Sufism and the Culture of Cape Islam

The first systematic historical study of taṣawwuf at the Cape—a landmark work tracing Sufism's development from its formative period through the major ṭuruq into the religious culture forged between 1667 and 1945. Hendricks shows, with rare scholarly depth, that Sufism was the structural and spiritual core of Cape Muslim life, shaping its law, institutions, and communal memory. Situating the Cape within a wider Indian Ocean world, he illuminates how exiled scholars, enslaved Muslims, and resistance figures—among them Shaykh Yusuf of Makassar and Tuan Guru—built a religious culture of enduring richness under colonial rule. The definitive account of Sufism in Cape Town, and essential reading on Islam in South Africa.