In celebration of a unique Cape Town tradition, The Wedding Salawaat exhibition was held to showcase beautifully curated photographs taken by popular wedding photographer Rizqua Barnes. Barnes’ work is a culmination of how the past coincides with the present, bringing together the

Cape Malay community in a wedding tradition that traverses time. The photos showcased by Barnes depict the traditions beautifully, illustrating the emotions of the families saying goodbye to the bride during this ceremony.

Through her photography, Barnes captured a moment of deep emotional intensity as well as a moment that can resonate with the wider global Muslim community due to the relevance of the Salawaat in Muslim world today. The exhibition highlighted not only the Wedding Salawaat as a tradition, but shed light on how our predecessors were able to implement Islam into a community through culture and how Islam contributed to a culture in Cape Town.

Before the interactive exhibition, OCTH told the story of the history of traditional Cape Malay weddings by using archival research and journals completed by Daiyaan Petersen, to discover more about Cape Malay ancestors' wedding traditions. The information complemented older photographs taken by Barnes during her earlier period as a wedding photographer. While Aaliyah Ahmed personally shared more about traditional Cape Malay weddings, to add more colour and context to the photographs.

OCTH converted the intimate kNext Art Gallery into a beautiful viewing space, using artful floor-to-ceiling drapery, to imitate the walls of a traditional Cape Malay wedding venue. The photographs, A2 sized 3mm Perspex, were suspended from the ceiling, giving a floating effect to the images, lending an ethereal sense to the space. The props included a traditional beaded wedding dress and the traditional headpiece, the Medora, wrapped around a dummy. The addition of a live recital of the salawaat, traditionally performed when the bride and groom depart, brought a heartwarming touch that evoked the same emotions as seeing it in person.

What is the Wedding Salawaat?
The Wedding Salawaat is a type of Salawaat which is a praise of the Prophet Muhammed, his family and his companions (PBUT). The word Salawaat, is the plural form of “Salat” which means ‘prayer’. The Salawaat that is recited at the wedding does not differ from the Salawaat one would normally recite but it has a very distinctive tune that is specifically sung only at weddings. The Wedding Salawaat begins as the bride makes her way down the stage to greet her guests with two Hajji’s, women who have performed the sacred Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

The bride is surrounded by family and friends who greet her with both sadness and joy.

It is a good practice to begin and end a gathering with praise of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) as it brings goodness to that gathering, pleases God and has the ability to help us grow closer to the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).

There is an Arabic saying that goes,

“Whoever loves a thing will make its remembrance abundantly.”

Therefore, Muslims continuously praise the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) out of love and gratitude for him.

The earliest source of the connection between marriage and Salawaat (praise) upon the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is narrated by Ibn Al Jawzi. It is reported that the Prophet Adam paid the mahr (dower-a form of payment provided by the groom to his bride) to his bride Hawa (Eve) by sending Salawaat on the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) upon the instruction of God. (Sulwat al Ahzan, ibn al Jawzi)

These older Marriage Salawaat combinations contributed to the unique culture of reciting the Salawaat at the ‘bruidafhaal’ (fetching of the bride) here at the Cape. The bruidafhaal itself is seemingly one of the most intimate parts of the Cape Muslim wedding as well as the ceremony on stage where the wedding salawaat takes place. This ceremony marks the final session of the wedding day when the female pilgrims, Hajji’s, at the wedding, approach the bride to cover her shoulders with a fur shawl or “Charlie” , marking her transition into a new stage of her life and a new identity as a married Muslim woman. The Hajji’s then walk the bride out of the venue to be transported to the bruidskamer (bridal room). As the Salawaat is recited, people greet the bride and are overcome by different emotions, expressing themselves through tears, and an overwhelming feeling of empathy for the bride who starts a new journey.

Connection between Hajj and Marriage:

“The Wedding Salawaat shows an interesting connection between the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and Marriage in Islam. This can be seen through the leaving ceremony where the Hajji’s, women who have performed the Hajj, accompany the bride to her new home. In both cases, the Hajji’s and the bride would typically wear white as it is a symbol of purity. The Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) said, “Wear white garments, for they are purer and better.” Although white is a symbol of purity across many cultures around the world, the “purity of white” for Muslims acts as a symbolic reminder of a spiritual purity Muslims are reminded to constantly achieve throughout their lives.

Both Hajj and marriage have the ability to purify the soul, strengthen the unity between people and can both be seen as highly sacred acts in the Islamic tradition that is pleasing to the Divine. Therefore, I think it is fitting that the Hajji’s be the ones who walk the bride to her new life, not because they are the elders of the community, but because they have the ability to represent the beginning of a new spiritual journey and spiritual renewal that the couple will embark on.”

https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/the-wedding-salawaat-exhibition-brings-tears-to-viewers-eyes-4e087d47-aa5b-4a42-a4dd-4ca68a4fa5f3

The Archives by Abdud-Daiyaan Petersen

In 1861, Lady Duff-Gordon remarked on the amount of English women that embraced Islam and married Muslim men. It is likely that their own cultural preference, combined with Victorian tradition that pervaded the Cape, shaped Cape Muslim weddings into an anglicised festivity rooted in Muslim and Malay traditions.

There is little evidence of what weddings were like before the 1860s as the wedding of Abou Beker Effendi to his Muslim ‘Malay’ wife of British heritage, Rakea Maker, in 1863 was one of the earliest recorded in the community. Due to the restrictions on the life of the enslaved at the Cape, it would not have been possible for Muslims to celebrate wedding festivities in the fashion that they did in the lands of their origin. The limitation of wealth and instability of remaining with one’s enslaved spouse due to the possibility of being sold off to another farm at any moment were likely factors that stopped the expression of weddings amongst the enslaved Muslims. Probably after the emancipation of slavery, these expressions began to emerge and the Imams of the time, like Tuan Guru, would’ve encouraged not only the nikah in the masjid that they fought so hard to attain but also a simple walimah, or wedding feast, to celebrate the union of marriage.

From newspaper articles during the late 19th and early 20th centuries we see continuation of some of the practices which might’ve occurred during the slave period such as the huisbruid or house-wedding. The chosen bridal house would be decorated with wreaths, flowers, gold and silver tinsel and many other ornaments to mask the appearance of the lived home and create a space that allows the bride and her attendees to feel almost royal. Of course these articles only expose the wealthier amongst the Muslims at the time, it is likely that the less-fortunate would’ve had similar weddings as the materials used were inexpensive. Within the Muslim community today, many of the elders recall these huisbruide in a similar fashion of origami flowers, tinsel, colour paper and beautiful decorations.

Around the turn of the 20th century, halls became more prevalent as community meeting places for various reasons; some political, some social. The Town Hall, Masonic Hall and other institutes were booked for these events as Muslims moved upwards in terms of class and income and could afford such extravagance as the paler inhabitants of the city. Still, those that could not afford continued with the traditional huisbruid which still persists till today. Indeed, even the hiring of halls has become outdated as the community continues to grow and now farms of various kinds in the Boland play host to the elaborate Muslim wedding feasts as continuation of the evolution of the Cape Muslim wedding tradition.

Preserving the Cape Malay tradition by honouring heritage, opening a dialogue and presenting culture and customs through art and education,

to the youth who may find a new appreciation for the ancient tradition, which could possibly be lost:

The Wedding Salawaat

Artist: Rizqua Barnes

May 2023

kNext Gallery, Cape Town CBD

Complete and full ownership of video goes to IOL and journalist Shakirah Thebus.

Video used for preservation and educational purposes only.