BUTHA BUTHE
Butha Buthe
Butha
Buthe is a small village in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains in Lesotho and
is bordering Fouriesburg in the Orange Free State. The country is rugged and
mountainous and is often referred to as the “roof”
of Southern Africa by which it is landlocked. It lies about 320 km inland from
Durban. Lesotho was formerly the British Protectorate of Basutoland and is now
known as the Kingdom of Lesotho since it became independent in 1969. Maseru,
with a population of 45 000 is the largest town and capital.
Hazrath
Soofie Saheb RA travelled here in late 1908 and established the first Khanqah in
Lesotho. He erected a Mosque and Madressa and established a cemetery. Presently
this is the only Mosque in the country, although many Jamathkanas operate in
other towns serving the local residents. The land on which the Khanqah stands in
Butha Buthe was donated to Hazrath Soofie Saheb RA for the building of a Mosque,
by the then chief of the Basutho in 1908. The Khanqah has always been
administered by the Muslims of Lesotho up to the present. The Mosque was partly
destroyed by fire in the early 1970’s and was completely rebuilt. Recently in
1994, a major renovation was completed. In this Centre is the only cemetery
serving the entire Muslim population of Lesotho who are mostly traders.
1908-1911 Hazrath Soofie Saheb RA
1911 to date -Local Muslims