Experiment Update

This experiment seems to be going haywire. I’ve been to a few mosques but not all during terawih and some with no photos so it’s very hard to update stuff. Or at least it’s not so interesting. In the last 5 days I’ve had Masjid Khalid Briyani at least twice for breaking fast. I can see why it’s so popular. The rice is fragrant and and the spices on the mutton quite elaborate. However it’s resulted in some minor headspins this weekend. Not for those with blood pressure or high-cholestrol problems.

I’ll try to update what I have anyway.

That Little One in the Dutch Village

Masjid Kampung always brings me back memories of my JC days. We’ll be here for Friday prayers, or normal prayers for that matter and then, we’ll head out to the nearby cafes and restaurants to hang out. At that time we could only afford KFC. Now even KFC is gone. There’s still NYDC and Coffee Bean though.

The mosque is very small in size but it has a constant patronage due the proximity of civil service college and the eatery belt at Holland Village.

The last time I came (I think it was roughly 6 months back) it was all still wooden, but now I noticed the mimbar and that area (I can’t remember the name – it’s the depression in the wall in front of the Imam) has been cemented and tiled over. There’s around 20-30 people there for prayers when I was there.

And there’s AIR-CON!!!

But not for the ladies. My heart goes out to them. I remember the last time I came a few years back I found the place quite quaint since the wudhu area was kind of communal for men & women. At least that was what we thought cos some JC girl took her ablution right next to my good friend!!! Hahaha!!! I still remember that incident, my friend was tongue tied for few minutes! I think we were supposed to take turns.

Anyway if you’re in the area and need a place to solat, just look in the open-air carpark area of Holland Village, you’ll see it there.

Malaysian Trip

I finally managed to have one night free to break fast at home so I headed to Masjid Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim for Isyak & Terawih. My uncle has a “family tree” book which says that I’m distantly related to this fella. Like great(x20 or 30) uncle or something. Wow! No wonder I’m such a royal pain in the ***.
Anyway as many of us know, this mosque is unique in the because it is being run by the Johor Government. I guess it’s a diplomatic understanding between the 2 governments. A few of the Johor Sultanate’s kin are buried near the mosque. The Imam on duty at the mosque is posted here from Malaysia. I remember I met last year’s Imam and he said he was Muar, a relatively close town to my grandparents “kampung”

I never realized what a big prayer hall it was until today. All of us jemaah could barely fill up the first saf for Isyak. Parking here doesn’t seem to be much a problem since the mosque has it’s own compound and residential and office building behind the mosque. I love the pacing of the Imam too.

Recommended, If you have a car of course.

The One With Exquisite Tiles

I had the opportunity to pray terawih at Masjid Khadijah due to some work commitments nearby. It was renovated around two years ago and the art on tile work in the main prayer hall is quite extensive. Brown flower motifs covers most of the front wall.

And there’s AIR-CON!!!

The mainly Indian Muslim congregation managed to fill up most of the hall for terawih prayers. Unlike some mosques where some people would leave after eight raka’at, I noticed that most of them stayed through all twenty.

It was a pity I didn’t think about whipping out my camera to capture the lovely walls. The only drawback is parking is slightly difficult to find, especially if you’re late like I was. We had to park near some HDB blocks a distance away and walk in through the myriad of lanes and alleys.

And I personally think they have one of the better designed mosque logos I’ve seen in a while.

The Leaning Mosque

As I still wanted to continue my monday night coffee jaunts at suntec, I decided to head here after breaking fast at work. Quite a number of jemaah, a mixture of workers ad residents. This place is one of my favourite mosques to visit especially during the day. It provides solace but with a large open space that is comforting. The skylight in the dome helps to acheive this effect to some extent.

That night there were even some kids present playing around. I could’t get good photos cos there was some guy in a white jubah giving me some discomfirting looks while I was snapping away. So ended up all my shots were blurry. I tried to use the night mode but it was way worse due to the long exposure timing. And yes that guy who’s always at the door was there again.

Masjid Ahmad @ Lor Sarhad

When I left for Masjid Ahmad last Sunday it started raining. Lucky for me I had my yellow umbrella. It was a short walk from the 188 bus stop along Pasir Panjang Road but at night the mosque is n’t visible from the bus-stop. You’ll just have to have faith it’s along South Buona Vista Road and nearby.

The mosque can only be described as spanking new. And Tall! I had the chance to visit the mosque before it’s reconstruction about 15 years ago and it was a rusty wooden kampung building. This building is nothing like that. It has shades of Masjid Abdul Hamid (Kampung Pasiran) if you’ve been there before.

The mosque area isn’t as big as I thought but it was more than sufficient to host the jemaah present that night which were evenly divided between Malay and Indian Muslims. I didn’t see my friend who stays next door though. I thought it was a cosy atmosphere for prayers.

They have this mat usually used for welcome mats that was laid across in rows at the front two safs. It had a nice soft texture which added a nice padding when we had to sujud. It was a relatively young Imam that night and so the pacing wasn’t that bad.

They only had eight raka’at of terawih that night because there was a tazkirah following the prayers. I might return to that mosque. Besides Cold Storage was nearby and only closes at ten.

Mosque fit for a King

Okay you all know about Masjid Sultan. It was so convenient to break fast at Zam Zam Restaurant and then just pop over across the road for prayers. Word of caution though, Unless you’re a super duper big eater, never order a $5 plate of murtaba down there no matter how hungry you are.

There was quite a crowd there but I’m guessing it was Saturday night and everyone was heading into town. There was a nice mixture of races (Indian, Malay, Arabs). I saw a few coming in their work clothes too.

I just did eight raka’at of terawih that night since me and my buds had some other plans. Also because the pacing was a little too relaxed for me. However I’m pretty sure all the senior jemaah appreciated the slower timings, allowing them to keep up with the Imam.

Oh Yeah! I saw Alias Kadir, the malay comedian. there I think that’s him (wearing songkok) on the left.

MIA

Salam!

I’ve been bogged down with work lately hence the mini hiatus. However I’ve got some juicy updates coming up!

Kampung Smell

I barely made it to the mosque in time for Isyak. Lucky for me they were only half way through. This mosque is located along Pasir Panjang Road next to the Pasir Panjang Post Office. It’s one of the few mosques in Singapore that still has a wooden structure.

It isn’t as big as some of the newer mosques but it’s cosy. One must consider that it sits on a really small plot of land that gets increasingly smaller every time the road next to it gets widened.

The old school sound system, the whispering of the turning fans and the wooden yet painted texture of the walls gave me a nostalgic feel for my grandparents place back in Malaysia. But what really completed the flashback was the smell of an extremely fragrant, super strong, hand-rolled cigarettes being puffed by some “pakcik” at the back of the building during one of the breaks.

The “regulars” were of the slightly older generation. I could tell them apart since they were all in the front row and they were all around the same age. But there were a few other younger ones in the congregation, who had brought their children with them. I have no doubt that this mosque is capable of regenerating jemaah.

The one feature that you will find in a “kampung” environment is the communal sitting and talking area. It’s usually outside the building where occupants & neighbours pass the time chatting. In my uncle’s place its the short stairs outside the house about 3-4 steps high where anyone can sit and chat. My dad’s place utilises a spare piece of plank and 3 upturned pots to rest the plank on. Similarly here there’s a small bench right outside the entrance where jemaah can just sit for a while and catch up. Now that’s unique.

Salutations!

Salam.

This site is about Singapore mosques. I’m actually testing out the CMS to see if it’s powerful enough for use at work and I thought this topic is most appropriate considering that it’s the first day of Ramadhan and all.

This Ramadhan, I’m considering visiting at least 10 mosques that I don’t usually patronize for terawih. I’ll put up any info that I can find as I go along. I hope the information will be useful to someone else out there.

Wassalam.

mäd.