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South Africa is a Christian-majority country, with Islam being a minority faith in the country. Muslims are said to make up approximately 1.7% of the population. Pretoria, being the administrative capital of the country, also hosts a significant percentage of the Muslim population of South Africa. South Africa is also one of the countries considered to be a Muslim-friendly state. Muslims have lived in the country for hundreds of years and have several mosques and heritage sites across the country.
The largest Muslim population resides in the Western Cape region. So, whether you're moving to South Africa for work, education, or visiting the gorgeous country, you do not need to worry excessively about settling in. Although mosques may not be located on every corner of the city, they should not be impossible to find. In this article, we will be discussing the most popular mosques in the city of Pretoria and other cities in South Africa.
The Queen Street Mosque, also known as the Pretoria mosque, was built in 1928. Although unconfirmed, the mosque is said to have been designed by a cape Muslim who used sketches and photographs of an Indian mosque as inspiration for the Queen Street Mosque. The mosque today often gets hidden by the tall buildings surrounding it. So, the opening is isolated and cannot easily be seen from the main street.
The main prayer hall is a simple squared area. The mosque building has a minaret outside of the southern corner and forms a diagonal that generates another square. The main building includes plastered moldings and arches over its windows – a design that resembles that of the Kerk Street Mosque in Johannesburg. The interior decoration of the mosque includes a mihrab, a built minbar, pilasters, heavy cornice, and pressed steel ceilings.
This decoration compliments the typical late Victorian architecture of Pretoria. The mosque has been maintained and cared for by the members of the Indian community of Pretoria for many years. This community mostly resides in Laudium. Apart from leading the five daily prayers, the Imam also assists people of the Pretorian community in enhancing their knowledge of Islam and spreading its message. The mosque is located in the Mosque Plaza precinct in the heart of Tshwane.
The Metro Masjid Mosque is located in Arcadia, Pretoria. The mosque was established by the Carrim family of South Africa on the wishes of the family's late father, Muhammad Carrim. The mosque was built and opened for use in 1999. The building is a conversion of the Trevanna stores. The exterior of the mosque is a beige-white building with one central dome and a smaller dome situated on the south-eastern side of the mosque.
There is also a tall minaret next to the main dome. The mosque also consists of an arched gallery. The structure of the mosque has been inspired by Arabesque North-African architecture. The building consists of a ground floor and 4 other floors. There are separate floors for men and women to pray on, along with space for ablution and a madrassa for Islamic education. Metro masjid mosque also has ample parking space for your convenience.
Friday/Jummah prayer is offered in the congregation, followed by an Islamic lecture in English and a khutbah. The mosque is open to visitors. However, make sure to visit the mosque outside of the regular prayer timings, as worshippers are not to be disturbed during prayer times. Although the mosque is open to all, it is preferable to be appropriately covered before your visit.
Masjid Rahmaani is a mosque and the only Islamic center in Sunnyside, Pretoria. Along with your five daily prayers, you can visit the center to offer Friday/Jummah prayer in the congregation. Masjid Rahmaani also focuses on providing Islamic education to Muslims and non-Muslims alike through its madrassa. The main building of the mosque is focused on simplicity rather than extravagant architecture.
However, the Masjid Rahmaani, being the only Islamic center in Pretoria, offers Muslims of the surrounding area an opportunity to come together to pray in congregation and socialize as a community. The mosque holds Friday and Eid prayers in the congregation, along with lectures to enhance Islamic knowledge in the community. Masjid Rahmaani also has a separate women's prayer area.
Although located outside of Pretoria, the Juma Mosque in Durban is one of the most popular mosques in South Africa. The mosque is also widely known as the Grey Mosque and serves as the main Islamic community center for Muslims in Durban. The mosque was originally a small brick-and-mortar structure, which was later converted into a mosque when, in August of 1881, a plot was purchased by Aboobaker Amod Jhaveri and Hajee Mohmed in Grey Street to build a mosque.
The mosque has two minarets with the first one being constructed in 1904. The other minaret was added to the structure in 1905, along with other rooms, toilets, and shower facilities for the convenience of travelers who would stop by the mosque for their prayers. The two minarets were, at one time, the tallest structures in all of Durban. Renovation and alterations have been done to the building over time. Juma Mosque of today is a large plastered building structure composed of different styles.
The mosque consists of 8 minarets in total and has a flat room, which is mainly used for prayers during Eid when the influx of worshippers is higher than usual. The building can accommodate up to 7,000 worshippers. The geometrical style of the mosque adds to the building's elegance along with its arched doorways, inter-leading doors, and windows. Up until the 1970s, the Juma mosque was considered to be the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere.
Nizamiye Mosque is another popular mosque located in Midrand, City of Johannesburg, South Africa. The construction of the mosque began in 2009 and was completed in 2012. Nizamiye mosque is considered to be the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. The idea for the construction of the mosque was put forward by a Turkish businessman, Ali Katircioglu, who wished to build an Ottoman-style architectural mosque in a country where it did not exist. The project was initially supposed to be built in the United States but was later moved to South Africa.
The main dome of the mosque measures around 31 m high and 79 ft wide. There are also four half domes and 21 smaller domes. The interior of the mosque features typical Turkish architecture consisting of Turkish ceramics on walls and calligraphy on the ceiling. The dome is also decorated with Turkish art. The mosque has 232 stained glass windows. The mosque has 4 tall minarets, which consist of stairs leading to three platforms.
Nizamiye mosque has the capacity to accommodate up to 6000 worshippers. There are separate prayer halls for men and women. On occasions such as Eid, the mosque is often lit up with green and purple lights. The mosque also features a school, Nizamiye School, which was developed to teach Islamic education. The Islamic studies curriculum that is taught by the school is incorporated with the South African secular educational curriculum. The medium of education is mainly English, but Arabic and Turkish are also taught. The center also consists of a clinic, a market, an under-construction Islamic college, and a private cemetery.
| Fajr | Duhur | Asr | Maghrib | Isha |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05:13 | 12:04 | 15:07 | 17:27 | 18:45 |