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History: This mosque was erected by the celebrated Hajee Soofie, who immigrated to South Africa in 1895. He was responsible for the construction of 11 other mosques, the establishment of 13 madresas and the laying out of a large number of cemeteries. Hajee Soofie died in 1911 and his body lies interred in the octagonal mausoleum which he designed himself.

In 1895 Hajee Shah Goolam Mohaamied arrived in South Africa from India and soon became revered by the Indian Muslims as a holy man or sufi on account of his religious teachings and apparently supernatural powers. Convinced that the site that he chose for his abode on the north bank of the Umgeni had been indicated to him by Allah, he proceeded to put into practice the Islamic teachings concerning the care of the poor and destitute. He thus established a madresa or school (-a gift from a Parsee Indian named Rustomjee). an orphanage and small hospice (khan) as well as a mosque with an adjacent Muslim burial ground.
The handwritten Title Deeds of this property were drawn up by a young Natal lawyer who later became the world famous Mahatma Gandhi.
Realising that Muslim Indians were attracted by some of the display and professional characteristics of Hinduism, Sufi-Sahib (as he was known) instituted a colourful annual pagathit in which brightly decorated tinsel models of mosques are floated down the Umgeni River. He died in 1911 and his body and that of his mother lie ih the octagonal tomb designed by himself on the high point of the site.
The community he established comprises a complete social organism in the Islamic tradition and has acted as the parent community for a chain of mosques and madresas established throughout Natal, with property also in Cape Town and Lesotho.
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Condition: Good
Construction Date: 1895c
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Catalogue: Kearney, 1984, No: 18.44, Significance Category: