AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Claremont Main Road Mosque (CMRM) commemorated its 170th anniversary with a heartfelt gathering that included a Khatm al-Quran (completion of the Holy Quran) and tributes to individuals who have shaped the mosque’s legacy.
Established in 1854, CMRM remains a pillar of spiritual guidance, interfaith solidarity, and social justice on Cape Town’s Main Road, IOL reported on Monday.
The anniversary program featured dhikr led by the Al-Ameen Dhikr Jama’ah, followed by a completion of the Quran and speeches reflecting on the mosque’s history and influence.
Abdud-Daiyaan Petersen, an archival researcher, shared insights into the Claremont/Newlands area’s early history, explaining that the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established plantations and farms in the area and that early Muslims arrived here as political exiles from Indonesia, well before formal colonial settlement in the region.
“The placement of these Muslims on farms brought Islam to this part of Cape Town,” Petersen explained, underscoring the area’s deep-rooted Islamic heritage.
Historical reflections continued as Professor Aslam Fataar from the University of Stellenbosch honored Imam Gassan Solomons, a former CMRM leader who used the mosque’s minbar to advocate against apartheid from an Islamic perspective. “Imam Gassan becomes a fountain head, for articulating, for giving words to the anti-apartheid struggle from an Islamic perspective from the minbar of CMRM,” Fataar said.
The program also honored three long-time community members. “We stand on the shoulders of these women and all those who came before us, as we strive to uphold and build on the rich legacy of this masjid,” CMRM secretary Jaamia Galant said.
.................
End/ 257