teaching, while Islamic Law and Islamic finance studies are also available. Qu'ran Study groups are common and Arabic studies are available through private tutoring, or universities such as Wits University and University of the Western Cape. South Africa has a number of Darul Ulooms around the country. These institutes have students from around the world, including a large number of African students. Some of these institutions include: Darul Uloom Pretoria Darul Uloom Azaadville Darul Uloom Qariyya Gharib Nawaaz, Ladysmith, South Africa Darul Uloom Newcastle, Newcastle, South Africa Prominent Muslims in South Africa In addition to Cabinet ministers, there are a number of members of parliament as well as councillors in the various provinces. The former Western Cape premier, Ebrahim Rasool, is Muslim (Rasool is currently serving as South Africa's Ambassador to the United States of America). Imam Hassan Solomon (Raham) was a member of parliament from 1994 until his death in 2009. During the struggle for liberation, Imam found himself being asked by many communities to preach, even in churches! He joined the United Democratic Front, seen by many as a front for the banned African National Congress (ANC). During his years in exile in Saudi Arabia, Imam Solomon furthered his Islamic education, but was always available to enlighten people on the situation in South Africa. Imam Solomon returned to South Africa in 1992, and took up a seat in the National Assembly in Parliament following the first democratic elections in 1994. He served in Parliament until his death in 2009. Naledi Pandor is the minister of Science and Technology, Pandor is the granddaughter of Z.K. Mathews an anti apartheid teacher and a prominent member of the ANC. Naledi converted to Islam after her marriage to Sharif Josef Pandor. Sheikh Ahmed Badsha Peer was a highly respected Sufi. He arrived in South Africa in 1860 as an indentured labourer and was given an honourable discharge by the colonial British authorities when he was discovered to be mystic. His tomb is at the Badsha Peer Square/Brook Street Cemetery in Durban. Abu Bakr Effendi was an Ottoman qadi of Kurdish descent who was sent in 1862 by the Ottoman sultan Abdulaziz at the request of the British Queen Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope, to teach and assist the Muslim community of the Cape Malays. During his stay at the Cape he produced one of the first works in Afrikaans literature