The Hajjah Fatimah Mosque ( ms, Masjid Hajjah Fatimah, Jawi: ) 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, ...

located along Beach Road in the

Kampong Glam Kampong Glam ( Malay: Kampung Gelam; Jawi: کامڤوڠ ڬلم ; ; Tamil: கம்போங் கிளாம்) is a neighbourhood and ethnic enclave in Singapore. It is located north of the Singapore River, in the planning area of ...

district within the Kallang Planning Area in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. The mosque was designed in a mix of Islamic and European architectural styles, and completed in 1846. The mosque is named after an aristocratic Malay lady,

Hajjah Fatimah Hajjah Fatimah binte Sulaiman (), also known as Hajjah Fatimah and as the "Sultana of Gowa", was a Singaporean merchant and philanthropist. After the death of her second husband, she combined his business with her own boats and built it into a suc ...

, who commissioned its construction.

History

The building of the mosque was initiated by Hajjah Fatimah, who was originally from a wealthy Malaccan family. She married a Bugis prince from

Celebes Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sul ...

who ran a trading post in Singapore. However, her husband died while she was still young, and she continued to run his business after his death, acquiring a large fortune with her ships. In the late 1830s, her house on Java Road was broken into twice, and set on fire on the second time. Hajjah Fatimah however was away when the arson attack occurred and was therefore unharmed, and to express her gratitude for her safety, she instructed the building of a mosque on the site where the house once stood. The mosque was designed by an unnamed British architect. It has been suggested that the minaret was designed by

John Turnbull Thomson John Turnbull Thomson (10 August 1821 – 16 October 1884) was a British civil engineer and artist who played an instrumental role in the development of the early infrastructure of nineteenth-century Singapore and New Zealand. He lived the last 2 ...

due to a perceived similarity to the design of the first spire of St Andrew's Cathedral, there is however no evidence for this. The mosque was built in 1846. The resulting tower leans slightly (around 6 degrees) off center. After Hajjah Fatimah's death, her business passed into the family of

Syed Abdul Rahman Alsagoff Syed Abdul Rahman Alsagoff ( ar, ٱلسَّيِّد عَبْد ٱلرَّحْمَٰن ٱلسَّقَّاف ') was an Arab businessman in the spice trade, and a philanthropist who settled in Singapore. He was a descendant of the Islamic Prophet ...

, whose son

Ahmad Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

married Hajjah Fatimah's only child, Raja Siti. Her

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...

is located in a private mausoleum in the Mosque, together with those of her daughter and son-in-law. The main prayer hall was rebuilt in the 1930s, based on design by architects Chung & Wong, and constructed by French contractors Bossard & Mopin with Malay workers. The rebuilding added more Islamic elements to the mosque, giving the mosque a mixture of styles. Masjid Hajjah Fatimah was gazetted as a national monument on 28 June 1973. Today the mosque is owned by

Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura The Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), also known as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (IRCS), is a statutory board of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore. As a majlis, its role is to look af ...

(MUIS).

Architecture

Masjid Hajjah Fatimah contains within its walled compound a prayer hall, a mausoleum, the quarters of an '' Imam'', an ablution area, several annexes and a garden. The building style is eclectic, perhaps its most unusual feature is a distinctive minaret designed in a European style with Doric pilasters, in direct contrast to the Islamic dome above the prayer hall. The tower leans about six degrees off centre due to moisture seepage, shifting of bricks used in the construction of the tower, and the sandy soil on which it sits. The minaret is flanked by two houses in European style but with Chinese features, for example in its windows and woodwork. There are five bays in its façade; the largest central one flanked by miniature minarets is the entrance to the prayer hall. A large

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a typ ...

is located above the prayer hall behind the facade. The prayer hall is skewed from the street grid to face

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

, and is surrounded by

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

s on three sides. It has 12

lancet windows A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet ...

with yellow and green stained glass, and the 16 ribbed sections forming the dome are visible within the prayer hall.

References

External links

Masjid Hajjah Fatimah on the Uniquely Singapore website

GoogleMaps StreetView of Masjid Hajjah Fatimah (background)

GoogleMaps PhotoSphere of Masjid Hajjah Fatimah
{{Authority control 1846 establishments in Singapore Religious buildings and structures completed in 1846 Towers completed in 1846

Tourist attractions in Singapore National monuments of Singapore Kallang Inclined towers Malaysian diaspora in Singapore

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links