The Macau Mosque and Cemetery (; pt, Mesquita e Cemitério de Macau) is the only

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, ...

and

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, located in the parish of Nossa Senhora de Fátima.

History

It is believed that Macau Mosque was built by Muslims who arrived with the Portuguese army. Originally, these Muslims were recruited 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.;;;;;;;; ...

by the army. Within the complex area, there are also Muslim cemetery with some of the tombs dated back for hundreds of years, indicating that Islam had arrived in Macau since hundreds of years ago. In 1996, the IAM submitted a redevelopment plan of the mosque to Portuguese Macau government but was not approved. To accommodate the increasing number of Muslims in Macau, in 2006 the IAM applied for government permission to build a new larger mosque in area adjacent to the current mosque building. In the late months of 2007, Macau Mosque underwent renovation. In the future, the new mosque is planned to be double in size to be a more modern mosque for Macau with a total area of 1,881 m², 50 meters high and can accommodate up to 600 worshipers. An Islamic center, cheap Halal restaurant, 30-room hostel and classroom and 127-meter high 38-story residential building will also be constructed.http://yearbook.gcs.gov.mo/files/yearbook/2003/myb2003pPA02CH14.pdf During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the

Government of Macau The Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region (; Portuguese: Governo da R.A.E. de Macau; conventional short name Macau Government, 澳門政府, Governo de Macau), are headed by secretariats or commissioners and report directly to ...

ordered the mosque to be closed for one month.

Architecture

The Macau Mosque and Cemetery area consists of Macau Mosque, extended area of the mosque, Macau Muslim cemetery, headquarters of the Islamic Association of Macau, ablution place, badminton court and playground. The size of Macau Mosque is around 6.5 meter x 12 meter which can accommodate around 100 worshipers. The Macau Mosque and Cemetery entrance gate was donated by Halima binti Sheik on 27 June 1973 in the memory of Adam Sheik.

Activities

Macau Mosque houses the headquarters of the Islamic Association of Macau (IAM; ; Portuguese: Associação Islâmica de Macau), which manages the daily operation of the mosque. The association was founded in 1935 in

Portuguese Macau Portuguese Macau (officially the Province of Macau until 1976, and then the Autonomous Region of Macau from 1976 to 1999) was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony that existed from the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the ...

. The association is financially assisted by the

Islamic Union of Hong Kong The Islamic Union of Hong Kong () is an Islamic charitable and non-profit organisation in Hong Kong, China. The headquarters of the union is at the Ammar Mosque and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre. History The organisation was founded arou ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. More people visit the mosque on Sunday during their off days due to their tight working schedule in the weekdays or for wedding and during big Islamic festivities, such as Eid al-Adha. Most of them do the Quran reading or Islamic studies activities. During Eid al-Adha, the Muslims sacrifice cows and slaughter them at the Macau Slaughter House.

Transportation

In the future, Macau Mosque and Cemetery will be served from

Zona do Nordeste The red-tailed silverside, or zona (''Bedotia geayi'') is a species of Madagascar rainbowfish endemic to the Mananjary River drainage in Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species. It has often been confused with the rel ...

Station of the Macau LRT. However, the LRT Macau Line project has been put on hold.

References

External links