Cape Malays (Afrikaans: Kaapse Maleiers, کاپز ملیس in Arabic script) also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world, specifically Indonesia (at that time known as the Dutch East Indies) and other Asian countries, who lived at the Cape during Dutch and British rule.
Although the initial members of the community were from the Dutch colonies of Southeast Asia, by the 1800s the term Malay encompassed all practising Muslims at the Cape, regardless of origin. They initially used Malay as a lingua franca and language of religious instruction, and this was one of the likely reasons that the community were referred to as Malays.
Malays are concentrated in the Cape Town area. Cape Malay cuisine forms a significant part of South African cuisine, and the community played an important part in the history of Islam in South Africa. The community played a part in developing Afrikaans as a written language, initially using an Arabic script.
"Malay" was legally a subcategory of the Coloured racial group during the apartheid era.
^"Malay, Cape in South Africa". Retrieved 21 March 2022.
^Stell, Gerald (2007). "From Kitaab-Hollandsch to Kitaab-Afrikaans: The evolution of a non-white literary variety at the Cape (1856-1940)". Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (PDF). 37. Stellenbosch University. doi:10.5774/37-0-16.
^"The Indonesian anti-colonial roots of Islam in South Africa". 25 August 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
reasons that the community were referred to as Malays. Malays are concentrated in the Cape Town area. CapeMalay cuisine forms a significant part of South...
was a Cape Coloured, or belonged to one of a number of other related subgroups such as the "CapeMalays", or "Other Coloureds". A group of Cape Coloureds...
various ethnic groups such as Hottentots, Bushmen, CapeMalays, Griquas, Korannas, Creoles, Negroes, and Cape Coloureds. Of particular importance is the fact...
Austronesian peoples Overseas Malays, people of Malay race ancestry living outside Malay archipelago home areas CapeMalays, a Malay race descent or community...
via European immigration resulted in further culinary diffusion. The CapeMalay community founded a distinctive diasporic cuisine, derived largely from...
Asia Bruneian Malays, Malays in Brunei Malaysian Malays, Malays in Malaysia Malay Indonesians, Malays in Indonesia Malay Singaporeans, Malays in Singapore...
The Malay population in the United Kingdom is 49,000. Overseas Indonesian Overseas Minangkabau CapeMalays Cocos MalaysMalays in Singapore "Malays in...
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia (parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan)...
request of Queen Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope, in order to teach and assist the Muslim community of the CapeMalays. He is known for having made several...
boeber was originally made by CapeMalays, whose ancestors came from Indonesia, East Africa, and India. Bubur in modern Malay is the generic word for any...
Malaysia, including among the ethnic Malay communities in Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa (CapeMalays) and Thailand. Arabic names were introduced...
Lanka. It is also used by the CapeMalays in Cape Town, South Africa. The rebana is also used among the Cham and Malay ethnic groups in Cambodia. A large...
meat") and saus (spicy sauce). It is of CapeMalay origin, used in Afrikaans, the primary language of the CapeMalays, and the word has gained greater circulation...
are polygamous. Islamic South Africans such as are found among the CapeMalays, Cape Coloureds, and Indian South Africans also allow for polygamy. Uthando...
ethnicity but part of the "Malays", according to the 1950 Malaysian census it was estimated that more than 189,000 Malaysian Malays were born to Javanese parents...
February 2022. Milner, Anthony (2011). "Chapter 7, Multiple forms of 'Malayness'". The Malays. John Wiley & Sons. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-7748-1333-4. Retrieved 17...
Nowadays, the term Kedahan Malay only refers to the Malays living in Kedah. Despite being ethnically similar to Kedah Malays, the Malays of Perlis and Penang...
brought his Malay harem and slaves there." Nowadays, this ethnic group made significant population, known as Cocos Malays. Cocos Malays are an ethnic...
mercenaries. Subsequently, other ethnic groups followed suit; they were Malays, Sundanese, Javanese, Minangkabaus, Buginese, and Makassar. Foreign and...
included various ethnicities, such as Khoikhoi, San, CapeMalays, Griquas, Korannas, Creoles, Negroes, and Cape Coloureds. What is particularly noteworthy about...
A similarly shaped hat, called a toedang, was commonly worn by the CapeMalays, who are descendants of slaves from the East Indies. It is believed that...
(Sri Lankan Muslim Tamil), with Malay being the major lexifier. It is traditionally spoken by the Sri Lankan Malays and among some Sinhalese in Hambantota...