Darul Uloom Newcastle is a college for Higher Islamic Education ( Deobandi madrasa), located in

Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal Newcastle is the third-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is the province's industrial centre. The city has four industrial areas. The majority of its citizens reside in Newcastle East in the main townships of Madade ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was the first formal institution of higher Islamic studies in South Africa, as well as the first Deobandi madrasa in South Africa. It was founded by Cassim Sema in 1973. It is called the mother of all Darul Ulooms in South Africa. Although only

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

fiqh is taught in such institutions in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, it also offers Hanafi,

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

fiqh and Maaliki Fiqh.

History

On 13 May 1973, Darul Uloom Newcastle officially started with only 9 students. Official classes begin on 9 September. The site where the madrasa is located was once a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. It was vacant for over 15 years. The site was acquired after 3 years of negotiations with the competent authorities. For the first three years, Cassim Sema alone took the classes of the students and his wife cooked meals for them. As the medium of education is English, many foreign students also come to study here. It has been closely associated with the

Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat ( , also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is an international Islamic schools and branches, Islamic religious movement. It focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encourages f ...

since its inception. It was the first Deobandi madrasa in South Africa to include Shafi'i fiqh in its curriculum, as it admitted non-Hanafi students from the beginning. At present, the principal of the madrasa is Ismail Ebrahim Akoo and the Chairman of the

trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

is Ayob Mohamed Kachwee.

References

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* * {{Authority control Islamic universities and colleges Deobandi madrasas 1973 establishments in South Africa Islam in South Africa

History

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography