Darul Uloom Newcastle is a college for Higher Islamic Education ( Deobandi madrasa), located in

Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal Newcastle is the third-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The city is KwaZulu-Natal's industrial centre. The majority of its citizens reside in Newcastle East in the main townships of Madadeni and Osizweni, with the ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It was the first formal institution of higher Islamic studies in South Africa, as well as the first Deobandi madrasa in South Africa. It was founded by

Cassim Sema Ml Cassim Mohammed Sema (12 May 1920 – 9 June 2007) was a South African Sunni Muslim scholar who established the first madrasa in South Africa and possibly the first madrasa that uses English as its medium of instruction. He was the founder ...

in 1973. It is called the mother of all Darul Ulooms in South Africa. Although only

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...

fiqh is taught in such institutions in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, it also offers both Hanafi and

Shafi'i The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...

fiqh.

History

On 13 May 1973, Darul Uloom Newcastle officially started with only 9 students. Official classes begin on 9 September. The site where the madrasa is located was once a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. It was vacant for over 15 years. The site was acquired after 3 years of negotiations with the competent authorities. For the first three years,

alone took the classes of the students and his wife cooked meals for them. As the medium of education is English, many foreign students also come to study here. It has been closely associated with the

Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat (, also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is a transnational Deobandi Islamic missionary movement that focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encouraging fellow members t ...

since its inception. It was the first Deobandi madrasa in South Africa to include Shafi'i fiqh in its curriculum, as it admitted non-Hanafi students from the beginning. At present, the principal of the madrasa is Ismail Ebrahim Akoo and the Chairman of the

trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

is Ayob Mohamed Kachwee.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control Islamic universities and colleges Deobandi madrasas 1973 establishments in South Africa Islam in South Africa

History

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography