The second oldest mosque, after the Auwal Mosque in Bo Kaap, is the Palm Tree Mosque on Long Street. The property, first a residence, was bought in 1807 by the formerly enslaved Jan van Bougies and Frans van Bengal. Jan van Bougies, from Sulawesi (present-day Sulawesi), had wanted to become an imam in the Auwal mosque, but did not succeed. He founded this mosque after 1811 and continued without Francis of Bengal. The latter was allocated land that would become Tana Baru, the first official Muslim cemetery (see No. 3). Jan van Bougies reached the respectable age of 112 years. His widow maintained the place of worship. It is the only surviving eighteenth-century building and the second oldest functioning mosque in South Africa. The name refers to the palm trees that once stood in front of the building. Palm trees have a deep symbolic meaning in Islamic culture.

Sources

• Galt, Russel. (2014). “Heritage Trees of Cape Town (Continued)”. The Nature of Cities. [online] https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2014/03/31/heritage-trees-of-cape-town-continued/.
• Mahida, Ebrahim Mahomed. (1993). History of Muslims in South Africa: A Chronology. Durban: Arabic Study Circle.