truth and reconciliation commission: An annotated bibliography. New York: Nova Science.
Haron, M. (2010a). Cape Town’s The voice of the Cape: Profiling a ‘Proudly South African product’. Ejournalist, 10(2), 45–69. Online: http://www.ejournalist.com.au/ejournalist_v10n2.php.
Haron, M. (2010b). Religion and the media: Reflections on their position and relationship in Southern Africa. Global Media Journal: African Edition, 4(1), 28. Online: http://www.sun.ac.za/gmja.
Haron, M. (2010c). Arabic-Afrikaans: A vehicle for identity formation rather than integration. Islam et Societie au Afrika du Sud, 2, 163–179.
Haron, M. (2012). Continuity and change: The study and research of Islam in South(ern) Africa. African Educational Review, 9(3), 179–194.
Haron, M. (2016). Muslim higher education in the Southern African region: From secular tertiary institutions to Darul-‘Ulum’. In M. Lo & M. Haron (Eds.), Muslim institutions of higher learning in postcolonial Africa. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Haron, M., & Buccus, I. (2009). Al-Qalam: An alternative Muslim voice in the South African press. South African Historical Journal, 61(1), 121–137.
Haron, M., Cajee, Z., & Dangor, S. E. (2011). Initiating transformation, visualizing a future: Constructing a Muslim charter. Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority, 31(4), 631–670.
Jeffreys, M. K. (1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939). The Malay tombs of the Holy circle. The Cape Naturalist, 1(1), 15–17; 1(2), 41–43; 1(3), 89–92; 1(4), 119–121; 1(5), 157–163; 1(6), 195–199.
Jeppie, S. (1996). Commemorations and identities: The 1994 centenary of Islam in South Africa. In T. Sonn (Ed.), The question of Muslim minorities (pp. 72–91). Atlanta: Scholars Press.
Jeppie, S. (2007). Language, identity, modernity: The Arabic study circle of Durban. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Jeppie, S., & Vahed, G. (2004–2005). Multiple communities: Muslims in post-apartheid South Africa. In J. Daniel, R. Southall, & J. Lutchman (Eds.), State of the nation: South Africa 2004–2005 (pp. 252–286). Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Kelly, J. E. (2009). ‘It is because of our Islam that they are there’: The call of Islam in the united democratic front era. African Historical Review, 41(1), 118–139.
Mahida, E. M. (1993). History of Muslims in South Africa: A chronology. Durban: The Arabic Study Circle.
Mahmood, S. Z. (2013). Paris colloquium on Muslim minorities: A report. The Milli Gazette, (20), 16–30.
Manjoo, R. (2007). The recognition of Muslim personal laws in South Africa: Implications for women’s rights. Harvard Law School Working Paper.
Mason, J. E. (2002). ‘A faith for ourselves’: Slavery, Sufism and conversion to Islam at the Cape. South African Historical Journal, 46, 3–25.
Meer, I. (2002). A fortunate man. Cape Town: Zebra Press.
Mesthrie, U. S. (1997). From advocacy to mobilisation: Indian opinion, 1903–1914. In L. Switzer (Ed.), South Africa’s alternative press: Voices of protest and resistance (pp. 1880–1960). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mohamed, S. A. (1998). Self-esteem and social distance among adolescents in a minority group: The case of the Zanzibaris in Durban. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Natal, Durban.
Mohamed, Y., Dangor, S. E., & Mahomed, A. M. (Eds.). (1990). Islamic perspectives of education in South Africa. Johannesburg: World Muslim League.
Molins, L. S. (2006). The Tijaniyya Tariqa in Cape Town. Journal for Islamic Studies, 26, 71–91.
Moosa E (1995) Islam in South Africa. In: Prozesky M, De Gruchy J, Living faiths in South Africa. New York, St. Martin’s Press. pp. 129–154.
Moosa, E. (2000). Worlds ‘Apart’: Tablighi Jama’ati in South Africa under apartheid, 1963–1993. In K. M. Masud (Ed.), Travelers in faith: Studies in the Tabligh Jamat as a transnational movement for faith and renewal (pp. 206–221). Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Moosa, N. (2011). Unveiling the mind: The legal position of women in Islam – A South African context (2nd ed.). Cape Town: Juta.
Mumisa, M. (2002). Islam and proselytism in South Africa and Malaysia. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 22(2), 275–298.
Nadvi, L. (2009). Political Islam in the 21st century: An analysis of the contestation between militant and progressive Islam with particular reference to forms of expression among Muslims in the post-apartheid South Africa. Unpublished Phd dissertation, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban.
Naude, J. A. (1982). The Ulama in South Africa with special reference to the Transvaal Ulama. Journal for Islamic Studies, 2, 23–39.
Padayachee, V., Desai, A., & Vahed, G. (2004). Managing South African transformation: The story of Cricket in KwaZulu Natal, 1994–2004. Patterns of Prejudice, 38(3), 253–278.
Palekar, G. (2002). She was certainly not a Rosa Luxemborg: A biography of Cissy Gool. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
Rafudeen, A. A. (translator). (2004). The Aqidah of Tuan Guru. Cape Town: Samandar.
Rafudeen, A. A. (2005). Parallel mode of being: The Sanusiyyah and intellectual subversion in Cape Town (c. 1800–1840). Journal for the Study of Religion, 18(1), 77–95 and 18(2), 23–38.
Reetz, D. (2011). The Tablighi Madrasas in Lenasia and Azadville: Local players in a global Islamic field. In A. K. Tayob, I. Niehaus, & W. Weisse (Eds.), Muslim schools and education in Europe and South Africa (pp. 85–104). Munster: Waxmann.
Sadouni, S. (2009). God is not unemployed: Journeys of Somali refugees in Johannesburg: Transformations of the city. African Studies, 68(2), 235–249.
Salie, E. (2010). Hadje Ozeer Ally, Hamidia Islamic society and Muslim resistance in South Africa, 1884–1914. Unpublished Paper, 84 pp. Cape Town: Author Text.
Seedat, Z. K. (1973). The Zanzibaris in Durban: A sociological study. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Natal, Durban.
Shell, R. (1994). Rites and rebellion: Islamic conversion at the Cape, 1808 to 1915. Studies in the History of Cape Town, V, 1–46.
Shell, R. (2000). Islam in Southern Africa, 1652–1998. In N. Levtzion & R. L. Pouwels (Eds.), The history of Islam in Africa (pp. 327–348). Cape Town: David Philip.
Stiebel, L. (2011). Crossing the Kali Pani: Causes for celebration or commemoration 150 years on? Portrayals of indenture in recent South African writings. Journal of Literary Studies, 27(2), 77–90.
Tayob, A. K. (1995). Islamic resurgence in South Africa: The Muslim youth movement. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press.
Tayob, A. K. (1999). Islam in South Africa: Mosques, imams and sermons. Gainesville: The University of Florida Press.
Tayob, A. K. (2011). Islam and democracy in South Africa. Focus: Helen Suzman. Newsletter, 62, 20–24.
Vahed, G. (2001). Mosques, Mawlanas and Muharram: Indian Islam in colonial Natal. 1860–1910. Journal of Religion in Africa, XXXI(3), 305–335.
Vahed, G. (2002). Constructions of community and identity among Indians in colonial Natal, 1860–1910: The role of the Muharram festival. Journal of African History, 43, 77–93.
Vahed, G. (2005). Passengers, partnerships, and promissory notes: Gujarati traders in colonial Natal, 1870–1920. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 38(3), 449–479.
Vahed, G., & Vawda, S. (2008). The viability of Islamic banking and finance in a capitalist economy: A South African case study. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 28(3), 453–472.
Vahed, G., & Waetjen, T. (2010). Gender, modernity and Indian delights: The Women’s cultural Group of Durban, 1954–2010. Pretoria: HSRC Press.
van der Wal, A. M. (2009). South Africa the Cape Malay choir board & their moppies: Governing a culture and community, 1939–2009. Unpublished PhD thesis, African Studies Centre, Leiden.
Waetjen, T., & Vahed, G. (2011). The diaspora at home: Indian Views and the making of Zuleikha Mayat’s public voice. Africa, 81(1), 23–41.
Ward, K. (1996). The ‘300 years: The making of Cape Muslim culture’ exhibition, Cape Town, April 1994: Liberating the castle? Social Dynamics, 21(1), 96–131.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Haron, M. (2018). Experience of Muslims in the Republic of South Africa; Historical Perspective. In: Woodward, M., Lukens-Bull, R. (eds) Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_22-4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_22-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73653-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73653-2
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Experience of Muslims in the Republic of South Africa; Historical Perspective- Published:
- 18 July 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_22-4
-
Original
Experience of Muslims in South Africa- Published:
- 02 March 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_22-3