Auwal Masjid
Auwal Masjid stands in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap, among brightly painted houses and a strong Muslim heritage. South Africa’s first established mosque brings worship, teaching, and community life together.
Built in 1794 during the first British occupation of the Cape, the mosque received land from Saartjie van de Kaap. Her father, Coridon van Ceylon, had owned the land as a freed Black Muslim slave. Renovations in 1907 and 1936 left only two walls from the original structure, while its Shafee architecture reflects Indonesian Muslim doctrine. More than ninety percent of Muslims in Bo-Kaap still practise this tradition.
Qadi Abdussalam, known as Tuan Guru, became the first imam and used the madrassah to teach children and adults. During imprisonment, he wrote the entire Quran from memory. Family members continued the imamate until 1980, and a dispute over succession helped establish Cape Town’s Palm Tree Mosque. The strongest detail remains the surviving walls, connecting today’s place with its 1794 beginnings.
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