Sep 8, 2026 · 54 min · 13 segments
Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan is one of South Africa's most prominent Islamic scholars, serving as imam and Director of Dar al-Turāth al-Islāmi (DTI) and co-founder of the Maḥabbah Foundation. A hafidh and…
Abdurragmaan KhanGuest
Samir MahmoudHostKamal SalehHostSheikh, let's talk about, I don't know, you've probably heard this question a lot of times, but for those who are a bit wet behind the ears and a bit unfamiliar, many people don't realize how old Islam is actually in South Africa.
The founder of Islam in South Africa is Sheikh Yusuf , who came from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, from the city of Sulawesi.
It's the Makassans that brought Islam to the Aboriginals a few hundred years ago.
But of course, I just don't know how much to share about his story because that's a podcast on its own.
Shaykh Yusuf , his first teachers was all members of the Ahlulbayt, Sayyid Alawi bin Tahir, Habib, Jalaluddin Aideed, among others.
he meets more scholars he travels over to India where he meets the great scholar Sheikh Nooruddin Ar-Raniri he meets another scholar over there Sheikh Omar bin Abdul Rahman who was a student of Qadhi Omar bin Shahabuddin in Tareem was a student of Ibn Hajar al-Hitami, the author of, was a reference in the Shafi'i Madhab.
So he grows up in this very rich Islamic environment, travels to the Haramain Sharifain.
He spends about 20 years studying deen over there, which is, I can just have a short pause, 20 years after he already studied the better part of his life.
I think it's important for students of knowledge to realize that that the four-year program or the five-year program or the six-year program doesn't really make us scholars, you know? It doesn't mean that, of course, we should honor our scholars and respect them irrespective of how long the program may have been, but scholars of old spend years studying before returning home to actually give guidance to their communities.
So Shaykh Yusuf was 20 years in Haramain al-Sharif and he also spent some time in Syria.
He then travels through one of his great teachers in Medina was the great Shah Ibrahim bin Hassan al-Qurdi al-Qurani.
Sheikh, let's talk about, I don't know, you've probably heard this question a lot of times, but for those who are a bit wet behind the ears and a bit unfamiliar, many people don't realize how old Islam is actually in South Africa.
The founder of Islam in South Africa is Sheikh Yusuf , who came from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, from the city of Sulawesi.
It's the Makassans that brought Islam to the Aboriginals a few hundred years ago.
But of course, I just don't know how much to share about his story because that's a podcast on its own.
Shaykh Yusuf , his first teachers was all members of the Ahlulbayt, Sayyid Alawi bin Tahir, Habib, Jalaluddin Aideed, among others.
he meets more scholars he travels over to India where he meets the great scholar Sheikh Nooruddin Ar-Raniri he meets another scholar over there Sheikh Omar bin Abdul Rahman who was a student of Qadhi Omar bin Shahabuddin in Tareem was a student of Ibn Hajar al-Hitami, the author of, was a reference in the Shafi'i Madhab.
So he grows up in this very rich Islamic environment, travels to the Haramain Sharifain.
He spends about 20 years studying deen over there, which is, I can just have a short pause, 20 years after he already studied the better part of his life.
I think it's important for students of knowledge to realize that that the four-year program or the five-year program or the six-year program doesn't really make us scholars, you know? It doesn't mean that, of course, we should honor our scholars and respect them irrespective of how long the program may have been, but scholars of old spend years studying before returning home to actually give guidance to their communities.
So Shaykh Yusuf was 20 years in Haramain al-Sharif and he also spent some time in Syria.
He then travels through one of his great teachers in Medina was the great Shah Ibrahim bin Hassan al-Qurdi al-Qurani.
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