I found an academic working paper on Malaysian mosque architecture entitled “The Political Ideas of Islam and Their Influence on Mosque Architecture in Malaysia” by Mohd Tajuddin and Alice Sabrina very interesting. It discusses the architecture of three mosques in Malaysia namely Masjid Negara (The National Mosque), Masjid Putra (The Putra Mosque) and Masjid Rusila (The Rusila Madrasa) and the three leaders who conceived the idea of the mosque – Tunku Abdul Rahman al-Haj, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Tuan Guru Hj Abdul Hadi Awang respectively. It is their thinking, vision on Islam and their political influence that gave great influence on the architecture of the three mosques.
While I have some pictures of The Putra Mosque and The National Mosque unfortunately I don’t have any picture of The Rusila Mosque (Madrasa). I will take its picture whenever I go back to Terengganu next time.
The Putra Mosque in the early morning
The Putra Mosque in the late evening
The National Mosque completed in the early 1960′s just after Malaysia achieved its independence on 31 August 1957.
Do read the working paper by Mohd Tajuddin and Alice Sabrina entitled “The Political Ideas of Islam and Their Influence on Mosque Architecture in Malaysia” here which is in PDF format.
Check out my previous blog entry on Mosque Architecture in Malaysia.