Auwal Mosque: Bo-Kaap History and South Africa's First Mosque

The Auwal Mosque in Dorp Street, Bo-Kaap, was founded in 1794 and is widely recognised as the first mosque in South Africa. It was built by a community made up largely of enslaved and exiled people brought to the Cape from Southeast Asia and elsewhere around the Indian Ocean, and its first imam was a political exile remembered as Tuan Guru, "Mister Teacher".

The mosque matters far beyond its walls. It sits at the centre of a story about how people who had been stripped of freedom kept their faith, taught one another to read and write, and helped shape the language, food and identity of Cape Town. This article explains that history and why the neighbourhood around it, the Bo-Kaap, is still contested ground today.

Who were the first Muslims at the Cape?

After the Dutch East India Company established its station at the Cape in 1652, it relied heavily on enslaved labour. Enslaved people were brought from the Indonesian archipelago, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and the East African coast. Alongside them came political exiles: rulers, scholars and religious leaders from the Company's territories in the East Indies who had resisted Dutch power and were banished to the far side of the ocean.

The best known of these is Sheikh Yusuf of Makassar, exiled to the Cape in 1694, whose kramat (shrine) stands near Faure, east of the city. A ring of such kramats around Cape Town is remembered by many Cape Muslims as a spiritual protection over the city. For much of Company rule, Islam could not be practised publicly, so faith was kept alive in homes, quarries and private gatherings.

Tuan Guru and the founding of the Auwal Mosque

Imam Abdullah ibn Qadi Abdus Salaam, known as Tuan Guru, was a prince and scholar from Tidore in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. He was exiled to the Cape and arrived in 1780, then spent years as a prisoner on Robben Island. There, according to Cape Muslim tradition and surviving manuscripts, he wrote out copies of the Qur'an from memory, along with a substantial work on Islamic belief and law.

After his release in the early 1790s, Tuan Guru set up a madrasa, a school, in Dorp Street, and in 1794 the community established a place of prayer there: the Auwal Mosque, from the Arabic word for "first". Religious freedom was only formally extended to Muslims at the Cape in the early 1800s, so the founding was an act of quiet determination. The building has been altered and extended since, but the congregation has worshipped on the site ever since.

The school was as important as the mosque. It taught children of enslaved and free Black families, giving them literacy at a time when colonial society offered them little or none. Tuan Guru died in 1807 and is buried in the Tana Baru cemetery above the Bo-Kaap.

Literacy and Arabic-Afrikaans

One remarkable result of the madrasas is a body of writing known as Arabic-Afrikaans: religious texts written in the Afrikaans spoken by Cape Muslims, but in Arabic script. Teachers adapted the alphabet so that pupils could learn Islam in the language they actually spoke at home. In the nineteenth century these texts included religious instruction books printed for Cape Muslim readers.

Scholars point to Arabic-Afrikaans writings as some of the earliest texts in the language. That is a significant corrective. Afrikaans was for a long time presented as the language of white Afrikaner nationalism, yet its earliest written forms owe a great deal to enslaved people, Khoekhoe communities and Cape Muslims.

The Bo-Kaap and the Cape Malay identity debate

The Bo-Kaap ("above the Cape") climbs the lower slopes of Signal Hill, with its steep cobbled streets and brightly painted houses. For a long time it was called the "Malay Quarter". Under apartheid's Group Areas Act, it was designated for a single officially classified group, which meant it escaped the wholesale forced removals that destroyed nearby District Six, though it did not escape apartheid's control over who could live where.

The term "Cape Malay" is itself debated. Malay was a trading language across the Indian Ocean world and was spoken at the Cape, but the ancestors of Cape Muslims came from many places, including Africa and South Asia, and many were not Malay at all. Colonial and apartheid officials used "Cape Malay" as a racial sub-category, and some writers romanticised it. Today some people embrace the name with pride, while others prefer "Cape Muslim" or reject ethnic labels altogether. The respectful approach is to ask how people describe themselves.

Tana Baru, Tweede Nuwe Jaar and living heritage

Tana Baru, from Malay words meaning "new ground", is one of the oldest Muslim burial grounds in South Africa. Many early imams and community members are buried there, and it is a sacred place rather than a tourist stop, best visited with a local guide and with respect.

Cape Muslim history is also bound up with the wider Cape working-class culture of the city. Tweede Nuwe Jaar, the "second new year" on 2 January, has roots in the day off once given to enslaved people, and today brings the Kaapse Klopse, troupes of singers and musicians in bright satin, into the streets. Its history and the way it has been represented, including an older name now widely regarded as offensive, are debated within the community itself. For more on the dishes that came out of this world, from koesisters to curries, see our guide to traditional South African food.

Gentrification and pressure on the Bo-Kaap

The Bo-Kaap's photogenic streets, location close to the city centre and views have made it hugely attractive to tourists and property buyers. Rising property values and rates, new developments and a constant stream of photographers have put real pressure on long-established families. Residents have protested, and campaigned for heritage protection, arguing that a community is more than its colourful facades. Visitors can help by remembering that these are homes, asking before photographing people, and spending money with local businesses.

Why this matters on the walk

Leon's walk from Cape Agulhas to Windsor is planned to begin in December 2026, heading north on a direct line that does not pass through Cape Town. The current plan is for him to pause, record his exact position, and make a research trip to the city before returning to that same point to keep walking. The faith and slavery history of the Cape, including the Bo-Kaap, is one of the subjects he most hopes to learn about first-hand, from people who live it. Explore the full route, read who Leon is, or see how the start at Cape Agulhas fits in. Every place he passes is planned to receive an act of kindness recorded in the kindness ledger, and you can support the walk to make that possible.

Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest mosque in South Africa?

The Auwal Mosque in Dorp Street, Bo-Kaap, founded in 1794, is widely recognised as the first mosque in South Africa.

Who was Tuan Guru?

Imam Abdullah ibn Qadi Abdus Salaam, a prince and scholar from Tidore in eastern Indonesia, exiled to the Cape in 1780. He wrote out the Qur'an from memory while imprisoned on Robben Island and became the mosque's first imam.

Can visitors go inside the Auwal Mosque?

It is an active place of worship. Visitors should ask the community first, dress modestly, remove shoes and avoid prayer times.

Why are the Bo-Kaap houses so colourful?

Accounts of how the tradition began vary, and residents tell different stories about it. What is clear is that the colours have become part of local pride and of the argument for protecting the area's character.