COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation. PhD. (Chemistry)/ M.Sc. (Physics)/ M.A. (Philosophy)/M.Com. (Finance) etc. [Unpublished]: University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from: https://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za (Accessed: Date). THE EARLY MUSLIMS IN PRETORIA: 1881-1899 by ISMAIL EBRAHIM JAFFER SHORT THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES in the FACULTY OF ARTS at the RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY PROMOTOR: PROF. J. A. NAUDE CO-PROMOTOR: PROF. H. J. VAN ASWEGEN January 1991 TABLE OF CONTENTS * Acknowledgements 1 * Abbreviations 2 * Introduction 3 CHAPTER ONE THE EARLY MUSLIMS IN SOUTH AFRICA 8 1.1. Introduction 8 1.2. The Cape Muslims 8 1.2.1. Their Arrival 8 1.2.2. The First Muslims 7 1.2.3. Shaykh Yusuf 10 1.2.4. Other Notable Personages 12 (a) The Rajah (King) of Tambora 12 (b) Tuan Said (Sa'id) 13 (c) Tuan Guru 13 1.2.5. Period after ReligiousFreedom 14 1.3. Muslims of Natal 15 1.3.1. Search for Labour 15 1.3.2. Request for Indian Labour 16 1.3.3. The Arrival of Muslimsfrom India 17 1.3.4. Port of Embarkment 18 1.3.5. The Labourers 18 1.3.6. The Traders 19 1.4. Muslims of Transvaal 20 1.4.1. Arrival of Cape Muslims 21 1.4.2. Arrival of Muslims from India 21 1.4.3. The Muslimsfrom the Cape 22 1.4.4. The Muslimsfrom India. 23 Notes for Chapter 1 23 CHAPTER1WO EARLY MUSLIMS OF PRETORIA 27 2.1. Introduction 27 2.2. Origin 27 2.3. The settlement of Muslims 28 2.4. The MuslimTraders 29 2.4.1. Biography of a few Muslim traders 31 2.5. Jumma Masjid-Queen Street 41 2.6. The Heroes Acre 42 Notes for Chapter 2 43 - iii - CHAPTER THREE THESITUATION OF EARLY MUSLIMS UNTIL 1885 46 3.1. Introduction 46 3.2. The Queen's Proclamation of 1858 47 3.3. The Pretoria and London Convention 47 3.3.1. Pretoria Convention of 1881 48 3.3.2. London Convention of 1884 49 3.4. The Muslims and commencement of the agitation 50 Notes on Chapter 3 52 CHAPTER FOUR LAW 3 OF 1885 AND ITSAMENDMENT 54 4.1. Introduction 54 4.2. Negotiations between the South African Republic and the British. 54 4.3. The Enactment of Law 3 of 1885 58 4.4. Reaction to Law 3 of 1885 60 4.5. The amendment to Law 3 of 1885 64 Notes on Chapter 4 66 CHAPTER FIVE THEPROBLEMS OF ENACTING LAW 3 OF 1885 68 5.1. Introduction 68 5.2. Reaction in the South African Republic 68 5.3. "The Implementation of the Law 70 5.4. The Ismail Suleman & Co. Case 71 5.5. The Events after the Test Case 72 Notes on Chapter 5 76 CHAPTER SIX ARBITRATION TO THEANGLO-BOER WAR 77 6.1. Introduction 77 6.2. The Arbitration of 1885 77 6.2.1. The Preparations 77 6.2.2. The Arbitration 78 6.2.3. Reaction to the Award 81 6.3. The Test Case 82 6.4. The enforcement of the Law 85 6.5. Other Laws and Restrictions 86 Notes on Chapter 6 88 CONCLUSION 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY 91 APPENDICES 97 AC KN OWL ED GEM E NT S I am indebted firstly to my parents, my father the Late Ebrahim Jaffer and my beloved mother, Mariam Bibi for their support and sacrifice during the course of my early studies. I am truly grateful to Professors J.A.Naude and H.J. Van Aswegen for accepting to supervise my research, their patience, guidance and encouragement. It was indeed a pleasure to be a student of two meticulous and thorough promoters. The Assistants at the Transvaal and UNISA Archives were very helpful in my search for material. Their contribution was invaluable to me. My gratitude also exterids to all my relatives, colleagues, friends and well wishers for their keen interest in my research. Mukhtar Ahmed needs be mentioned for his constant encouragement and his volunteering to proofread my Thesis. Finally, my gratitude goes to my wife, Zohara and two children Zakira and Faheem. Without their support it would be impossible to fulfil this task. They all assisted in typing when I needed a rest and encouraged me to the end. ABBREVIATIONS cwt. - carat weight. d. - cent. £ - British pounds. lb. - pound. pkt, - packet, R.P. in E.Store - Retail Price in European Store. R.P. in I.Store - Retail Price in Indian Store. s. - shilling. ZA.R.- ZuicJ-Afrikaansche Republiek. ICSA - Islamic Council or South Africa. TAD - Transvaal Archives Depot. INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The history of Muslims in Pretoria began two decades after the arrival of the first Muslims to Natal from India and over two centuries after those in the Cape. Historians and researchers have undertaken the study of the Cape Muslims and pioneers of Natal. There is no book written on the Muslims in the Transvaal region. The two main centres in the Transvaal are Pretoria and Johannesburg.l The village of Pretoria was founded in 1858, two and a half decades before Johannesburg. The first Muslims came to the vicinity in the 1880's, when it was still a small village consisting of.12 shops. The pioneer Muslims witnessed the growth and development of this village into a city. It is from the Pretoria region that the Muslims moved into the interior of Transvaal. The problems of the Muslims began in this city, and later spread to other town areas. This city was the centre of trade and business links to the other towns. As a Muslim citizen of Pretoria, it was considered best to undertake the study of the Muslims in this area. It was assumed that there would be no difficulty in obtaining basic source material on the historical aspect of the Muslims of Pretoria from the first arrival to the end of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZA.R.)2 Government. At one stage the exercise of collecting data on this subject proved futile. However, it was after referring to a few books on the history of Indians in general, that it gave me some direction of the situation in the ZA.R.. It was found that the focal point of discussion and problems in this region were based on the Law 3 of 1885. Even the primary - 4- source materials obtained were somehow related to the above law, its implementation and the problems of the Muslims. In undertaking this research, the material was obtained from archival sources; published officialpapers, reports and documents; articles, brochures and the secondary sources. This study is an attempt to focus on the Law 3 of 1885 and the situation of the Muslims due to its enactment. The thesis basically deals with the historical, political and economical aspects of this period. The available sources in these fields have still to be researched. The social and ecological aspect is not included as the Muslim traders did not have their families with them. There was no formal religious institution nor any material available of the religious aspect besides the purchasing and related issues. This study begins with the arrival of the first Muslims in Pretoria in the early 1880's to the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war in 1899. It discusses the historical, political and business sector of this group, The social, religious and cultural aspects are not included, as there were no source material available nor individuals able to give information on these aspects. The first chapter deals with the early Muslims of South Africa. It gives an historical account of the Cape Muslims, their arrival and the early Muslims, brief biographical information of important personages and their contribution to the preservation of Islam at the Cape. This is followed by a discussion on the Muslims in Natal, their reason for coming to this region, their arrival, port of embarkation and as traders. Thereafter, the Muslims in the ZA.R. are discussed. The Muslims after coming to the above two provinces moved to the ZAR. Therefore the Muslims are shown as coming from the Cape and from India via Natal. - 5- Chapter two is focussed on the early Muslims of Pretoria. The origin of these Muslims, the area they settled, their establishing themselves as traders and some biographical imformation that are available from the primary sources. Also included is the Jumma Masjid-Queen street and the problems in obtaining this property and the Heroes Acre, where Muslims were buried. Chapter Three evaluates the situation of the early Muslims until 1885. It gives a background of the reason for Muslimscoming to the ZA.R. It begins with the assurance of protection given by Her Majesty in the Queens proclamation of 1858. Furthermore, the Pretoria and London conventions once more gave them protection and security in the Z.A.R. This is followed by the condition of the Muslim traders in the early period and the beginning of the Agitation.