Kuala Lampur, Malaysia The Masjid Jamek in Kuala Lampur is one of the oldest mosques in the city and, along with the Masjid Negri in Kota Bahru, among the most important in Malaysia. It served as the national mosque of Malaysia throughout most of the first half of the 20th century, and though it has since been surpassed by the Masjid Negara, it is still first in the hearts of … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2015
CHARMINAR MOSQUE (MASJID CHARMINAR)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh The Masjid Charminar, also known as the Mosque of the Four Towers, is the most famous and beautiful mosque in southern India, and one of the world’s most unique religious structures. It was built to commemorate Hyderabad’s miraculous deliverance from the plague in the 16th century, and is revered as the city’s symbol both by Muslims and Hindus. … [Read more...]
AGUNG DEMAK MOSQUE (MASJID AGUNG DEMAK)
Demak, Indonesia There are few places in the world where Islam blended quite so exotically with local people and culture as in Indonesia. This mix is represented by Australasia’s early Muslim architecture. The Masjid Agung Demak, the oldest continually active mosque on the island of Java, is one of the best representative structures of early Islam in Australasia. It is also … [Read more...]
NEGRI MOSQUE (MASJID NEGRI)
Kota Bahru, Malaysia For many years, India remained the easternmost frontier of the western religions, beyond which the Abrahamite faiths did not spread until the very late Middle Ages. When Islam finally reached the Far East, it took root first on the Malay Peninsula, the most distant corner of the Asian continent. The first major Muslim settlement at Kota Bahru became a … [Read more...]
HAJI ALI DARGAH
Mumbai, Maharashtra The Haji Ali Dargah, or Shrine of Haji Ali, is Bombay’s most famous mosque and the city’s most recognizeable building. Built on a small island that separates Mahim Bay from the Arabian Sea and accessible only by a single causeway that is submerged at high tide, the Haji Ali Dargah still manages to receive millions of visitors every year. Thanks to its … [Read more...]
GREAT MOSQUE OF XI’AN
Xi’an, China The first Muslim envoys reached China almost as early as the first Muslim armies reached North Africa, and began peacefully establishing communities there almost immediately. These ancient Islamic settlements of China, small though they were, are nevertheless among the oldest continually active Muslim communities in the world. The Great Mosque of Xi’an is a … [Read more...]
HAUSA MOSQUES (MASJID KANO, MASJID ZINDER)
Kano, Nigeria & Zinder, Niger Located on the fringe where the Sahara Desert meets the more hospitable regions of the Sahel, Nigeria and Niger were home to some of the last major Muslim kingdoms to be founded in Africa. These small kingdoms, which often amounted to little more than city-states, were largely established by Hausa tribesmen as early as the 14th century. They … [Read more...]
MUD BRICK MOSQUES OF MALI (GREAT MOSQUE OF DJENNE, MASJID SANKORE)
Djenne & Timbuktu, Mali The Mud Brick Mosques of Djenne and Timbuktu in Mali are among the architectural wonders of the Sahara Desert. These two cities, which became the dominant regional trading centers during the European colonial era, surpassed Chinguetti in religious importance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Because of their isolation from other Muslim states during … [Read more...]
MAUSOLEUM OF THE MAHDI
Omdurman, Sudan Muhammad Ahmad, also known as the Mahdi, is one of the most colorful and controversial Muslim figures of the 19th century. He is held by many as an ardent Sudanese Nationalist and champion of Sharia law, and vilified by many as a violent extremist and Jihadist. Both points of view recognize him as a determined foe of European colonialism and western cultural … [Read more...]
GREAT MOSQUE OF SANA’A
Sana’a, Yemen Yemen is something of a conundrum in the Islamic world. Geographically the closest country by land to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, it was the first place outside of what is now Saudi Arabia where Islam was introduced. It then spent well over a thousand years as little more than a forgotten corner of the Muslim world. Thanks to its strangely ironic … [Read more...]
