The Circle of the Saints

In The Circle of the Saints, award-winning historian Shafiq Morton maps the spiritual landscape of South Africa by exploring the lives and legacies of the awliyāʾ (saints) who shaped Cape Muslim history. The book details the “Circle of Islam”—a protective perimeter of sacred shrines, or kramats, stretching from Robben Island to Constantia—which stands as a testament to the resilience of faith forged in colonial exile and hardship. By blending archival research with oral traditions, Morton illustrates how these figures, such as Tuan Guru, established a moral geography that continues to influence contemporary debates on heritage and belonging in the 21st century. The kramats, a circle of Sufi saints, are dotted around the Peninsula and the Overberg. They are torch-bearers of Cape Muslim history. These are figures around whom people gathered during times of slavery and hardship for inspiration. Exiled from the Indonesian archipelago to the Cape of Good Hope for resisting the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries, these pioneers carried the flag of Islam to the tip of Africa. They did this when the Statute of India, on the pain of death, forbade the practice of their religion. Hiding in the mountains, they ministered to their followers far away from the eyes of Dutch East India officials. After religious freedom was declared in 1804, other luminaries from the Muslim world would land on our shores. Following in the footsteps of Dr Achmat Davids and Shaykh Yusuf da Costa, Shafiq Morton has excavated the history of these saintly figures. This is the first time that a comprehensive book has been written on the kramats, such a vital part of the Cape’s history.

In The Circle of the Saints, award-winning historian Shafiq Morton maps the spiritual landscape of South Africa by exploring the lives and legacies of the awliyāʾ (saints) who shaped Cape Muslim history. The book details the “Circle of Islam”—a protective perimeter of sacred shrines, or kramats, stretching from Robben Island to Constantia—which stands as a testament to the resilience of faith forged in colonial exile and hardship. By blending archival research with oral traditions, Morton illustrates how these figures, such as Tuan Guru, established a moral geography that continues to influence contemporary debates on heritage and belonging in the 21st century. The kramats, a circle of Sufi saints, are dotted around the Peninsula and the Overberg. They are torch-bearers of Cape Muslim history. These are figures around whom people gathered during times of slavery and hardship for inspiration. Exiled from the Indonesian archipelago to the Cape of Good Hope for resisting the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries, these pioneers carried the flag of Islam to the tip of Africa. They did this when the Statute of India, on the pain of death, forbade the practice of their religion. Hiding in the mountains, they ministered to their followers far away from the eyes of Dutch East India officials. After religious freedom was declared in 1804, other luminaries from the Muslim world would land on our shores. Following in the footsteps of Dr Achmat Davids and Shaykh Yusuf da Costa, Shafiq Morton has excavated the history of these saintly figures. This is the first time that a comprehensive book has been written on the kramats, such a vital part of the Cape’s history.