2 - The Cosmopolitan Mosque

Summary

In the heart of Singapore's bustling Chinatown stands a nearly two-century-old mosque known as Jamae Mosque (Masjid Jamae, also called ‘Chulia Mosque’). Painted green throughout, the location and design of the mosque reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the people who built it. It is in the middle of an old Chinese settlement, a place populated by markets, businesses and all things non-Muslim. Standing majestically a few metres from the mosque is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, Sri Mariamman Temple, revered by Hindu worshippers in the city-state and from all over the world. The temple shares many legacies with the mosque. It was built in 1827 around the same time when the mosque was established. Since the foundation of these buildings, Hindu and Muslim worshippers have walked along a common path to their respective sanctuaries. The common architectural forms that both buildings share will strike any discerning passer-by. The twin minarets of Jamae Mosque are constructed with Indic forms that are akin to the main facade of Sri Mariamman. Both the mosque and the temple boast large gates that reveal the interiors of these houses of worship to onlookers. Jamae Mosque is an archetype of how Muslim sacred spaces can function as cosmopolitan spaces. Mosques are reflections, expressions, manifestations, representations and symbols of Muslim cosmopolitanism.

This chapter examines mosques in Muslim Southeast Asia as spaces where Muslim cosmopolitanism is showcased, promoted and celebrated. A mosque, as Roemer van Toorn noted in his study of mosques in the European context, ‘is not just a house to honour God, but a place to come together, a collective space for the community. In short, a mosque as a space can provide a counterweight to the “public” space of the individualized and consuming human being’. I would extend this illuminating reflection further to argue that mosques in Southeast Asia are also places that enable different faiths, persuasions, ideologies and temperaments to interact, collaborate and amalgamate to give rise to a dynamic environment. To demonstrate this point, I will first dissect the aesthetics of the mosque. This is followed by an examination of the tolerance and cooperation between the worshippers at these mosques and devotees of other faiths at nearby religious sites.