Masjid-i Jahān-Numā (the 'World-reflecting Mosque'), commonly known as the Palayam Pally of Trivandrum, is the principal

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, ...

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is a

Jama Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

(Congregational Mosque). The Juma Masjid, Palayam Mosque is the most important mosque in Thiruvananthapuram. In Palayam, the mosque has a temple and a Christian church as its neighbours, establishing the communal harmony of Keralites. Chandrashekharan Nair Stadium 1

History

The history of the Palayam Mosque at Trivandrum dates back to 1813 AD, when the British Indian Second Regiment was stationed here. It was then constructed as a small mosque (Pattalappalli), with an open place for Eid prayers. In 1824 when the sixth regiment was posted here its officers bought up the land appointed a Qazi the Labba family which ended with Sheikh Mansoor Labba and entrusted the

Muezzin The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day (Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important role ...

the documents of the mosque. In 1848, when the sixteenth regiment came here its Jamadars and Havildars did considerable improvements to the mosque including the construction of a gate and arrangements for the maintenance and upkeep of the mosque building. When other regiments were stationed here, its officers brought about further changes and improvements. Thus the mosque is nearly 200 years old. Later, in the 1960s, many philanthropic businessmen and government officials of Trivandrum took up its renovation and constructed the present-day Palayam Juma Masjid under the leadership of the Qazi and Imam Moulavi Sheikh Abul Hassan Ali Al-Noori. The Juma Masjid was inaugurated by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

Dr. Zakir Hussain (8 February 1897 – 3 May 1969) known as Dr. Zakir Husain, was an Indian educationist and politician who served as President of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. Born into an Afridi Pashtun family in Hyderabad, Husa ...

in 1967. Sheikh Abul Hassan Ali Al-Noori (1921–2011), a freedom fighter, multilingual scholar and the first Imam of Palayam Juma Masjid who served here for close to two decades (1959–1979), helped elevate to its present-day status from a ‘pattalappalli’, during his tenure as Imam.

First Imam

Sheikh Abul Hassan Ali Al-Noori, the first elected Imam, was born in 1921 in Thenkassi. He was elected to serve after Sheikh Mansoor Labba who served as the Hanafi Imam for over 46 years. He had his schooling at Rajapalayam and graduation at Tanjavur. Left for

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

for post graduate studies and became a teacher in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. He was proficient in nine languages including

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 ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

and

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

. In 1942, he became active in the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. He became an Imam in Thenkasi in 1952. From 1959 onwards, close to two decades, he was 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 Qazi at the Palayam Juma Masjid. The author of several books, a noted orator, social reformer and teacher, he entertained a progressive outlook, championing women's education, criticising the dowry system and promoting interest-free banking. 'Darul amaana' — an interest-free

microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

system in 1970 — launched under his guidance.

References

External links

Website - http://palayamjumamasjid.org/ {{coord missing, Kerala Mosques in Kerala Religious buildings and structures in Thiruvananthapuram Religious buildings and structures in Thiruvananthapuram district

Palayam Palayam may refer to: * ''Palayam'' (film), a 1994 Malayalam film *Palayam, Kanyakumari, a village in Neyyoor town panchayat, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India *Palayam, Perambalur, a village in Perambalur district, Tamil Nadu, India *Palayam ...