Habib Umar visits Shaykh Yusuf Sayyidi الحبيب عمر بن حفيظ - Habib Omar (may Allah preserve him and benefit us by him) visits the grave of the great scholar and mujahid, Shaykh Yusuf in the village of Macassar, near Cape Town, South Africa. Shaykh Yusuf was born in Macassar, Indonesia. He spent several years studying in Makkah and Madinah and took knowledge from Imam al-Haddad. The two met in the Yemeni city of Ta`izz and Imam al-Haddad mentions Shaykh Yusuf in some of his writings. When Shaykh Yusuf returned to Indonesia he fought bravely against Dutch colonialism until he was finally captured and exiled to the Cape, which was also Dutch territory. The Dutch housed him along with his family and followers on the farm Zandvliet, far outside of Cape Town, in an attempt to minimize his influence on their slaves. The plan failed however; Yusufs settlement soon became a sanctuary for slaves and it was here that the first cohesive Islamic community in South Africa was established. From here the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community of Cape Town. Sheikh Yusuf died at Zandvliet on 23 May 1699. The area surrounding Zandvliet farm was renamed Macassar in honor of Shaykh Yusufs place of birth. #HabibUmarCPT14
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 11:37:11 +0000