Cut Mutiah Mosque (Indonesian Masjid Cut Mutiah also ''Masjid Cut Meutia'') is a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in Jakarta,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The mosque is named after an Indonesian national heroine Cut Nyak Meutia (1870–1910) who took part in the struggle against Dutch colonialism in Aceh. The mosque was originally a Dutch property before it was finally transformed into a mosque.

History

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het kantoorgebouw van N

The building was initiated in 1922 as ''N.V. ( Naamloze vennootschap) Bouwploeg'', a Dutch property developer/architecture firm of

Pieter Adriaan Jacobus Moojen Pieter Adriaan Jacobus "Piet" Moojen (26 June 1879 - 1 April 1955) was a Netherlands-Indies architect, painter and writer. He studied architecture and painting in Antwerp. He lived and worked in the Dutch East Indies from 1903 to 1929. He was ...

(1879–1955). The firm planned and developed the nearby residential area of

Gondangdia Gondangdia is an administrative village in the Menteng district of Jakarta, Indonesia. It has a postal code of 10350. See also * Menteng * List of administrative villages of Jakarta {{unreferenced, date=March 2017 This is a list of a ...

. Afterwards the building was used as the department for drinking water.Koran SI/Koran SI/nsa During the coming period, the building was used for different functions such as post office and train company office. From 1959 until 1960 the building was used as a mayor office of Central Jakarta. Later the building was used as a drinking water department (''Perusahaan Air Minum''), Department of Residentials of Jakarta (''Kantor Dinas Urusan Perumahan Jakarta''), and People Assembly (''MPRS'').Mesjid Cut Meutia Jakarta
/ref> From 1964-1970, the building was used as the Office of Home and Religion (1964–1970). After

Ali Sadikin Ali Sadikin (7 July 1926 – 20 May 2008), better known as Bang Ali, was an Indonesian politician who served as the fourth governor of Jakarta from 1966 until 1977. Prior to becoming governor, he served as Minister of Transportation from 1963 u ...

's term as Governor of Jakarta, the building was converted into a provincial mosque on 18 August 1987 under the law SK gubernur no. 5184/1987.

Design

The building was initially built as an architecture office. The architecture of the building follows the Dutch Rationalist style. conformed into the tropics to form a new vernacular style. The building contains a ventilation tower in the center of the building to regulate the temperature inside. When the building was transformed into a mosque, many aspects of a mosque was fitted in into the office building and as a result the building shows a unique example of how a mosque adapt a layout of an office. The building does not orient to the

qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the ...

(direction to Kaaba). As a result, the direction of the prayer hall is oriented around 45 degree relative to the building's orientation. As a result of this orientation, both the mihrab and the minbar of the mosque are located in the middle of the prayer hall, as opposed to the usual front of the prayer hall. The central flight of stairs were removed to make way for the prayer hall. To access the second floor, new sets of stairs were created on the front terrace.

References

{{Mosques in Indonesia Mosques in Jakarta Colonial architecture in Jakarta