Sheikh Yusuf helped bridge Indonesia and South Africa

Believe it or not, Easter is a celebration Muslims in South Africa look forward to when summer comes.

During Easter holiday, thousands of Muslims gather at the shrine of Sheikh Yusuf in the Maccasar area, around 40 kilometers west of Cape Town.

Yusuf is credited as the first person to read the Koran in South Africa and propagate Islam in the country. But South Africans also pay tribute to Yusuf as a man who fought slavery and the colonialism they suffered for hundreds of years.

Maccasar was then a farm where Yusuf, his family and followers were isolated after they were moved from exile in Sri Lanka in 1694. The place instead became a rallying point for slaves, and other people exiled from the East.

After eight generations, Muslims account for around 5 percent of South Africa's population, mostly in Cape Town.

Adam Philander, the imam of Nurul Latief Mosque adjacent to the shrine, said the Dutch colonial government had blotted out all records regarding the spread of Islam by Yusuf's children and followers.

"That's why we are now busy tracing our family tree," Philander, who claims to be a descendant of Yusuf.

He said Yusuf, or Sheikh Yusuf al-Taj al Khalwatial-Maqasari, as he is known in religious circles, was a figure who tied South Africa and Indonesia both culturally and emotionally.

"Although I do not speak Bahasa Indonesia, I feel the Indonesian blood running through my veins," he said.

Thanks to Yusuf, he said, Muslims in South Africa have inherited traditions that are still in place in Indonesia.

"We have kept shalawat (chanting in tribute of Prophet Muhammad), post-burial gatherings to pray for the dead and other traditions intact," Philander said.

Yusuf was born in 1626 in Gowa, now is part of South Sulawesi. He was the son of Makassar nobility and the nephew of King Bissu of Gowa.

He spent several years studying Arabic and traditional religious sciences in Mecca, and eventually returned to Banten, where later he fought alongside Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa against the Dutch.

The Dutch captured Yusuf in 1683, and exiled him to Sri Lanka before moving him to the Cape of Good Hope aboard de Voetboeg ship.

Yusuf died on 23 May 1699, and was buried on a hill overlooking Macassar. A tomb constructed there and has since become one of the most visited shrines in South Africa.

"Muslims gather here during Easter holidays not to celebrate Easter. We just preserve the tradition that dates back hundreds of years ago," Philander said.

When slavery was a legal practice in South Africa, employers used to take leave during Easter to enable them celebrate the holiday with their families. Slaves made use of their masters' absence to gather with their families and friends.

There has been a controversy about whether the remains of Yusuf were kept in the shrine, as a history book says his body was sent home to South Sulawesi in 1705, and interred in a tomb located in Katangka village, bordering Gowa regency.

The first South African ambassador to Indonesia Bafana Sydney Kubheka paid a historic visit to the tomb while on an official visit to South Sulawesi in March 1997, to pay his respects to Sheikh Yusuf.

The government of former president Soeharto conferred the title of national hero on Yusuf in 1995. Soeharto paid homage to Yusuf at the tomb in South Africa in 1997.

Despite the controversy, the shrine remains a popular place for both South African Muslims and Indonesian tourists.

The government of Indonesia is now finishing the construction of Nurul Latief Mosque, which is being built on 4,000 acres of land just below the hill where the shrine stands. Indonesia has also a plan to construct a cottage near the shrine and will use it as a library.

"The mosque symbolizes the close link between South Africa's Muslims and Indonesia," Indonesian Ambassador to South Africa Abdul Nasier said, adding that Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is a South Sulawesi native, has been asked to inaugurate the mosque later this year.

To mark the long-standing historical connection, dozens of South Sulawesi figures are set to visit the shrine and mosque during Easter.

The mosque goers will also hear Indonesian Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra speak during Friday prayers during the festivity, the first Indonesian in 300 years to do so in South Africa, Philander said.

"Indonesia has given us strength and courage. It makes me proud of being of Indonesian descent," Philander said, amid his tears.