Arabic and Islamic Studies in South Africa

The field of Arabic and Islamic studies in South Africa remains, withfew exceptions, virgin territory. This applies both to Islam within the countryitself as well as to the field of research on Arabic and Islamic topics in general.Very few scholars, Muslims or otherwise, have produced scholarly articlesor books on these and other related topics. As one who is familiar with theSouth African scene, it is my opinion that there are several reasons for thislack of interest: the official policy of apartheid, the lack of funds and subsequentjob opportunities for graduates, and the lack of qualified university personnelwho can guide students wishing to pursue such research, to name just a few.This paper is being presented in an attempt to inform the Muslim worldat large about the difficulties facing South African Muslim researchers intheir academic quest for knowledge of their past as well as their own particularlarger concerns. It opens with a brief historical statement about the beginningof Islam in South Africa and then moves on to the main portions: thedevelopment of Arabic and Islamic studies in South Africa, the institutionsand people involved, and some of the literature which has been produced.Muslim Educational Efforts in South AfricaBefore focusing on Arabic and Islamic studies research, there is a needto sketch, albeit briefly, the historical development of Muslim educationalinstitutions in South Africa. The pre-Tuan Guru (d. 1807) (Lubbe 1985) erawas characterized by the existence of a number of home-based madiiris(schools) which provided a basic knowledge of Islam to the Muslims as wellas to the slaves (Ajam 1985; Shell 1984). This system began with the arrivalof the first Muslims to the Cape area in the mid-seventeenth century (Shell1974). With the appearance of the first mosque, which was actually calledthe Awwal Mosque, in the Cape by Tuan Guru in 1795 (Davids 1980), thiseducational activity was gradually shifted from the home to the mosque, whichsoon became the central meeting place of the Muslims. The number of mosquesslowly increased after the British supplanted the Dutch as the colonial mastersand granted religious freedom to all religious groups in 1804 ...