Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep (1626-23 May 1699), more commonly known as Sheikh Yusuf or Sheik Joseph, was an Indonesian Muslim of noble descent. He was also known as Muhammad Yusuf al-Maqassari.In 1693 he was exiled to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, which resulted in his establishing Islam in the Cape.
In 1684 Yusuf was persuaded to surrender on the promise of a pardon, but the Dutch reneged on their promise and instead imprisoned him at the castle of Batavia. Suspecting that he would attempt escape, the Dutch transferred him to Ceylon in September that year, before exiling him to the Cape on 27 June 1693 on the ship Voetboeg. Yusuf, along with 49 followers including two wives, two concubines and twelve children, were received in the Cape on 2 April 1694 by governor Simon van der Stel. The Company's attempt to isolate Shaykh Yusuf at Zandvleit did not succeed. On the contrary, Zandvleit turned out to be the rallying point for 'fugitive' slaves and other exiles from the East. It was here that the first cohesive Muslim community in South Africa was established. Since the Sheikh and his followers hailed from Macassar, the district around Zandvleit is still known today as Macassar.
Sheikh Yusuf died at Zandvliet on 23 May 1699. Thereafter the area surrounding Zandvliet farm had been renamed Macassar after his place of birth. He was buried on the hills of Faure, overlooking Macassar.
Macassar’s history is closely tied to the Strand, whose inhabitants first settled this area. The kramat (shrine) of Sheikh Yusuf (Tuanta Salamaka) of the Sultanate of Gowa, in present-day Makassar in Indonesia, is a holy place to South Africa's Muslim community. The Sheikh, who was exiled by the Dutch in 1694, came to the Strand area and made it his final resting place; although his followers, who were mainly fishermen, found the sea of Macassar rather uninviting and moved further along the coast to Strand’s Mosterds Bay. After Yusuf died, his followers named the area after his birthplace, spelling it with "c" in place of "k".
#riseofislam #capetown #westerncape
For more information:
0:00 The Halaal Hopper halaalhopper.c...