The Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre or Kowloon Mosque is one of five main mosques in Hong Kong. Located in Kowloon, in the Tsim Sha Tsui area at the intersection of Nathan Road and Haiphong Road, beside

Kowloon Park Kowloon Park is a large public park in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It has an area of and is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.Leisure and Cultural Services DepartmentKowloon Park: Historical Background History ...

, this mosque is currently the largest in Hong Kong. The mosque holds five prayers daily and is capable of accommodating up to 3,500 people.

History

The Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre was first established in 1896 by the Hong Kong Regiment. It was originally intended to serve the Indian Muslim troops of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

stationed at the nearby

Whitfield Barracks Whitfield Barracks were barracks in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was named after Henry Wase Whitfield, who was appointed commander of the British Army in Hong Kong in 1869. the Barracks were developed in subsequent years. By 19 ...

, now the site of the adjacent

. In the late 1970s, the building suffered structural issues due to the underground construction carried out for the

Mass Transit Railway The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving :Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus service centred on a 10-line rapid transit network ...

. With compensation provided by

MTR Corporation MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong ...

and donations from the local Muslim community, a new mosque was built and opened on 11 May 1984 on the present site at 105 Nathan Road to replace the old one. Currently, the mosque primarily serves Muslims from

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

and

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 ...

. Many of them also live in Tsim Sha Tsui, where ethnic minorities have settled. This also explains why it also plays an important role as a cultural site for non-Chinese Muslims in Hong Kong. Vendors selling South Asian items at

Chungking Mansions Chungking Mansions is a building located at 36–44 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Though the building was supposed to be residential, it is made up of many independent low-budget hotels, shops and other services. As well ...

are close to the Kowloon Mosque (opposite the mosque, across the road).

The building

This mosque, designed by architect I.M. Kadri, represents the unique identity of the Muslim community in Hong Kong. Decorated and elaborate, the traditional Muslim architecture of the mosque contrasts from the modern architecture of the nearby buildings. The most prominent features of the building are the four 11 meters high

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

s which mark the corners of the upper terrace and the extensive use of white marble on both the paving and the facade. In addition to three prayer halls and a community hall, there is a medical clinic and a library. The main prayer hall on the first floor can accommodate 1,000 people. A smaller, women's prayer hall is on the upper floor and is surrounded by a terrace. This upper hall is surmounted by a dome 5 meters in diameter and 9 meters in height. File:Kowloon Mosque Prayer Hall.JPG, The mosque prayer hall. File:City masjid.JPG, Outside view of mosque at night time File:Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre 2005 2.jpg, Main mosque entrance, 2005 File:HK TST 九龍清真寺開放日 Kowloon Masjid 13-March-2011 Open Day banner Feb-2011.jpg, Open Day banner in February 2011

Personnel

The chief imam of Hong Kong Mufti Muhammad Arshad (M.A. in Islamic studies) has served as the

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

and

khateeb In Islam, a khatib, khateeb or hatib ( ar, خطيب ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers. The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader ('' imam'') ...

of this mosque since 2001.And this is the Chief Imam of Hong Kong from the Muslims of Hong Kong. He also teaches the mosque's Arabic language course, and delivers the Friday sermons in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. He is also responsible for the issuance of

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

and

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

ic maktabs. In addition, he is an instructor at the

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a publicly funded tertiary liberal arts education, liberal arts institution with a Christian ethics, Christian education heritage. It was established as Hong Kong Baptist College with the support of Ame ...

. He was ranked one of the 500 world's most influential Muslim leaders in 2009. Maulana Qari Muhammad Tayaib Qasmi is an Islamic scholar who has lived in Hong Kong since 1989. He served as chief imam and khateeb of the Kowloon Mosque until 2001. He has invited many prominent Islamic scholars to Hong Kong from different parts of the world, such as Makki Sahib, Abdul Majeed Nadeem Shah sahib, Imam-e-Kabba, imam Masjid e Nabwi, Maulana

Tariq Jameel Tariq Jamil ( ur, , Ṭāriq Jamīl; born 1 October 1953), is a Pakistani Islamic television preacher, religious writer, scholar, and a member of the Tablighi Jamaat. The recipient of the Pride of Performance award, Jamil has been named twice i ...

, Dr.

Tahir ul Qadri Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri ( ur, ‎; born 19 February 1951) is a Pakistani–Canadian Islamic scholar and former politician who founded Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Pakistan Awami Tehreek. He was also a professor of international co ...

and Dr. Murtaza Sahib. Dr.

Zakir Naik Zakir Abdul Karim Naik (born 18 October 1965) is an Indian Islamic televangelist and public orator who focuses on comparative religion. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and the Peace TV Network. In 2 ...

(trustee) is currently running seven large Islamic centres throughout Hong Kong, giving free Quranic education to almost 1500 students including adult students, boys and girls, who study full-time in local schools in Hong Kong. The mosque is very important to the Islamic community of Hong Kong.

Transportation

The mosque is located near exit A1 of

Tsim Sha Tsui station Tsim Sha Tsui is an MTR station on the . The station, originally opened on 16 December 1979 on the , serves the area of Tsim Sha Tsui. East Tsim Sha Tsui station on the , which opened on 24 October 2004, is connected to this station by underg ...

(connected to

East Tsim Sha Tsui station East Tsim Sha Tsui () is a station of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system of Hong Kong. It is currently an intermediate station on the . The station was built to alleviate surface traffic jams and passenger congestion at Kowloon Tong stati ...

by underground walkways). It may be reached via the

Tsuen Wan line The Tsuen Wan line is one of the eleven lines of the metro network in Hong Kong's MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map. There are 16 stations on the line. The southern terminus is Central station on Hong Kong Island and the nor ...

or the

West Rail line The West Rail line () was a rapid transit line that formed part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong until 27 June 2021. Coloured magenta on the MTR map, the line ran from Tuen Mun to Hung Hom, with a total length of , i ...

(if you walk through the station to East Tsim Sha Tsui station). There is also a large bus stop situated outside the mosque, with buses to various destinations in Kowloon,

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

and

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

. This stop is either announced as Kowloon Mosque or Kowloon Park (which is adjacent to the mosque).

Water cannon incident

On 20 October 2019 during the anti-ELAB movement, a

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Po ...

water cannon vehicle filled with stinging blue dye sprayed the Islamic Centre twice. The dousing caused hit more than 10 people who were around the premises causing various injuries including former Indian Association of Hong Kong chairman Mohan Chugani, a member of the Hong Kong Unison and

Jeremy Tam Jeremy Jansen Tam Man-ho (; born 13 June 1975) is a Hong Kong politician, airline pilot, and former Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Civic Party's Kowloon East (constituency), Kowloon East Branch. He was a former member of the Legislative Council ...

, a member of the Legislative Council and several journalists; all them were hospitalized for further treatment. Masked protesters, pedestrians and mosque-goers rushed to the Islamic Centre to clean up the blue dye left by the police soon after. The police contacted the mosque authorities explaining the hit as a "mistake"; then they sent some police personnel to the mosque to clean up for five minutes.

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...

herself came to meet in person with community members and mosque leaders the next day to apologize on the government's behalf over the incident. At 9:40 p.m the same day, police representatives came to the mosque to explain themselves to the media. A female Senior Superintendent was spotted to not wear a

hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

– as required by mosque admission rules – when she entered the Islamic Centre, causing criticism over the faux pas.

Reaction

Hong Kong Unison and

Civil Human Rights Front The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was an organisation that focused on the issues of Hong Kong politics and livelihood, affiliated with almost all pan-democratic camps in Hong Kong. It was founded on 13 September 2002 and disbanded on 15 Aug ...

condemned the police regarding this event.

Regina Ip Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (; ' Lau; born 24 August 1950) is a Chinese politician. She is currently the Convenor of the Executive Council (ExCo) and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), as well as the founder and current chair ...

of the New People's Party asserted the need for the police force to apologize. Activist Phillip Khan sees the police action taken as an affront to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. File:Police staff cleaning Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre 20191020.png, Police staff cleaning the mosque stairs not long after the incident File:Chief Executive Carrie Lam exiting the Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre 20191021.png, Carrie Lam (fourth from left) seen with mosque representatives leaving the premises the next day

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowloon Masjid And Islamic Centre Indian diaspora in China Landmarks in Hong Kong Mosques in Hong Kong Mosques completed in 1984 Tsim Sha Tsui Mosques completed in 1896