Jamek Mosque

After our sugar break, we went back to this Mosque where we were warmly encouraged to visit by a “greeter” who told us his brother studied in Ottawa. Nancy was escorted to wear a full covering sarong with an attached head covering. One wonders how the Muslim women we see tolerate the heat with the hijab plus often two layers of clothing on the upper body. A pleasant man oriented us with a chart of "Who’s Who" in Islamic thought. An interesting experience and between Yogyakarta and KL Nancy is getting acclimatized to seeing a lot of women who are Muslim, of course with the men aside from the hat, you really can’t tell, they are usually dressed Western style.

The Jamek Mosque or Masjid Jamek stands where the Sungei Klang and Sungei Gombak rivers meet; it is also where Kuala Lumpur history began. It was here that the original settlers built their huts before trekking into the jungle to mine for tin. The mosque was constructed in 1907 and opened in 1909 by Sultan of Selangor; it is one of the city’s oldest mosques. The mosque was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback and paid for by contributions from the Malaysian community and government funding. The mosque has three domes with the central dome reaching a height of 21.3 meters and the two flanking domes slightly lower. Two red and white minarets stand at the corners of the building, each reaching 27 meters high. The red brick and marble of the exterior was inspired by the architecture of northern India. Inside the mosque has Moorish features, including a colonnade supporting elegant pointed arches. It was the city’s primary mosque until 1965 when the National Mosque was built.Read more