Jamek Mosque
Jamek Mosque
- Jamek Mosque, officially Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque is one of the oldest Musjids in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is located at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers and may be accessed via Jalan Tun Perak. The mosque was designed by British architect and soldier Arthur Benison Hubback, and built in 1909. It was the principal Musjid of Kuala Lumpur until the construction of the national Musjid “Masjid Negara” in 1965.
- The Musjid was built on the location of an old Malay burial place at the confluence of Klang and Gombak River and named Jamek Mosque. A couple of Musjids previously existed in the Java Street and Malay Street area serving the Malay communities, but Jamek Mosque was the first large Musjid to be built in Kuala Lumpur. The architect was Arthur Benison Hubback who designed the Musjid in the Indo-Saracenic style, loosely reflecting Indian Muslim Mughal architectural style.
- The foundation stone of the Musjid was laid by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sir Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah on 23 March 1908, and the Sultan officially opened the Musjid on 23 December 1909. The construction of the Musjid cost $32,625, funded in part by the Malay community with contribution from the British colonial government. Musjid Jamek served as Kuala Lumpur’s main Musjid until the national Musjid, Musjid Negara, was built in 1965.
- The Musjid has since been expanded with extensions built, and the addition of a roof over the originally open-air forecourt. The Musjid was refurbished in 1984 and the minaret nearest the river was underpinned as it was already sloping. One of the domes of the Musjid collapsed in 1993 due to heavy rain, but has since been repaired.
- On 23 June 2017, the Musjid was renamed Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque by Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah after his ancestor — the fourth Sultan of Selangor Sultan Abdul Samad — as the Musjid was originally built on land that was part of the state of Selangor.
