The Queen Victoria Mosque, also called the Jamia Mosque, is a mosque, situated at the corner of Chiappini and Castle street, in Cape Town, South Africa.[1] It is considered to be the first and oldest mosque in Cape Town,[2][3] and the largest in the Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town.[4] The mosque is a National heritage site.[5]
History
While some sources mention that the mosque was built in 1850,[a] others mention that the land for building the mosque was granted in 1851.[b] It is a Shafeemosque[6] and was the first mosque built on land that was specifically given for a mosque site by the British Crown.[1] This may have been one reason it was referred to as Queen Victoria mosque.[1] Another reason it was referred to thus could have been the involvement of the British Crown in resolving disputes within the Muslim community.[7] The Jamia mosque site was granted to the Cape Muslims with the expressed assurance that it be utilised by all Muslims regardless of their differences.[1] The land grant resulted out of conditions in the Colony in 1846.[1][c]
^Worden, et al. (2004) mention that the mosque was built in 1850.[2]
^Hutchinson (2006) writes that the mosque site was approved only on 19 October 1851 and the title deeds were transferred three years thence.[6]
^In 1804, the Cape was threatened by war; the increasing clashes on the Eastern Frontier required the complete trust of those who lived in the Colony, leading to the inclination to appease the Muslim community.[1]
References
^ abcdefDavids, Achmat (1980). The Mosques of Bo-Kaap. Athlone, Cape Town: The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research. p. 138.
