Butha Buthe

Butha Buthe is a small village in the foothills of 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 45000 is the largest town and capital. Hadrath Soofie Saheb رضي الله عنه travelled here in late 1908 and established the first Khanqah in Lesotho. He erected a Musjid and Madressa and established a cemetery. Presently this is the only Musjid in the country, although many Jamaat Khannas operate in other towns serving the local residents. The land on which the Khanqah stands in Butha Buthe was donated to Hadrath Soofie Saheb رضي الله عنه for the building of a Musjid, by the then chief of the Basutho in 1908. The Khanqah has always been administered by the Muslims of Lesotho up to present. The Musjid was partly destroyed by the 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.