Tuan Sayeed Alawie was a citizen of Mocca in Yemen, the southern portion of the Arabian peninsula. There is no certainty as to whether he was brought here directly from Mocca, or from Indonesia where he was a missionary.

Nonetheless, he and a fellow prisoner, Haji Matarim arrived at the Cape in 1744. They were classified as Mohammedaansche Priesters, who had to be kept in chains for the rest of their lives.