Sultan Mosque

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Sight Address : 3 Muscat St, Singapore 198833, Singapore (Downtown Core).Edit

Detail InformationEdit

Masjid Sultan (Jawi: مسجد سلطان ;Malay for Sultan Mosque; is located at Muscat Street and North Bridge Road within the Kampong Glam district of Rochor Planning Area in Singapore. The mosque is considered one of the most important mosques in Singapore. The prayer hall and domes highlight the mosque’s star features.The Sultan Mosque is located at 3 Muscat Street, where it is the focal point of the historic Kampong Glam area. Also known as Masjid Sultan, it was named for Sultan Hussein Shah. The mosque was first built in the 1820s. However the original structure was demolished about a century later to make way for the current building, which was completed in 1932. The mosque holds great significance for the Muslim community, and is considered the national mosque of Singapore. It was designated a national monument in 1975.

Sultan Mosque

HistoryEdit

When Singapore was ceded to the British in 1819, Temenggong Abdul Rahman, the island’s chief, and Sultan Hussain Shah of Johore, under whose jurisdiction Singapore fell, acquired small fortunes in exchange for their power. Sir Stamford Raffles also granted the Temenggong and the Sultan an annual stipend and the use of Kampong Glam for their residence.The area around Kampong Glam was also allocated for Malays and other Muslims. Hussain built a palace there and brought his family and a complete entourage from the Riau islands. Many of the Sultan’s and Temenggong’s followers came to Kampong Glam from the Riau Islands, Malacca and Sumatra.Sultan Hussain then decided to build a mosque befitting his status. He constructed a mosque next to his palace from 1824 to 1826 with funds solicited from the East India Company. With a two-tiered pyramidal roof, it was of a typical design. The original building was replaced with a new mosque.The management of the mosque was headed by Alauddin Shah, the Sultan’s grandson, until 1879, when he passed the torch in to five community leaders. In 1914, the lease was extended by the government for a further 999 years and a new board of trustees was appointed, with two representatives from each faction of the Muslim community.By the early 1900s, Singapore had become a centre for Islamic commerce, culture and art. Sultan Mosque soon became too small for this burgeoning community. In 1924, the year of the mosque’s centenary, the trustees approved a plan to erect a new mosque. The old mosque had by then also fallen into a state of disrepair.Architect Denis Santry of Swan and Maclaren adopted a Saracenic style, incorporating minarets and balustrades. The mosque was completed after four years in 1928.Sultan Mosque has stayed essentially unchanged since it was built, with only repairs carried out to the main hall in the 1960s and an annex added in 1993. It was gazetted as a national monument on 14 March 1975.
Today the mosque is owned by Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS).In 1819, Sultan Hussein signed an agreement with Sir Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company allowing the British to establish a trading post on the island. Hussein then requested that a mosque be built near his istana (Malay for “palace”) in Kampong Glam, the Malay-Muslim quarter. Raffles agreed and contributed $3,000 to the construction of the mosque. Completed in 1828, the original mosque was a single-storey building with a double-tiered roof.In 1879, the mosque received gifts of land from Tunku Alam Sultan Alauddin Alam Shah, Sultan Hussein’s grandson, and Tunku Aleem, an unknown benefactor. Tunku Alam also appointed a five-man committee to look after the mosque; this was replaced by a board of 12 trustees in 1914.By 1924, the old mosque was almost 100 years old and in need of repairs. The trustees proposed the building of a new and larger mosque at an estimated cost of $200,000. Due partly to the lack of funds (fund-raising was ongoing during construction), and in order to avoid disrupting worshippers, the new mosque was constructed in phases. In the midst of construction, North Bridge Road was extended beyond Arab Street and was forced to bend around the mosque. The mosque was completed in 1932 and still stands today.
In 1968, repairs to the mosque were undertaken, including painting and the installation of new floor tiles. Renovation works again took place in phases as funds became available. The renovations amounted to S$145,000, of which almost S$108,000 was raised through donations from the Muslim community, while about S$37,000 was donated by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.In 1987, an extension to the mosque was built. Donations for the project included S$53,000 from the World Muslim League in Saudi Arabia. Designed in a style similar to the mosque, the S$4.2 million Annex building was officially opened by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on 10 July 1993.Due to its historical and cultural significance, the mosque was gazetted as a national monument on 8 March 1975.

Must SeeEdit

Must see

Visiting TimeEdit

Daily

Closed OnEdit

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Best Season to VisitEdit

June to July and November to December.

Best Time To VisitEdit

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Time Required for SightseeingEdit

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Ticket Required : No Edit

Individual National Adult : N.A.

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Guide Required : No Edit

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Dress Code (If Any) : No Edit

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Restaurants NearbyAdd / Edit

How to ReachEdit

Taxi : Taxis are generally very hard to get during peak hours (Mon-Fri 7:00am – 9:30am and Mon-Sat 5:00pm – 8:00pm) and on rainy days. If you are at a hotel, have conceirge call you a taxi. If you are out about town and have access to a cell phone- calling for a taxi will cut your wait time by 20 to 30 minutes. All taxis are fitted with meters; all are air conditioned; the majority of the taxis are 5-seaters; about 90% of taxis have radiophones; call booking is done via GPS or digital voice dispatch. All passengers must fasten their seat belts by law.
For taxi Booking fee is SGD $2.3. Minimum fare for taxi is SGD $3 for first 1Km. Fare above minimum fare until 10Km is SGD $0.55 per Km. Fare above 10Km is charge SGD $0.628 per Km. Taxi Waiting charges per hour is SGD $17.6. Peak Hours charges is diffrent.

Bus : Public buses run daily from 5.30am to midnight. Extended night services cost slightly more (a flat rate ranging from $1.50-$3.00). Otherwise, most fares depend on distance travelled and range from 67 cents to $1.58 for air-conditioned comfort (almost all public buses in Singapore have air-conditioning today). There are also “feeder” bus services that charge a flat rate of 67 cents. Each bus should not take more than 15 to 20 minutes to arrive at the bus stop.

Train : Singapore MRT system is very well connected to different parts of Singapore and very clean! If you have the time and plan to explore around little Sunny island, get the the Singapore Tourist Pass!
It runs 6am-12mn, fares start at S$1 (70cents in EZ link). Tickets can be purchased in all MRT stations. You just have to insert your money through the ticket machine. Rush hour’s usually 7am-9am, 11am-2pm and 4pm-7pm.

Air : Changi Airport is the country’s main airport. From the airport there are a number of ways to get into the city:
Taxi is easiest – simply follow the signs after clearing customs. Meters are always used in Singapore and prices are reasonable. A trip to the city during the day will be between $20-$30 including $3-5 airport surcharge. An additional 50% surcharge applies between midnight and 06:00.
Limousines charge a flat $50 to anywhere in the city and are a pretty good deal after midnight, as you can skip the queue and avoid the surcharge. The same pricing applies to chartering van-sized MaxiCabs, which are good for large families or if you have lots of baggage.
Shuttle – Shared six-seater MaxiCab shuttle service to designated areas/hotels costs $7 and can be booked in advance or in the arrivals hall. 6AM-2AM, every 15-30 min.
Subway – MRT trains run from a station between T2 and T3, but you’ll need to change trains at Tanah Merah to a city-bound train: just exit through the left hand side door and cross the platform. The 30 min ride to City Hall station costs $1.90 plus a refundable $1 deposit, and trains run 05:31-23:18.
Bus – Bus terminals can be found in the basements of T1, T2 and T3. 06:00-23:59 only. Fares are less than $2.00, exact fare required (no change given) if you pay cash.

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