The Third Voice in the Heritage of Simon’s Town: THE MUSLIMS

 

Third Voice     The Muslims
by Melanie Steyn

We have a saint, but not from St Helena,
A Tuang, a sufi, Anthony to you,
A royal, a Sultan, now do you see?
Kaharuddin came in seventeen something
A prisoner of the Dutch, so afraid of
Resistance in Indonesia.
Here, read the Kitaab, translated at last,
It tells how he came, Sheik Yusuf his leader.

And where the museum stands today
They kept him imprisoned In Simon’s Town.
But friends were not far; they helped him escape.
They kept him alive in Antonie’s Gat,
And he and his children taught us the way.
Above Goede Gift is their Kramat:
The peace of Allah is palpable there.

The Islamic Mosque, Nooral, Light of Peace,
Our spiritual home, is precious to us.
We kept to ourselves; we offered you wares.
We traded and served; our kids played with yours.
So how did we hurt you? What did we do?
Our women so modest. We lived without wine.
But no, we’re not white, so we had to leave.
Yet we will make duas, even for you.

Sheik Yusuf, the ruler of Gowa on the Islands of Celebes in South East Asia, was also the brother of the Sultan of Macassar. In 1646 Yusuf went to Bantam in Java to spread the Islamic faith, where he married the daughter of Abdul Fatah, the Sultan of Bantam. He supported his father-in-law against the Dutch East India Company (VOC)  in the struggle to gain a trade monopoly.

The Dutch captured and imprisoned him, first in Batavia and then in Ceylon, but afraid of his influence, they banished him and his immediate followers, 49 persons in total, to the Cape. The contingent was initially accommodated in the Castle. In 1694 the Council of Policy resolved to settle Yusuf at the mouth of the Eerste River at False Bay. (Macassar  Beach was named in his honour.) He was to receive 12 rix-dollars a month, and his contingent would be supported in a humane manner.

In 1699 Sheik Yusuf passed away on the farm, Zandvliet, and only his wives and daughters were allowed to return to their fatherland. Many Cape Muslims trace their ancestry to his followers, who were also of royal blood.

It was, however, Sultan Kaharuddin, known as Anthony, a Sufi, who was brought to Simon’s Town. He was also a political exile, but probably arrived in South Africa after Sheik Yusuf. He would, however, have regarded Sheik Yusuf as a spiritual leader. He and his son Ismael and grandson Jaliel are credited with establishing Islam in Simon’s Town.

Earlier this century a translation of a kitab (the Arabic word for book), passed from generation to generation, revealed the definite identity of the Auliyahs (leaders, spirits, angels, friends) buried here. Written in ancient Sumbawanese, the kitaab identifies them as Tuan Ismail Dea Malela and Tuan Dea Koasa).

In 1969 a UCT student, a certain Mr Muller, conducted his thesis on the Muslim community in Cape Town, and specifically in Simon’s Town. His research findings revealed what oral history had claimed for centuries – that Tuan Ismail Dea Malela and his son, Tuan Dea Koasa were of royal descent. His research cites the Kitaad as the most valuable piece of evidence linking the families of the Dea royal family in Pemangong, Sumbawe, Indonesia and Sultan Kaharuddin to the Dea royal family in Simon’s Town.

Some Muslim families did avoid eviction, as the government did not have separate place for them to go.

Sources:

SA History Online: sahistoryonline.org.
Muslim Directory  ;
Kramat Tuan Dea Koasa and
Yuan Ismail Dea Malela
http://www.muslim.co.za/tourism/placestovisit/simonstown_kramats.
Simon’s Town Museum