Kramat of Sheik Sayed Abduraghman Motura

Kramat of Sheik Sayed Abduraghman Motura

In the 1600s, the Dutch started used the Cape area as an exile location for political prisoners from Malaysia and Indonesia, often wealthy, powerful Muslim men. During the 18th century, a political prisoner from Batavia (modern day Jakarta) named Sayed Abdurahman Motura was imprisoned on the island. He was a very devout religious man who brought comfort to other prisoners, and was said to help cure them when they were ill, as well as spreading Islam. He died on the island and his grave became a shrine. Kramats are a type of shrine, honouring the death of a holy person in Islam. They are particularly associated in South Africa with the early Muslims in the Cape due to them being brought there by the Dutch - kramat is a Malay word referring to a shrine to a sacred person. In the late 1960s, the Apartheid-era prison authorities built the Kramat there today. This was due to an attempt to appease the Cape Muslim population after the imprisonmennt and death in custody of Imam Abdullah Haron. He was a Muslim cleric and anti-Apartheid activist, and in 1969, became the first Muslim to be honoured in St Paul's Cathedral.

is51102025

1969

ec349@st-andrews.ac.uk

Site

1481

26/04/2025

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49850411, https://www.transcend.org/tms/2022/08/the-circle-of-peace-and-tranquility-the-karamat-of-sheik-sayed-abduraghman-motura-part-1/, https://www.capemazaarsociety.com/Tuan-Matarah.php, https://artefacts.co.za/main/Buildings/bldgframes_mob.php?bldgid=12385

cm x cm x cm

Government of South Africa

Kramat of Sheik Sayed Abduraghman Motura

TEXT

Building

3959

public

Robben Island Museum

1

ec349@st-andrews.ac.uk