🇿🇦Halal Travel Guide to South Africa

Founded by Tuan Guru, a prince of Tidore exiled to Robben Island in 1780, who wrote out the Qur'an from memory in prison. The manuscript survives. The mosque has been in continuous use since.

The tomb of Sheikh Yusuf of Makassar, exiled to the Cape in 1694 after leading resistance to the Dutch in Banten. A national hero in both South Africa and Indonesia, and the most important Muslim site in the country.

Begun in 1881 and repeatedly expanded, holding several thousand, at the centre of Durban's Indian quarter. Guided visits can be arranged.

Built by a Turkish philanthropist as a scaled replica of Sinan's Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, opened in 2012. The largest mosque complex in the southern hemisphere, with a school, clinic and shops.

The second-oldest mosque in South Africa, in a converted house on Long Street with two palm trees outside, one of which survives.

One of several historic Bo-Kaap mosques within a few streets of each other, reflecting the quarter's density of congregations.

A ring of some twenty tombs of early Muslim exiles and leaders around the Cape peninsula - at Signal Hill, Oudekraal, Constantia, Faure and Robben Island. Cape Muslims traditionally visit them as a circuit.

One of the largest mosques in Cape Town, in the Cape Flats, serving a substantial community outside the historic Bo-Kaap.

Several mosques within the historic Indian commercial quarter around Juma Masjid, serving different community traditions.

Johannesburg's Muslim community spans Indian South African, Malawian, Somali and a growing number of Black South African converts, with mosques across Fordsburg, Lenasia and Soweto.

A Chishti Sufi complex in Rylands with a distinctive Indo-Islamic design, reflecting the other strand of South African Islam - South Asian rather than Southeast Asian.

One of several large Durban mosques serving the city's substantial Indian Muslim population.

Painted houses on the slope of Signal Hill, settled from the 18th century by freed slaves and exiles from the Indonesian archipelago. The oldest mosques in the country and a museum in an 18th-century house.

The oldest Muslim cemetery in South Africa, above the Bo-Kaap, where Tuan Guru and the early imams are buried. Closed to new burials in 1886, which provoked a significant protest.

Mandela's prison, and two centuries earlier the place of imprisonment for Muslim political exiles from the Dutch East Indies, including Tuan Guru. Tours led by former political prisoners.

The commercial heart of the largest Indian community outside India - spice merchants, fabric shops and the Juma Masjid, dating from the indentured labour migrations after 1860.

Outstanding and difficult - the history of segregation and its dismantling, including the role of Muslim activists in the struggle. Allow three hours.

Johannesburg's historic Indian and Muslim district, with the Oriental Plaza, a nightly street food market on Mint Road, and a history as a site of anti-apartheid organising.

A Bo-Kaap institution serving Cape Malay food - bobotie, denningvleis, curries and koeksisters - in the heart of the painted quarter. Family-run for decades.

Cape Malay cooking with a terrace looking over the city to Table Mountain. Book for the view as much as the food.

Not a restaurant but a spice merchant open since 1946, where the Bo-Kaap buys its masalas. The place to understand Cape Malay cooking.

Gatsbys, curries and Cape Malay staples in the city centre, cheap and consistently busy at lunchtime.

Several Bo-Kaap families run half-day classes in their homes - the market, then bobotie, roti and koeksisters. The best single thing to do in Cape Town for a food traveller.

A long-established Durban curry house serving breyani and the city's signature dishes near the Grey Street quarter.

Durban curry done straightforwardly, with bunny chow among the options. Local rather than touristy.

A South African halal chain doing Durban-style curries and bunny chow, with branches in both cities. Reliable.

Spice merchants and cooked food stalls in the covered market at the heart of the Indian quarter.

Mint Road fills with food stalls most evenings - grilled meat, samoosas, falooda, curries. The best halal street food in Johannesburg.

A large covered shopping and eating complex in Johannesburg's Indian quarter, with dozens of halal food outlets.

The coastal suburb north of Durban has a substantial Muslim community and a good cluster of halal restaurants along the promenade and in the malls.

Several Kruger-area lodges are Muslim-owned or arrange halal catering with advance notice, along with prayer facilities. Book the catering when you book the room.

Nando's, Steers, KFC and several other national chains have SANHA or MJC-certified branches, clearly marked. Useful on road trips.

Guesthouses in the painted quarter itself, with the historic mosques, the Cape Malay restaurants and Table Mountain above. Central and walkable in daylight.

Secure, walkable, with halal-certified restaurants, the Robben Island ferry and the Zeitz MOCAA. More expensive and less characterful.

On the Atlantic seaboard with a long promenade, a good restaurant scene and a substantial Muslim community nearby in Rylands and Gatesville.

North of Durban, with a large Muslim community, halal restaurants, warm-sea beaches and a lighthouse promenade. Safer and calmer than central Durban.

The beachfront hotels, close to the Indian quarter and uShaka. Exercise normal caution after dark.

Sabi Sand, Timbavati and the Kruger-area lodges, several of which are Muslim-owned or arrange halal catering and prayer space on request.

Fordsburg for the halal food and the night market; Sandton for security and business hotels, with halal options in the malls.

Cape Dutch architecture in mountain valleys an hour from Cape Town. Halal food is thin here - plan to eat in Cape Town or self-cater.