The first Imam of the Pilgrim Mosque, as it was called in 1884, was Abdol Khaliel. The mosque was constructed after a lady known as Gouwaida initiated a land transfer. As the new owner, she gave permission for the mosque to be constructed on her land. It was the first in the Cape to be built with a minaret, albeit a wooden one. In the 1930s the minaret was replaced with one made of concrete.

As with all mosques, the care and upliftment of the surrounding community has always been of great importance. In 1940, the name was changed to the Masjid Boorhaanol Islam, and in 1970 the mosque was declared a National Monument.

Since then, the Boorhaanol Islam Movement has operated out of the mosque on 196 Longmarket Street in Cape Town. Beginning under the leadership of the late Imam Abdurahmaan Bassier and his close friend, the late social worker-cum-historian-cum-researcher Dr Achmat Davids, the Movement has become the foremost organisation for the Bo-Kaap muslim community for over 50 years. It continues to combine both the religious education initiatives and the socio-economic upliftment programmes which it had pioneered.

In 1988 it undertook and published the results of a survey of 77 Western Cape mosques and their taraweeg (a special form of Islamic meditation involving special prayers and reading long portions of the Qur’an) facilities as well as the human and institutional resources. By 2000, the Taraweeg Survey offered detailed information in a definitive guide on 500, or more, Muslim places of worship, institutions and organisations across the Cape.