Shaykh Nazim South Africa Tour 2000

Visit to Hazrat Yusuf Makassar and the Cape of Good Hope

November 7^th, 2000

The day began as usual around 3:30 am with Salat al-tahajjud behind Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. However this morning, more than two-hundred men and women were in attendance at host Professor Da Costa’s home, as the numbers had been steadily increasing night after night. The tajalli that came down on the gathered worshippers was so intense, that many people were shaking with sobs or had tears streaming down their cheeks.

Around ten am, as Mawlana was beginning the morning meal, along with about one hundred mureeds, a film crew from a local cinema company joined the group to begin taping a one-hour show about Mawlana Shaykh Nazim.

Following the generous brunch and salat al-Duha, the Shaykh and a large group of people started off on a day trip. Passing through the shantytowns on the western edge of Cape Town, they observed the terrible conditions so many people, all non-white, lived in. Over a million people live in these shantytowns in Cape Town, making up perhaps a third of the city’s population. These people, mostly migrants had come to the Cape Town area and other urban centers during the last days of the apartheid era, seeking to escape poverty in the rural countryside. However what they found was far worse, having to squat on scraps of land, living in tin shacks held together by wire, rope, rocks holding down the roofs, using privies at the edge of the shantytowns, sometimes a walk of over five hundred metres or more, lacking running water and having electricity stolen from the huge lamps put up by the apartheid government to monitor the camps.

Having passed through these camps, the Shaykh and his entourage reached their first destination. The maqam of as-Sayyid Yusuf Makassar stands out from the tree-covered hills with its bright green dome atop its shining white walls.

There Mawlana Shaykh Nazim spent time praying for this, the great Indonesian wali who fought the Dutch and was captured and exiled to Sri Lanka. After that, he was exiled to Cape Town, that exile being the cause for the first arrival of Islam to South Africa’s shores.

After salat al-Dhuhr, the accompanying film crew requested an interview with Shaykh Nazim in front of the maqam. After the interview, the entourage returned to their coombies and cars and headed west. Passing lovely beach towns along the way, the road ascended the coastal cliffs and headed into the wilderness – the approach to the Cape of Good Hope.

Arriving at the Cape Park, the Shaykh met up with a number of tour groups as he descended from the van. Eager to meet the Shaykh and to take a photo with him, the visitors, mainly Europeans, chattered excitedly as the Shaykh conversed with their German tour guide.



Following this the Shaykh and his entourage took a train up the steep hill to the top of Cape Point. The younger among the entourage walked up the wide paved path, limned with the lovely protea plant, the South African national flower, and other flora unique to the Cape, arriving panting at the top.

There the cliff was engulfed in wreaths of mist blowing around the rocks and visible between our head and our feet. There, in a small enclosure right at the edge of the cliff, Mawlana Shaykh sat and conducted dhikrullah, in the midst of a tremendous wind upwelling from the sea, invisible in the depths of the fog surrounding the granite, green-covered cliffs. Looking out over the edge, neither sea, nor sky were visible, but the vast roar of the ocean below created an awesome cacophony resounding in our ears, as if we were on the edge of Creation itself. An intense tajalli, showered the worshippers, as if they had been conveyed to the very primordial origins of the springs of creation itself. Following the intense dhikr, the Shaykh spoke of the enormous himma, zeal, for knowledge possessed by the men who sought to bridge the barrier between the two oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian. He spoke of that himma, regardless of who possesses it, is a sign of aspiration for the Divine.

Following the talk, all returned to the base of the hill, where Bahauddin Adil made adhan and the Shaykh led Salat al-`Asr, in front of hundreds of gaping tourists. Many non-Muslim, mostly European tourists, came up to the group after respectfully observing the salat, asking interested questions about our religion and about the venerable Shaykh.

From the Cape, the group returned to Cape Town, coming to a stop at the home of Anwar Yassine. There, after a sumptious dinner, the entire group prayed Salat al-Maghrib in the yard of the house, after which several dozen persons took initiation with Shaykh Nazim. After the baya, the Shaykh and entourage left quickly for Husami Masjid.

There the Shaykh was introduced to the large congregation, spilling out of the former church onto the sidewalks outside. He led Dhikr and gave a sobhat, interrupted briefly by a Wahabi, who was duly thrown out of the mosque by the indignant Imam Abdul Wahab Handalay.


Following Salat al-Isha, the Shaykh gave baya to over one thousand members of the congregation, including over three hundred ladies.


Imam Hassen Walele leads the salawat and salaam after.

Following the initiation ceremony, men then ladies greeted the Shaykh, who recited a blessing on each in turn using his cane.

The entourage returned to the home of Dr. Da Costa around eleven-thirty pm, where they enjoyed a night meal, entertained by Mawlana Shaykh in a very joyful mood, before everyone turned in for the night.