In 1804, religious freedom was granted by the Batavian Administration that allowed those of the Islamic faith to build mosques and to allocate a burial site for Muslims in the Cape.

[4] This first piece of land as burial site was acquired in the year 1805, and was granted to Frans of Bengal by the Raad der Gemeente in an effort to retain Muslim loyalty in the event of British invasion.

Imaum Abdullah Kadi Abdus Salaam, who was pioneer of the Cape Ulema and Chief Imam was buried at the Tana Baru in 1807.

[4] In 1998, The Tana Baru Trust was registered as a legal entity and Imam Abdurahman Bassier becomes its first Chairperson, but died some 6 years later, and was succeeded by Taliep Sydney.

The cemetery's official closure by the government was on January 15, 1886 and based on sanitary grounds (Sections 63 to 65 of the Public Health Act of 1883).

[5] The public was upset about this so two days later Abdol Burns led three thousand Muslims to Tana Baru to bury a child there defying the law.

With the help of Imam Bassier, a few community workers, and Achmat Davids, the Tana Baru Trust was registered as a legal entity in 1998.

[6] The Tana Baru Trust's aim is it secure an official footing for the preservation and restoration of the oldest Muslim cemetery in South Africa.

However, he was released after eleven years and decided to stay and promote Islam among free and enslaved black people, becoming the first official imam for the Muslim community in the Cape.