Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cutting edge of memory and culture
Muslims in the Cape mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, writes YAZEED KAMALDIEN
THE SCENT of rose water and lemon oil fill the Heideveld mosque where women are gathered for an annual tradition to mark the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. This gathering every January is called Moulood an-Nabi, and Muslims in various countries remember their prophet in different ways. Muhammad was reportedly born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in the year 571 on the 12th day of the Islamic month Rabi ul-Awal.
At the Heideveld mosque and across Cape Town, women have gathered for hundreds of years to cut and scent lemon tree leaves, then fold them in wrapping paper or small pieces of fabric before giving them to men as part of a tradition known as “rampies sny”.
The word rampies originates from the Malay word rampai. Sny is the Afrikaans word for cut. This is indicative of the crosscultural Cape heritage where languages, races and cultures have intermingled.
Malaysians, more specifically, refer to bunga rampai, which involves the fine slicing of flowers and leaves, then mixing them together to create a fragrant potpourri.
While cutting the leaves, women recite Arabic praises for Prophet Muhammad and remember Allah, or God. After the leaves are cut, they are placed in a basket to undergo the oeker, which means “it is being prayed over”, in Arabic when participants, ask for God’s blessings.
This tradition stems from the Indonesian and Malaysian community that arrived in the Cape with Dutch colonisers from the mid-1600s. It is a cultural expression linked to Islam, and not a religious obligation or global practice.
Somaya Abdurahman, from Heideveld, said they used lemon tree leaves “because of the way they smell”. Scents enhance the fresh-smelling leaves.
Abdurahman remembers growing up in District Six, where families gathered for the annual event.
“During my childhood, we were excited to cut rampies. We dressed up in our best clothes. It brought our families and friends together.
“We moved to Heideveld when I was 10 years old. It’s still very exciting to get together for this. There are some people that we see only at this time of the year.”
Moulood an-Nabi is celebrated with rampies sny across Cape Town throughout Rabi ul-Awal. It does not, however, involve only rampies sny.
This celebration also sees men gathering at the mosque after women have cut the rampies to recite riwaayat, which is Arabic poetry honouring the Prophet Muhammad.
Women also gather in groups to recite riwaayat, although women and men do not gather at the same time.
Melodic tunes turn the poetry into songs that travelled to Cape Town across oceans centuries ago.
Communities have over the years formalised the tradition, with men and women creating teams that recite the riwaayat collectively.
The teams have tailors make unique dresses or suits for them for the days when they gather.
Abdurahman said it was “traditional that we all buy material and make dresses so that we all wear the same colour”.
Women spent days “preparing the hall and baking cakes” for the get-together of different teams. Mymona Latief, who has for years been a religious teacher at the Heideveld Mosque, points out that Moulood an-Nabi is an event that not all Muslims celebrate – “because the prophet did not celebrate his birthday”.
“But cutting rampies brings people together,” she said.
Her late husband Ebrahiem Latief was the imam, or religious leader at the mosque during the 1980s. She said he encouraged Moulood anNabi as it “gets the community together for a good purpose”.
“This event makes the community feel very welcome at the mosque.” ● A host of local Muslim organisations have organised the second annual mass Moulood an-Nabi at the Athlone Stadium next Sunday, starting at 4pm.
The event is open to the public.
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