Review essay: Making South Africa’s Muslims creatively visible

Abstract

South Africa’s Muslims have generally been well represented in different sectors of the society over the years. Since the arrival of the forefathers such as Shaykh Yusuf al-Makassari (d.1699) at the Cape, Muslims viewed themselves an integral part of the soil. During both the colonial and apartheid areas, however, they—as a religious minority—were depicted and portrayed by the creative artists such as painters, photographers and writers rather negatively. Gabeba Baderoon’s book Regarding Muslims is a critical study that highlights how Muslim representations moved from the margins to the centre and from the picturesque to the menacing. This review essay this reflects on the contents of this invaluable and informative text.

Keywords: Gabeba Baderoon, Regarding Muslims (2014), representation of Muslims, South African Muslims.