Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

R ace, Ideology, and Islam in Contemporary South Africa 2 5 7imams provided a sense of meaning to many of those at the margins of Capes o c i e t y. His presence at a wide range of periodic and occasional communityevents ensured the development and maintenance of a community spiritsorely lacking for the underclass in colonial society. As one modern scholarhas expressed it, “the impressive network of social, educational, and religiousinstitutions created by the early Muslims at the Cape attracted many individualsin an economically or socially marginal position” (Shell 1984, 37).The success of the Awwal Mosque was followed by the development of similarmosques and congregations throughout the Cape in the nineteenth centu ry. As the Muslim population grew and when slavery was eventually abolished,new imams established more mosques to serve the needs of growingcongregations. The imams of these mosques were mainly taught and trainedin Cape Town, but there were also some international contacts with Mecca andvarious parts of the Ottoman Empire. A few imams had managed to go on pilgrimageto Mecca in the first half of the nineteenth century, but after the SuezCanal was built in 1869, many more were able to make the trip thanks to theincreased availability of steamship transport in the Indian Ocean. Some of thesame modern means that brought South African Muslims to the Middle Eastalso brought Middle Eastern Muslims to South Africa. One of the most prominentearly examples was Abu Bakr Effendi, who in 1863 was sent by the OttomanEmpire to teach Islam and resolve local disputes among Muslims inSouth Africa. Increasing global contact produced a vibrant society in which religiouspractices enriched and sustained a dynamic community under theshadow of an authoritarian and often-hostile political authority.Another prominent group of Muslims in South Africa originated not fromthe Netherlands Indies but from the British colonies of the Indian Subcontinent.Most of these Muslim immigrants arrived under circumstances quite differentfrom those of the earlier generations of Muslim political exiles at theCape. When the British colonized the eastern coast of the country, they neededcheap labor to work on farms and in other industries. Having had success withIndian labor in other colonies, the British decided to bring in indentured laborersfrom South Asia to South Africa, beginning in 1860. A small number ofSouth Asians came on their own accord, not as indentured labor but as freepersons willing to take advantage of trading opportunities. In spite of the tougheconomic conditions of indentured labor and hostile European officials, someIndians managed to diversify their economic pursuits and exploit new opportunitiesin the growing diamond and gold fields further inland. But racial prejudiceagainst Indians did not take long to surface, and first the British colony ofNatal and later the Boer republics passed successive laws that restricted ownershipof land, free movement, and educational opportunities.The growing South Asian population of South Africa included Hindus aswell as Muslims, and Muslims themselves were divided along class lines be-