Cape Town - A Cape Town family is desperately trying to locate a 300-year-old hand-written copy of the Qur’an which went missing from the country’s oldest mosque five years ago.
The Qur’an dates back to the 17th century and was displayed at the Auwal Masjid Mosque in the Bo Kaap. But five years ago, the Geyer family discovered that the Qur’an had been removed.
The Auwal Mosque is South Africa’s oldest mosque built on land that was owned by Saatjie van die Kaap, an ancestor of the Geyer family.
Achmad Geyer said his family first realised that the document was missing five years ago. When Geyer’s father, Yacoob Geyer, visited the mosque on Sunday, it was still gone.
“It is now exactly five years since it went missing,” Yacoob Geyer said. “There is a lot of mischief going on.”
Geyer said that about a year ago he was told that a local businessman had the Qur’an removed to have it restored and to make copies.
“I spoke to the businessman about a year ago,” he said. “He said he was having copies of the Qur’an made and that he had sent it to Joburg. He invited me to come have a look at the copies, but I went there at least three to four times and every time I was told that he is not there. But all I want to know is where the original is.”
The Qur’an dates back to the 17th century and was written from memory by Imam Abdullah Abdus Salaam who was also known as Tuan Guru.
In an article published on the Voice of the Cape website in August, the Muslim Judicial Council said the Qur’an was being restored and that was an “intricate process”, but was nearing completion.
The MJC could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Cape Argus