Cape Town - Hundreds of Muslims, all clad in white, gathered in Bo-Kaap on Tuesday to participate in the annual Muharram march, hosted by the Boorhaanol Movement and the Tana Baru Trust as a way to “keep culture alive” and celebrate the new Islamic year.
The march falls on what is popularly referred to in the Cape as “Tiene Muharram”, meaning the 10th day of the new Islamic year. It is a historic traditional activity to celebrate the coming of the new year and to encourage the youth to be pro-active in the community.
Boorhaanol deputy chairperson Mohammad Groenewald said: “Historically, Muslims have always celebrated the month of Muharram which is the first month of the lunar Islamic calendar and over the years – Bo-Kaap being the iconic cultural space of Islam and the cradle of Islam – we have to keep a lot of the cultural activities alive because if we abandon our cultural practices we see it as part of gentrification.”
Groenewald explained that because the event this year coincided with Women’s Day, the theme was to honour important women figures in Cape Muslim history such as Sara (Saartjie) Van De Kaap, Cissie Gool, Mariam Dramat and Zulpha Otto-Salies.
He explained: “The first mosque was given to the Muslim community by a woman.
“Women played a very instrumental role in early Islam but it is sad that women still remain the most marginalised in our religious spaces and that narrative needs to be challenged.
“If you look at the contribution of women, we felt we need to celebrate them and all the programmes we do. It’s about our history and teaching the next generation about our history so they can value these women that were the foundation of the Bo-Kaap.
“The route that we choose is all about walking past our most significant historical spaces in Bo-Kaap and at each point it is explained what the significance of that space is.”
The Habibia Pipe Brigade led the crowd of more than 2 000 people from Boorhaanol Centre in Pentz Street, walking past sites such as the Auwal Mosque in Dorp Street, up Wale Street and past Shaafee Mosque to the Tana Baru cemetery and back to Pentz Street, where they enjoyed a warm meal together.