Bo Kaap is home to a thriving Muslim community, which lived here before slavery was abolished, and which grew larger after emancipation. In Dorp Street, construction began in 1794 on the first and oldest mosque, the Auwal Mosque. Islam was an important religion for the enslaved and for political exiles who came from predominantly Muslim areas. For others, converting to Islam was an act of resistance. For many, it was a way to gain access to education and to a community. Moluccan political exile Tuan Guru was already holding Friday prayers on Chiappini Street when a ‘madrassa’ was opened in his house on Dorp Street in 1792. The property that would become the mosque was owned by a former enslaved man, Coridon from Ceylon, reportedly the first Muslim to own property in Cape Town. His daughter Saartjie van die Kaap, later owner of the building, made land available to further expand this mosque, which is still in use today.

Sources

• Crombie, Ebrahim. (2022). “Saartjie van de Kaap”. Geni. [online] https://www.geni.com/people/Saartjie-van-de-Kaap/6000000012399562534.