Claremont Main Road Mosque is celebrating the 170th anniversary of its founding this year.
The mosque, which today has more than 200 members, was founded and built by mason and coachman Slamdien Darries, who bought the land for it in 1849 for 24 pounds and 10 shillings.
The mosque was formally established in 1854, and in the same year, Mr Darries transferred the deed to Imam Abdol Roef, the mosque’s first imam.
Its current imam, Rashied Omar, of Salt River, has held the position since 1986, having first joined the mosque in 1979.
He was an understudy to Imam Gassan Solomon, who was a member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) before he went into exile.
“It was in the heyday of the anti-apartheid struggle, and the mosque was one of the leading religious organisations that was providing solace and support and strengthening the faith for anti-apartheid activists at the time,” he recalls.
The mosque offers guidance to not only the Claremont Muslim community but also the wider Muslim community in Cape Town tackling poverty and promoting gender equality, environmental justice, interfaith solidarity and youth empowerment, he says.
Imam Abdullah Haron, who died in political detention in 1969, had his name-giving ceremony at Claremont Main Road Mosque, and both he and his father were members.
Imam Haron later took over as imam at the Al-Jamia Masjid in Stegman Road, Claremont, in 1955.
“Many of his students who followed him to the Al-Jamia Masjid would return to the Claremont mosque after his detention and death, and they revived his legacy,” says Imam Omar.
In recent years, the Claremont Main Road Mosque has worked with Newlands/Claremont Heritage, Environmental Justice and Restitution Society to preserve the heritage and history of people who were forcibly removed from Claremont and Newlands during Apartheid.
Jowa Abrahams, 81, of Retreat, grew up in Protea Road, Claremont. “I remember walking to the mosque every Friday when Imam Solomon was still in charge,” he says. Despite being forced out of Claremont by Apartheid in 1963, he remained a committed member of the mosque.
“It’s an honour to be part of the mosque. I had my 16th birthday celebration there. I also held the chairman position for 10 years.”
Jaamia Gelant, 59, of Vanguard Estate, says her parents, Mymoena and Sedick Galant, originally lived in Draper Street, Claremont, and her father was part of the Claremont Muslim Youth Association started by Imam Haron and would later serve on the Claremont Main Road Mosque’s board of governors while her mother trained madressa teachers.
Ms Gelant herself was secretary on the mosque’s board from 2012 to 2018.
“I have considered myself a child of Claremont, and I have always felt very privileged and honoured to be on the board in service of so many congregants who were friends of my parents, as well as so many families who had ancestral links to Claremont.”
The mosque will holds its annual general meeting at the Sports Science Institute auditorium in Newlands, on Sunday September 1, from 10am until 12.30pm. Call the mosque at 021 683 8384 for more information.
