9/26/2004 3:39:00 PM GMT
In 1681 the first political prisoners and Muslims were brought to South Africa by the Dutch, and only in 1804 that they were allowed to freely practice their faith and this week a million South African Muslims celebrated 200 years of freedom.
For the first time on Friday, the 10 mosques in Cape Town were linked together through a human chain for the Juma'ah, Friday, prayer.
Rasool, the Western Cape premier attended the ceremony.
On Saturday 20 000 Muslim children retraced the steps of Imam Abdullah ibn Kadi Abdus Salaam who was known as Tuan Guru (Mister Teacher) and who is recognised as the most prominent of the early Muslim teachers at the Cape Town.
Government representatives from Indonesia and the Comoros also attended the ceremonies.
A prince from Tidore in the Trinate islands, Tuan Guru, resisted Dutch rule of his home and in 1780 was brought to South Africa as a political prisoner. He was held for 13 years on Robben Island and then in the Cape Town Castle.
The Dutch used Robben Island to hold political prisoners from Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia since 1681. The Dutch used to serve the Muslim prisoners the same food made of seal and penguin meat they fed their pigs.