MPU3123: TAMADUN ISLAM DAN TAMADUN ASIA GROUP NO 35 – Masjid Jamek

SENARAI NAMA KUMPULAN

BIL NO. ID NAMA CATATAN 1 0325131 LEOW ZYNCOLN KETUA KUMPULAN 2 0319664 LIAM MALIK BIN ABD MALIK 3 0321125 LIM SHU WEN 4 0320589 LO WEI LIAM 5 0324930 LOH JIA HUI 6 0325963 LOU WEI JUN 7 0325648 LUQMAN HAKIEM BIN MOHD RAZIB 8 0325585 MOHAMAD AMIRUL HAZIQ BIN MOHD AZHAR 9 0320588 MOHAMAD HARIS BIN MOHAMAD SUBKI 10 0320527 MOHD FARA ZUREEL IKHQWAN BIN MOHD ARPAN 11 0326136 MUHAMAD SOLEHUDIN BIN ZAKARIYA 12 13 14 15

PENILAIAN

ASPEK PENILAIAN MARKAH PENGENALAN ( /3) HASIL KAJIAN  RELEVAN DAN TEPAT ( /4)  HURAIAN JELAS DAN TERSUSUN ( /4)  PERBINCANGAN DAN PERBAHASAN ( /10)  JURNAL PERJALANAN ( /4)

KESIMPULAN ( /3) BAHASA DAN FORMAT ( /2) MARKAH KESELURUHAN ( /30)

PENILAIAN OLEH NAMA : FADHILAH RAIHAN BINTI LOKMAN

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Acknowledgements The success and final outcome of this assignment required a lot of guidance and assistance from many people and us extremely fortunate to have got this all along the completion of our assignment work. Whatever we have done is only due to such guidance and assistance and we would not forget to thank them. We respect and thank Ms Fadhilah Raihan Lokman for giving us an opportunity to do this assignment and providing us all support and guidance which made us complete the assignment on time. We extremely grateful to her for providing such a nice support and guidance.

This assignment cannot be completed without the effort and co-operation from our group members. Last but not least, we would like to express our gratitude to our respondents for support and willingness to spend some time with us.

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Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...... 2

1.0 Introduction ...... 4

2.0 Objectives ...... 5

3.0 Research Findings ...... 5

3.1 History and Background ...... 5

3.2 Future Developments ...... 7

3.3 Architecture ...... 8

4.0 Travel Journals ...... 9

Travel Journal – Mohamad Haris Bin Mohamad Subki – 0320588 ...... 9

Travel Journal ‒ Lou Wei Jun ‒ 0325963 ...... 10

Travel Journal – Lim Shu Wen – 0321125 ...... 11

Travel Journal ‒ Lo Wei Liam ‒ 0320589 ...... 13

Travel Journal ‒ Loh Jia Hui ‒ 0324930 ...... 14

Travel Journal – Leow Zyncoln – 0325131 ...... 15

Travel Journal ‒ Mohd Fara Zureel Ikhqwan Bin Mohd Arpan ‒ 0320527 ...... 17

Travel Journal ‒ Solehudin Zakariya ‒ 0326136 ...... 18

Travel Journal – Luqman Hakiem ‒ 0325648 ...... 19

Travel Journal ‒ Mohamad Amirul Haziq Bin Mohd Azhar ‒ 0325585 ...... 20

Travel Journal ‒ Liam Malik Bin Abd Malik ‒ 0319664 ...... 21

5.0 Conclusion ...... 22

Appendixes ...... 23

References ...... 26

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1.0 Introduction Civilization comes from the Arabic word called maddana, mudun, madain which means the opening of city or community that has progressed in terms of physical and spiritual. The word civilization can be interpreted to state that social life of community. Other terms with similar meaning of civilization is hadarah means the advancement in the aspect of thinking, moral and social in life. The word civilization in English comes from the Greek word ‘civitas’ meaning town or city.

Malay civilization refers to a civilization that is formed by a group of people who are widely classified as a Malay group, focused on a region in Southeast Asia, known by various names such as the Malay Archipelago (Malay Archipelago), the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago, Archipelago, Nature Malay and Jawi Land. Two important things that have in the regions of civilization is the Malay language, which became the language of wide communication (lingua franca) throughout the world, and the religion of Islam which is complementary to the formation of Malay civilization. Acceptance of Islam as the basis for Malay civilization is the most important developments and formed a Malay Muslim civilization of excellence, glory, and distinction.

Islamic civilization is more emphasis on the human dimension of how to build it especially spiritual and intellectual rather than emphasizing the things that are physical or material. Moreover, Islamic civilization already being adapted among the Muslim and spread widely around Malaysia. Many Islamic infrastructures that we can see to show how great the Islamic civilization in Malaysia such as Masjid Jamek in Kuala Lumpur and Masjid Tengkera in Malacca. This show how big the community of Islam in Malaysia and also being adapted in Malaysian daily life.

The conclusion, the basis for the construction of a civilization consist of materialistically aspect and spirituality. Therefore, we have to respect the heritage of our civilization and keep it for our young generation.

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2.0 Objectives 1. To provide skills to students in learning, planning, implementation and writing document for the assignment. 2. To provide opportunities for students to visiting the historical sites. 3. To provide awareness to students to have a better understanding the culture of historic places

3.0 Research Findings 3.1 History and Background Kuala Lumpur is one of the oldest cities in Malaysia. “Lumpur” translates to mud in Bahasa Malaysia, and “Kuala” means centre. Naturally, Kuala Lumpur got its name by being muddy as it was located by the river side. In the heart of Kuala Lumpur, resides Masjid Jamek, the oldest mosque found in this concrete jungle. As we all know, Kuala Lumpur became the main city in Malaysia because of its valuable tins found in the soil of Ampang. In fact, It was the first place people started settling in. Miners and traders often stop their boats by the river to take a small rest. This river, located next to Masjid Jamek was also the route used to send the immigrants to Kuala Lumpur for working purposes. Not long after discovering the richness of the soil with tins, Chinese and Indian workers were migrated to Kuala Lumpur for tin mining and rubber tapping through these two rivers. Goods and tins were being transported down the river from Ampang and Sungai Port Klang which made Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang a very popular trading centre. Businessmen would often dock there and open up their business near the mosque. As the population of Muslims increase in Kuala Lumpur, Nakoda Yusof had endowed (wakaf) the land in between the two rivers on 23rd March of 1908. Tombstones and dead bodies were found around the area, these said artefacts were moved from the ground away. The land was then officially endowed (wakaf) as some coins were buried into the ground. The mosque (Masjid Jamek) was then built on this land. “Jamek” came from the Arabic word that means “Congregation”, a fitting name for the said mosque.

On the 23rd of December in 1909, the construction of Masjid Jamek was completed. The Sultan of Selangor had come down to the mosque to officially open it to the public. Masjid Jamek was made to be the official mosque and it stayed as the official mosque for 56 years until 1965, when the National Mosque was built. Later in the year 2005, Masjid Jamek was named the “Warisan Kebangsaan” by the “Kementerian Perpaduan, Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan

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Malaysia”. In 2008, it was opened to the public as one of the most popular tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur.

The beautiful and intricate design of the mosque was designed by Arthur Benison Hubbock. Sir Arthur had gotten his inspiration from the Mogul architecture from Northern India. He implemented the Minarets and Domes into the design to create a one of a kind, beautifully eye catching Mosque. The construction of the mosque had cost a total of about rm30,000. The money to build the mosque was raised through subscription from the Malaysian community as well as government funds. The mosque got a renovation and was extended in the year 1988 so that it was able to cater to 8000 people in the ever-growing city of Kuala Lumpur. However, during Friday prayers, the mosque would always be over crowded as there would often be over 11,000 attendees.

The mosque is now under construction and hopefully the renovation can be done by this end of the year or early next year (2017). The oldest tombstone was found during the current renovation of the mosque. The said tombstone was said to be 138 years old. The finding of the tombstone proves that the land under the great mosque was a burial ground. Masjid Jamek is now 108 years old and is the oldest mosque that still stands in Kuala Lumpur.

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3.2 Future Developments As stated previously, Masjid Jamek is situated at the confluence of the Klang River and Gombak River. The two rivers used to be clean and were used as transport back in the old days. But due to their location in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the residents there have been constantly treating the rivers as a trash bin. It has been long evident that the rivers have potentials to be further developed, but was left undeveloped due to the cost needed to clean the river.

A project is currently underway to clean and beautify the rivers develop the area, called the River of Life. The project hopes that by breathing new life into the rivers, it would be able to make Kuala Lumpur more appealing to the eyes of the tourists and locals as well. The River of Life project is a massive scale project, and is split into three phases. The first phase is River Cleaning, followed by River Beautification and Land Development. This immense project has cost the Federal Government approximately RM4.4 billion. Cleaning up and reviving the rivers does not just benefit the city’s residents but also the city’s economy as the potential of the transformation is expected to surpass the cost of the project

The project stretches a whole 10.7 km river front stretch within the city centre from Kg Puah to Mid Valley. However, the main focus of the entire project is on the section of the rivers that flow through Masjid Jamek because it is located at the city’s heart and is a tourist attraction spot. Development plans include public parks, pedestrian walkways and bicycle tracks along the stretch. The riverbanks are also expected to be filled with shops, restaurants, office buildings and homes that take advantage of the newly revitalized waterway.

Until now, the progress of this project River of Life is still in the early stage, but it has fell behind the schedule. The first phase, which is River Cleaning, is expected to be done by the end of year 2016 and it is said that the progress is slower than expected due to exposure of historical place along the project. The project is carried out near the grand staircase of Masjid Jamek. Thus, manual labour is recommended rather than using heavy machinery to maintain the elegant historical structure as much as possible. There is only subtle changes as the project is still in the first phase. During the second phase, River Beautification, it will be more obvious changes towards the better around the area.

Therefore, the project River of Life is said to be having a great impact on future Kuala Lumpur’s city landscape. As the saying ‘Great things come to those who wait’, this project worth the waiting.

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3.3 Architecture Masjid Jamek was designed by a British architect, Arthur Benison Hubbock, that works as an architectural assistant in the Public Works and Survey Department. He was fascinated by the Mogul architecture from India thus, inspired him to do the design for the mosque. Situated where two rivers meet, the Klang river and Gombak river, the mosque was at the heart of where the history of Kuala Lumpur started.

The construction of the mosque cost around RM32,625 and the money was raised by the donation from the Malaysian community and Government funds. The tranquil scenery of the mosque was due to the palm trees by the banks of the Klang and Gombak rivers. The landscape around the mosque complements Masjid Jamek’s renowned domed tower.

The mosque was famous by the shape of its ‘onion’ shaped domes. There are a total of three domes, that surrounds the prayer corridor with the tallest centre dome (21.3 m) and two lower contiguous domes. In 1990s, the original centre dome collapsed and rebuilt soon then. As the designer was intrigued by Indian Mogul Islamic architecture, the mosque is made out of red- bricks and marble. Two red and white stripped minarets can be seen at the corners of the mosque. The purpose of these minarets is to call Muslims when it is the time to pray.

Originally, the site where the mosque stands now had been a Malay cemetery. In order to rebuild the mosque, the cemetery was relocated to Jalan Ampang. When the mosque is being build, it was designed to cater to the growing population in Kuala Lumpur. Just recently, works done around the mosque has unearthed the steps that once led the mosque to the river water.

Nowadays, the mosque still stood proudly at the heart of Kuala Lumpur, becoming the identifying icon of the capital even before skyscrapers came about.

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4.0 Travel Journals Travel Journal – Mohamad Haris Bin Mohamad Subki – 0320588 I had to wake up early this morning to leave my house so that I could make sure that I reached Masjid Jamek on time to meet with my team. I woke up early enough, and made sure I left the house so that I had plenty of time to look for parking. As I was driving towards Masjid Jamek, using Waze on my phone to guide me, I realized that it was bringing me to the middle of a road with no available parking anywhere nearby. It just so happens, that Masjid Jamek was undergoing renovation. Due to this reason, the front entrance of the Mosque was closed. I made round after round trying to look for a suitable parking spot. I even used Waze, but it kept telling me to drive on a one-way lane in the opposite direction. After an hour of this, I finally decided to pay rm6 for a parking in a field not too far away from the mosque. As I finally reached the mosque, I saw some of my friends already waiting inside for the rest of us. I went in to join them. In the mosque, while waiting, we decided to talk to a few people and found out that Masjid Jamek has volunteers that give a guided tour of the mosque. We thought this was a good idea to get a little insight about the mosque. As soon as all of us reached the mosque, we decided to go inside and follow the tour. We first met this man who was telling us a little about the history of the mosque. His name was Rosli. I learnt that Kuala Lumpur was named “Kuala Lumpur” because there used to be a lot of construction going on between the rivers, and this caused the city to be muddy. “Lumpur” means “mud” in Bahasa Malaysia. I learnt that there used to be a smaller wooden mosque that could cater to about 100 people that used to hold the Friday Prayers. However, since 1909, Masjid Jamek has been used to hold the Friday Prayers and the small wooden mosque was torn down and a Burger King outlet was built in its place as a commercial block was brought up.

The mosque was nice and cooling even though the sun was scorching hot that day. The structures were beautiful and the design was intricately beautiful. Inspiration from the Mogul civilization made the mosque stand out from the surroundings. Looking at the beauty of this mosque, I do feel sad that there are other historical sites out there that are not as well preserved as this mosque.

However, I did learn that the renovations around the mosque are also an attempt to revive the rivers next to Masjid Jamek. It’s called the “River of Life”. This fact brightened my day up. At the end of the day, after getting information about the mosque and doing or research, we decided to have lunch before we went back home. Today was quite an experience. I was challenged with my patience in the morning. I learned the importance of working together in a team to get information about the mosque. I experienced the kind hearts of the volunteers at the mosque

9 giving the tour, and I also learned about the struggles people in the past had to go through while Masjid Jamek was being built. I truly am proud to be a part of this country with such a rich heritage background. It truly is an amazing civilization and it truly has the amazing history to back it up.

Travel Journal ‒ Lou Wei Jun ‒ 0325963 This meaningful trip toward the historical place, Masjid Jamek gave me many great experiences. First and foremost, I am glad that this historical place is persevered beautifully until this age and this time. Lots of effort had been putting into taking care of the surrounding and also the structure itself so that Masjid Jamek continue existed as the historical moment and also acted as the tourism spot. Without all these care, any historical place would be fallen into debris and stone in the matter of time.

It is the first time I entered a Mosque. The environment is dust free and is very clean. As we entered, there are volunteers inside the mosque, maintaining the mosque. We are greeted friendly by the one of the volunteer. He first introduced himself who had gone through many ordeals and visited lots of country and states. He also speaks several language and dialect when he is communicating with us as well as the tourist from the other country. We then enquiries him about the history of Masjid Jamek and those historical moments happened at Masjid Jamek. We manage to get tons of the detail and information of Masjid Jamek from ages ago until now.

In the same time, the development around Masjid Jamek is also the one to look out for which is the project River of Life. It is sad to hear that Klang River has turned into a muddy and dirty river from a crystal clear clean river due to irresponsible act of people throwing rubbish and waste into the river. These action results in flash flood at surrounding area and it includes Masjid Jamek. Therefore, the project River of Life is carried out. I feel that it is a great choice to have the effort to make the historical place a better place for tourist and also local. The surrounding will be more fresh and vitalizing as well as giving the appealing view around the area.

Overall, it is a delightful journey for me. It is important to maintain the historical places so that it become a lifelong historical places and serves as a lesson and experience from all the historical moment happened for the coming generation.

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Travel Journal – Lim Shu Wen – 0321125 Thanks to Din and Haziq, I was able to go to Masjid Jamek without any hustles. They offered me a ride and we went off at 9.15am as my group mates had promise to meet at the mosque at 10am. It was not a long journey, but there are a lot to look-see. I’m not from Selangor and this was a great trip for me. We almost missed the mosque as it was under construction, which made it unnoticeable. We faced some issue finding a parking space. Took us 30 minute! Finally, we parked near Dataran Merdeka and walked to our destination. Outside there’s a sign stating that I need to cover up, which made me worry, because well, I’m prepared, with a hoodie jacket and long pants, still, I’m afraid that they won’t allow me to enter the mosque. To my surprise, they provided me with an Abaya. A kind lady there put on the Abaya for me. No rental fee was required! It was considered hot for a morning that day, but as soon as we step into building, it was really cool and nice. We waited for a while. Slowly, our teammates arrived. After everyone was there, we started towards the main prayer hall. Oh, before that, I learned that for guys they are supposed to wear pants that are longer than the knee. One of our guy friend was given a sarong.

We were greeted by a nice Pak Cik at the prayer hall, Rusli. He started explaining that this mosque is located in between two rivers. River Gombak and Sungai Klang. Which is the location where civilization of Kuala Lumpur started! He said that these rivers are where the mining of Tin started. After Tin was found accidentally by the Sultan of Selangor, Selangor blossomed. Immigrants were sent in for mining and a lot of small businesses started by the river. As the number of Muslim citizens increases, there’s a need of a bigger mosque. We were told that previously, the original mosque was where Burger King @ Jalan Tun Perak located. The land Masjid Jamek’s on, was originally a burial ground. For the current renovation, six more tombstones were found. One of it was 138 years old! The land was wakaf by Nakoda Yusof, said another volunteer lady. She told us that there used to be a well in front of the masjid where visitors and the Muslims would clean themselves before entering the mosque for prayers. It was later demolished as more land were needed to accommodate more people.

This is actually the first time I ever entered a mosque. The volunteering lady told me that every mosque would have a mihrab. It is a semi-circular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla. That is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a mihrab appears is thus the "qibla wall". Beside it there would also be a minbar, which is a raised platform for the Imam to address the congregation. She also told us that Imam, is not the same as a priest. “Anyone can be the Imam.” she told us. They are the leaders of prayers. Female can also be the Imams, just

11 that whenever the males are not around. She stressed that there’s no discrimination of the female Muslims, because a lot of times, international tourists would comment about how unfair it is the way female Muslims are treated. How they would need to get permissions from the males and how they can never lead whenever the males are around. I wouldn’t agree with those comments, growing up in Malaysia, made me realize, it is a choice for the female Muslims to cover up and to put themselves after the male Muslims. They are humble and do not demand for attentions, their honourable practice and selfless choices deserve respect and admiration, not critics and judgements.

I’ve learned a lot from this trip, of the mosque and the Malay culture. The existence of Masjid Jamek proves that civilization often starts by the rivers. I’ve also learned that as long as there is teamwork and cooperation, nothing is impossible. Besides, to make the environment we are in as positive as it can be, we need to have patient and tolerance. We should also always respect other’s opinion and choices.

It was a really good experience. A memorable one. After the mosque, we visited the gallery, that’s yet to be ready for visitation I just want to be able to see the complete structure of the mosque. Also, I hope the rivers could be revived. It was a great trip, we had our lunch at Burger King, where the original mosque used to be on and discussed about how we are going to do this particular MPU assignment. I hope that I could come back next year after renovation of the mosque is done.

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Travel Journal ‒ Lo Wei Liam ‒ 0320589 On that day, all of the members agree to meet up in the Masjid Jamek which located in the Kuala Lumpur city around 12 pm. Fara and I planned to go together using public transport to meet up the others. Around 12pm, we all are gather up and take a visit inside the mosque. We start taking picture around the mosque. So we go asked a tour guide there for more information about the history and story that happened. The tour guide told us that Masjid Jamek was the oldest mosque that was built in Kuala Lumpur. Not only that, they did tell us about the history and how the Sultan of Selangor built it during year 1909. After finish listening and recording, we decided to take a group picture and separate the part for the assignment. Everyone went back home after finish eating together.

We learn a lot about the history of mosque and the important of mosque. The mosque is a piece of beautiful architecture.

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Travel Journal ‒ Loh Jia Hui ‒ 0324930 In that morning, I woke up early because our group decided to go meet up at Masjid Jamek at 10am. And since I decided to car pool with one of my group member and friend, Wei Jun, I decided to get ready early and wait for him. He arrived at my place and picked me up at around 9am. Both of us did not know how to go to Masjid Jamek so we used Waze and I navigated us there.

Both of us reached Masjid Jamek at around 10.30am and most of the group were already there waiting for everyone. Me and Wei Jun went over and one of the workers asked us to go register before entering so we did. We met up with everyone at a praying hall. So we sat there while waiting for everyone to show up. While sitting there waiting, I could not help but notice that the floor of the hall was covered entirely with marbles and the hall was all white. The design was beautiful and everything was so detailed. I also noticed that there are some foreign tourists who are here to visit the famous mosque and also all females who enter the mosque are required to wear a red or purple cloak provided at the registration.

When everyone was accounted for, we made our way into the main building of Masjid Jamek. We walked inside the main praying hall of the mosque and the interior of the mosque blew me away. It was beautifully designed with lots of white marbles and the green glasses high up. Our group was greeted by an old man, who told us that he volunteered to work here. So naturally we asked him about the history of the mosque and he answered all of our questions. One of the things that he told us that I find amazing is that the whole mosque was designed by only on architect, named Arthur Benison Hubbock. Imagine, one man who could come up with an Indian- inspired design so beautiful for this mosque back in the 80s.

Afterwards, we asked a person in charge whether there was any way which we could go into the museum. At first they told us that it’s still not opened to public yet but after a while, they gave us permission to enter. Inside, we saw many photos of the mosques back in the days when it was just built and officiated to the public. We were also allowed to take pictures inside the museum.

After we finished looking around the museum, we came to the end of our tour and we left. Visiting Masjid Jamek made me realise how important it is to preserve historical buildings such as Masjid Jamek in order to preserve its history. Being in the mosque also gave me a sense of tranquillity as the whole place felt calming. I do hope the River of Life project is able to bring the Masjid Jamek area back to its former glory as it was back in the old days.

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Travel Journal – Leow Zyncoln – 0325131 Upon sunrise in the morning, I did not wake up just for the purpose of this Masjid Jamek trip planned in advance. Apparently, I had another event to participate prior to the trip, which was the Nike Run 2016. So after I had finished running the 21K distance and grabbed the finisher medal, I waited for my friend behind me to finish it too, then only ask for his help to drop me at Masjid Jamek nearby the event location (gotta thank him for the ride though ‘cause my legs were nearly paralyzed for a couple of days after the run). Luckily, the jam in KL was not too terrible so I managed to reach the trip location in time as proposed.

This was not my first time been in here but the second time (first time was with my brother and cousin, where it was two years ago). After registering myself, the staff from the visitor service desk there brought me a sarung as I forgot to bring my own long pants along. This is a kind of respect towards the mosques that all people must wear a long cloth covering the knee before entering any mosque. After waiting for a while, all members had arrived, followed by us quickly proceed to the inside. We were greeted by a friendly tour guide named Rusli who claimed himself as a volunteer for the mosque. First he made a rough explanation about Masjid Jamek and then he told us to ask any question regarding the mosque as he would be able to answer all of them. I was thinking that he said it with full confidence, so I guess he must be wise guy to acquire all the knowledge about it, and it turned out to be a yes! Starting from my group member, Liam who asked him the first question about the condition before Masjid Jamek was built, he answered that the estate was previously a burial ground for the dead bodies and tombstones. The capacity of the mosque, he replied to the following question asked by another group member, Haris, can reach up to 11000 worshippers especially during the Friday prayers.

From our conversations with the tour guide, I had just realized that Masjid Jamek was the largest mosque in Malaysia before Masjid Negara was founded, moreover the compound still is expanding for the needs by the Muslims due to the increment of the number of worshippers. He, and another female tour guide, also told us that the Klang River and Gombak River surrounding Masjid Jamek will be revived and beautified. Apparently it was not the first time I have heard of this project which named River of Life, but I am very happy and much more excited after watching the progress of the project in front of Masjid Jamek. The future of the long rivers features a 10.7 km waterfront corridor for visitors and passers-by to enjoy the future beauty of rivers themselves, combo with the breath-taking scenery in Kuala Lumpur city. This project which looks promising is aimed to be completed by the year 2020.

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After an hour of chit chat and observing the architecture as well as the surroundings of Masjid Jamek, my group and I then bid farewell to the tour guides who had helped us a lot in our research. We proceeded to an under-constructed gallery near the mosque to take some photos. Before we left the mosque, some of my groupmates stopped down near the main gate and bought some drinks to quench their thirst. Suddenly an old looking man sitting beside talked to us, we were shocked by how fluently the Malay speaks Mandarin, who told us that he came from Hong Kong, even I myself as a Chinese was impressed by his accent. To end our journey, we had our lunch at a Burger King outlet near the mosque, which previously was where Masjid Jamek had first been built on.

Every mistake is worth to be a lesson in our life, so that we can grow up as a better person in this world. Though there were no any big challenges nor obstacles during this day, but throughout the journey, I had learnt that Masjid Jamek was the most crowded mosque in Malaysia. Besides, I had also known that the Klang River and Gombak River are connected just behind the mosque. I felt lucky to have group members accompanying and helping around because I found that it is quite hard to complete the research without the participation of group members. Lastly, in my opinion, it is very important to have well communication in the team because working as a team, we as a member cannot be self-centred and must take other members’ opinion into consideration when there is some decision making to be made such as when choosing the topic of the assignment. In a nutshell, I felt happy to have all co-operative members in my group and it was absolutely a wonderful and productive day to have experienced.

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Travel Journal ‒ Mohd Fara Zureel Ikhqwan Bin Mohd Arpan ‒ 0320527 On 9th April 2016; Saturday morning, my friend and I took the KTM from Setia Jaya station to KL Central and exchange lines to Masjid Jamek. It was a sunny and hot day but the cool air when we entered the trains was refreshing. As soon as we arrived at Masjid Jamek station, the mosque can be seen from the station windows. The distinct architecture of the mosque, gave the location away to us. As we headed inside the mosque, we were told to take our shoes off before entering. Although it was a hot day, the marble floors kept the inside of the mosque cool. A sense of tranquillity existed there for a moment.

While waiting for the others to arrive, I took my time admiring the maintenance done to the mosque. According to Islamic laws, men and women have their own dress code when entering the mosque. As some of our members are untold of this, they were asked to wear a free burqa for the women and a sarong for the men. When the last of our teammates arrived, we told the guide we are ready to begin our tour. A pathway for tourist was shown to us, leading towards the main prayer corridors. Islamic architecture can clearly be seen from the doors and the internal decorations. Inside the main prayer corridors, the men and women are separated with a divider. According to the guide, when Muslims pray together the stood very close to each other. To avoid any distractions, the men are separated from the women.

Everything inside the mosque looks pristine and clean; floor polished and pillars looks as they were just built yesterday. I was amazed how a century old mosque able to survive in the middle of a country’s capital. A session of questions and answers were done with the guide for the history of the mosque. One of the amazing things I remembered the guide said was that, the mosque survived a Japanese bombing which killed 3 people during the war period. The visit ended around noon time before the afternoon prayers.

I am not a religious man myself, but after this trip I understand why religion is an important aspect of society. From the architecture of the mosque and the caretakers, I understand that culture and art exist in religion. As culture and art is one of the basis of a civilization, religion is a big part of the picture. This visit ended up more rewarding than I thought it will be. I am grateful to have the chance to experience this historical site with my own body.

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Travel Journal ‒ Solehudin Zakariya ‒ 0326136 Today I saw the Masjid Jamek for the first time, and it was all I had expected, and more! The crowds of tourists there made me think of a bunch of ants that had just found a sticky wet lollipop on the sidewalk, and swarmed towards it.

The name ‘Jamek’ means congregation. The location of this Masjid Jamek is situated between two rivers which are Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang. From what I knew, both of these two rivers are the main rivers for transportation. From that, I knew that religion can unite us all because there are many races are staying there but they can still worship God without any unpleasantness among them.

After that, we were told by the tour guides about the history of this mosque. Yes, what I knew before was absolutely right………. About the design, the idea was from Sir Arthur Benison Hubbock and inspired by Moghul Architecture from Northern India. The design was superb and we should appreciate and admire our heritage as truly Malaysian!!!!!

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Travel Journal – Luqman Hakiem ‒ 0325648 I would like to share my experience where I got a chance to visit and learn about Masjid Jamek, one of the famous mosque in Malaysia. Masjid Jamek is located in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur and it is the oldest mosque standing in that very state. It is situated at between Klang River and Gombak River. Masjid Jamek is also known as the Friday Mosque.

The mosque was built in the year of 1907 but was officially opened by the Sultan of Selangor two years later. I interested about the fact of Masjid Jamek besides being one of the oldest mosque which is it was built on the first Malay Burial Ground in Kuala Lumpur. The architecture of this mosque is being adapted from the combination of Moorish, Islam and Mogul architectures. I amazed about the architecture of this mosque as it shows different combination cultures in one building. Besides that, this mosque provides a sense of peacefulness and calmness for visitors as there are a lot of trees around, not to mention the nearby rivers.

There are a total of three domes surrounding the prayer hall. The central dome is as high as 70 ft and is defined by two other lower domes and there are two high minarets in red and white stripes at the corners which measured around 88 ft tall. Moreover, I saw this mosque is always packed with many tourists all around the world to come and see the beautiful architecture of this building. Therefore, I suggested that Masjid Jamek must be one of the place to visit in order to learn and appreciate the ancient architecture with a combination design of different cultures. It may not be something special to Muslims but for all other religions, this is indeed a place worth a visit.

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Travel Journal ‒ Mohamad Amirul Haziq Bin Mohd Azhar ‒ 0325585 On the 10th of April, our group went to Masjid Jamek which is situated in the middle of Kuala Lumpur city. The purpose of the visit was to learn more about the historical site that we chose. We were very eager to learn about the civilization that build this mosque which is the first mosque built in Kuala Lumpur. When we first arrived, we were greeted by one of the volunteer there that acts as a tour guide for visitors who came to the mosque. He told us about the history of the mosque and Kuala Lumpur itself. The name ‘Kuala Lumpur’ actually means muddy centre as the place used to be exploited by miners. Kuala Lumpur was very rich with tins that was found in the soil mainly in Ampang. This event had me thinking about the richness of this country. Malaysia was a rich country back then and even now. I’m so grateful to be born as a citizen of this country.

The name ‘Jamek’ means congregation. I think it really fits with the location of the mosque because the mosque is actually situated between two rivers, Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang. Back then, these two rivers were among the main routes used for transportation. The land that the mosque was built was originally a burial ground that was endowed (wakaf) by Nakoda Yusuf because he thinks that a mosque would be suitable with the place for people to pray and take a break from their work. Plus, the Muslims population were increasing that time. The action taken by Nakoda Yusuf has taught me that religion unites us all. Even though there were many races staying at one place back then, they all still can worship God without any unpleasantness among them.

After that, the tour guide told us about the design of the mosque. The mosque was designed by Sir Arthur Benison Hubbock. The mosque was originally inspired based on Mogul Architecture from Northern India. Several buildings around the mosque also uses this type of design such as the Kuala Lumpur Court. Masjid Jamek then was named as “Warisan Kebangsaan” by the “Kementerian Perpaduan, Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan Malaysia”. This meaningful event taught me to appreciate our heritage. We should appreciate and admire our national heritage as it carries our identity and the image of our country. National heritages should be acknowledged and preserved because it is the closest thing in learning our country’s history.

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Travel Journal ‒ Liam Malik Bin Abd Malik ‒ 0319664 It was a great experience to have visited Masjid Jamek with my group. It is without a doubt, one of my most memorable experiences. Despite that, the journey didn’t start out so well when I got lost trying to find my way there. Then it took me about an hour to find parking because they blocked the road towards Stadium Merdeka. The day was also very hot but it was nice and cooling inside the Masjid. I was very surprised to see how big the Masjid was. There were tour guides that were not only very well verse but also very educated and I’m very glad that I met them because I got to learn a lot of things from them such as the Masjid was built 107 years ago in 1909 and it was opened officially with the presence of the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sir Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah. This Masjid is one of the oldest in Malaysia. The Masjid has a stone next to the entrance that explains when the Sultan came to open the Masjid written in Jawi. The Masjid is located at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak River. The Masjid has a Mogul design because the architect, Arthur Hubback designed buildings in India before coming to Malaysia. The Masjid is located near the Masjid Jamek LRT station. Then after that we went to Burger king near the LRT station to have lunch and discuss the next steps of this project.

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5.0 Conclusion The visit to Masjid Jamek in Kuala Lumpur has taught us many things about the concept of civilization and also the history of mosque. It has also taught us more about our ancestors’ ways of living. The mosque is a proof that belief is an aspect of civilization. Local people and traders always use this mosque to pray regardless of their race. In Islam, a mosque functions as many things such as a prayer house, a place to held a meeting, a school and many more. The mosque unites the Muslims as all their activities can be done at the mosque.

Masjid Jamek was the first mosque built in Kuala Lumpur. It is called ‘Jamek’ which means ‘congregation’ because it is situated in the middle of two rivers which is the Klang River and Gombak River. Traders who used the river as their route often stop at the mosque for a break or pray (Muslims). Before Masjid Jamek was built, there was another mosque near the current Masjid Jamek site. It was built by the local people which shows that the mosque belongs to a Malay civilization. When Kuala Lumpur became famous with its tins, Chinese and Indian labours were brought into the country for mining purposes. Kuala Lumpur also became a famous trading centre causing more and more traders to come to the place. Only then the Masjid Jamek was built on an endowed land and became very useful for the Muslim civilization that stayed in Kuala Lumpur that time.

Nowadays, Masjid Jamek maintains its main purpose which is as a prayer house for Muslims. It is also known as the identity of Kuala Lumpur since it is the first and oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur. This factor has attracted many tourists to visit the mosque because of its unique architecture design and as a very important historical site. The mosque proves that in Malaysia, Islamic civilization is the main had spread widely among Malaysians back then and even in present days.

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Appendixes

Figure 1: The front wide view of Masjid Jamek

Figure 2: The confluence of Klang and Gombak Rivers as envisioned by the Beautification Masterplan

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Figure 3: The view of Masjid Jamek from behind and the confluence of Klang and Gombak Rivers in 1909

Figure 4: The view of Masjid Jamek from behind and the confluence of Klang and Gombak Rivers in 2014

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Figure 5: The group photo taken during the journey (from left to right, top: Luqman, Zyncoln, Wei Liam, Amirul, Haris, Liam, Fara, Solehudin, Wei Jun; bottom: Jia Hui, Shu Wen)

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References

1. Programme, E. T. (2013). EPP 5: Revitalising the Klang and Gombak Rivers into a Heritage and Commercial Centre. Retrieved April 28, 2016, from http://etp.pemandu.gov.my/Greater_Kuala_Lumpur_Klang_Valley-@- Greater_Kuala_Lumpur_- _EPP_5-;_Revitalising_the_Klang_and_Gombak_Rivers_into_a_Heritage_and_Commercial _Centre.aspx 2. Wijnen, B. van. (n.d.). Masjid Jamek. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://www.malaysiasite.nl/masjidjamekeng.htm 3. VisitMalaysia. (n.d.). Masjid Jamek Kuala Lumpur. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://kuala-lumpur.attractionsinmalaysia.com/Masjid-Jamek-Kuala-Lumpur.php 4. Sharuna Segaren. (n.d.). The River Of Life Project in Kuala Lumpur. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://www.expatgo.com/my/2015/05/14/the-river-of-life-project-in-kuala-lumpur/ 5. The Star. (n.d.). Giving a new lease of life to KL’s historical Klang river. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/03/27/giving-a-new-lease-of-life-to- kls-historical-klang-river/

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