Cape Malays

Cape Malays (, in Arabies script) also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world who lived at the Cape during Dutch and British rule.

Although the initial members of the community were from the Dutch colonies of South East Asia, by the 1800s the term ''Malay'' encompassed all practicing Muslims at the Cape, regardless of origin. They initially used Malay as a ''lingua franca'' and language of religious instruction, and this was one of the likely reasons that the community were referred to as ''Malays''.

Malays are concentrated in the Cape Town area. Cape Malay cuisine forms a significant part of South African cuisine, and the community played an important part in the history of Islam in South Africa. The community played a part in developing Afrikaans as a written language, initially using an Arabic script.

"Malay" was legally a subcategory of the Coloured race group during Apartheid, however the delineation of Malays and the remaining defined Coloured subgroups by government officials was often imprecise and subjective.

History

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded and established a colony at the Cape of Good Hope, as a resupply station for ships travelling between Europe and Asia, which developed into the city of Cape Town. The Dutch had also colonised the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), which formed a part of the Dutch Empire for several centuries, and Dutch Malacca, which the Dutch held from 1641 to 1824.

Key figures in the arrival of Islam were Muslim leaders who resisted the Company's rule in Southeast Asia who, like Sheikh Yusuf, a Muslim scholar from Sulawesi were exiled to South Africa by the company. They were followed by slaves from other parts of Asia and Africa. Although it is not possible to accurately reconstruct the origins of slaves in the Cape, it has been estimated that roughly equal proportions of Malagasies, Indians, Insulindians (Southeast Asians) and continental Africans were imported to the Cape, with other estimates showing that the majority of slaves originated in Madagascar.

Although the majority of slaves from South East Asia were already Muslims, along with many Indians, those from Madagascar and elsewhere in Africa were not. There were also skilled Muslim labourers called '' Mardijkers'' from Southeast Asia who settled in the Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town. The slaves from Asia tended to work in semi-skilled and domestic roles, and they made up a disproportionate share of 18th century manumissions, who subsequently settled in Bo-Kaap, while those from elsewhere in Africa and Madagascar tended to work as farm-hands, and were not freed at the same rate. In the latter part of the 18th century, conversions to Islam of the rural non-Asian slaves increased due to a Dutch colonial law that encouraged owners to educate their slaves in Christianity, and following their baptism, to allow them to buy their freedom; this consequently resulted in slaveowners, fearful of losing their slaves, not enforcing Christianity amongst them. This, in turn, allowed Islamic proselytisers to convert the slaves.

After the British took the Cape, and began phasing out slavery in the first half of the 19th century, the newly-freed non-Asian Muslim rural slaves moved to Cape Town, the only centre of Islamic faith in the region. The South and Southeast Asians constituted the Muslim establishment in the colony, and the newly freed slaves subsequently adopted the Malay language used by the Asians. Thus, Malay was the initial ''lingua franca'' of Muslims, though they came from East Africa, Madagascar, and India, as well as Indonesia and established the moniker "Malay" for all Muslims at the Cape irrespective of their geographic origins, and by the 19th century, the term was used to describe anyone at the Cape who was a practicing Muslim, despite Afrikaans having overtaken Malay as the group's ''lingua franca''.

The community adopted Afrikaans as a ''lingua franca'' to ease communication with between the Asian and non-Asian Muslims (who had adopted the Dutch used by their masters), and because the utility of Malay and the Malayo-Portuguese language were diminished due to the British ban on slave imports in 1808, reducing the need to communicate with newcomers. The non-Asian and Asian Muslims interacted socially despite the initial linguistic differences, and gradually blended into a single community.

Culture

The founders of this community were the first to bring Islam to South Africa. The community's culture and traditions have also left an impact that is felt to this day. The Muslim community in Cape Town remains large and vibrant. It has expanded greatly beyond those exiles who started the first mosques in South Africa.

People in the Cape Malay community predominantly speak Afrikaans, but frequently also English. They no longer speak the languages which their ancestors used, such as Malay although various Malay words and phrases are still employed in daily usage.

Adaptations of traditional foods such as '' bredie'', ''bobotie'', ''sosaties'' and '' koeksisters'' are staples in many South African homes. Faldela Williams wrote three cookbooks, including ''The Cape Malay Cookbook'', which became instrumental in preserving the cultural traditions of Cape Malay cuisine.

This cultural group developed a characteristic 'Cape Malay' music. An interesting secular folk song type, of Dutch origin, is termed the ''nederlandslied''. The language and musical style of this genre reflects the history of South African slavery; it is often described and perceived as 'sad' and 'emotional' in content and context. The ''nederlandslied'' shows the influence of the Arabesque (ornamented) style of singing. This style is unique in South Africa, Africa and probably in the world.

Cape Malay music has been of great interest to academics, historians, musicologists, writers and even politicians. The well-known annual Cape Town Minstrel or Carnival street festival is a deep-rooted Cape Malay cultural event; it incorporates the Cape Malay comic song or ''moppie'' (often also referred to as ''ghoema'' songs). The barrel-shaped drum, called the 'ghoema', is also closely associated with Cape Malay music

Cultural identity

The Cape Malay identity can be considered the product of a set of histories and communities as much as it is a definition of an ethnic group. Since many Cape Malay people have found their Muslim identity to be more salient than their "Malay" ancestry, in some contexts they have been described as "Cape Malay", or "Malays" and others as ''Cape Muslim'' by people both inside and outside of the community. Cape Malay ancestry includes people from South and Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and Khoekhoe. Later, Muslim male "Passenger Indian" migrants to the Cape married into the Cape Malay community, with their children being classified as Cape Malay.

Demographics

It is estimated that there are about 166,000 people in Cape Town who could be described as Cape Malay, and about 10,000 in Johannesburg. The picturesque Malay Quarter of Cape Town is found on Signal Hill, and is called the ''Bo-Kaap''.

Many Cape Malay people also lived in District Six before they, among many other South African people of diverse ethnicity, were forcefully removed from their homes by the apartheid government and redistributed into townships on the Cape Flats.

International relationship

Connections between Malaysians and South Africans improved when South Africa rejoined the international community. The latter's re-entry was welcomed by the Malaysian government and many others in the Southeast Asian region. Non-governmental organisations, such as the Federation of Malaysia Writers' Associations, have since set on linking up with the diasporic Cape Malay
community. There is also an increase in the interest of the food, culture and heritage of Cape Malay descendants around the world.

References

External links

Kramat
An early religious leader's legacy remains on Robben Island.
Official South African history site
Early context for "Cape Malay" community.

An umbrella organisation for Cape Malay singing ensembles.

A descriptive bibliographic paper examining the contested identity of "Cape Malay."

and ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070224050608/http://www.eduprop.co.za/GALLERY.htm music.br>Cape Mazaar Society

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Ethnic groups in South Africa
Indonesian diaspora
Malay diaspora
History of the Dutch East India Company
Articles containing video clips