A Sufi Saint's Day in South Africa: The Legend of Badsha Peer

Abstract

This article examines the role of pirs (saints), mazars (shrines) and Urs ('wedding') in forging Islamic culture and identity in South Africa, which has a minority Muslim population of approximately one million, originating mainly in the Indian sub-continent and Malay Archipelago. The focus of this study is the Urs in May 2002 of Badsha Peer, a revered saint who lies buried in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, where Muslims are predominantly of Indian origin. While providing succour to many ordinary Muslims, Badsha Peer's shrine is a site of tension. This article traces the establishment of the shrine, the role it played and plays in the lives of Muslims, its significance to those who administer it, and how conflict over the shrine and practices associated with it refract social relations among Muslims. More broadly, this study explores 'internal' debate among Muslims about the relationship between God and believers, and transitions in activities associated with popular Islam, in the context of historical and structural economic and political change in twentieth-century South Africa.