Sacred Grave on a Sandy Hill

The grave of Sheikh Yusuf al-Makassari, a major Islamic scholar from Gowa, South Sulawesi, is located on a small sandy hill in Fasley Bay, not far from his home of Kampung Makassar, Cape Town. Based on Lontar Bolangngan (papyrus) documents, Sheikh Yusuf was born in Gowa on the 8th of the month of Shawwal, 1036, on the Islamic hijri calendar (July 3, 1626), and died on the 22nd of Dhul-Qa'dah, 1109 Hijri (May 23, 1699) at the age of 73. He was initially exiled to Sri Lanka in September 1684, along with his two wives, children and several students.

Sheikh Yusuf was exiled by the Dutch after being arrested in Cirebon, West Java, for his role in helping Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa oppose colonization. At the time, Sheikh Yusuf was not only the son-in-law of the Sultan, but also the highest-ranking Islamic scholar, or ulama, in the kingdom. "He was highly involved with the political dynamics in the Banten Kingdom. He was an ulama who was also an activist, as was Abdullah An-Sinkili, Sheikh Yusuf's teacher in the Aceh Kingdom," explained Prof. Dr. Azyumardi Azra, author of the book The Network of Middle Eastern Scholars and the Indonesian Archipelago in the 17th and 18th Centuries.