Masjid Abdul Gaffoor Mosque could be listed as one of the most beautiful Indian-Moorish style mosques in the world. The beautiful mosque carries the Indian architectural trademarks on it besides being colourful yet of course with respect for the Sunni Muslim requirements. The Masjid Abdul Gaffoor Mosque is part of the Singaporean Muslim district, the Kampong Kapor.
Masjid Abdul Gaffoor Mosque is one of the several Indian and Malaysian Sunni Muslim mosques that can be found in Singapore. The Muslim religion is officially the third biggest religion of Singapore with the local Malays and one great part of the Indian community being Muslim themselves. Therefore, the town has several mosques beautiful in their style and way. The beautiful Gaffoor mosque is a great example on the beauty of classic Indian-Moorish architecture bearing beautiful elements of both styles. The Masjid Abdul Gaffoor Mosque besides being a very important worship site also serves as a great photo opportunity for many who want to preserve the full beauty of the city’s colourful cultural life on the camera.
The Masjid Abdul Gaffoor Mosque was built in the beginning of 1900s and the current form is the result of rebuilding and restructuring works. The mosque has several unique elements too which are worth visiting if you are in Singapore. The Kampong Kapor where the mosque is located always used to be an important trading point for Indians and Malays. The first mosque on the place of today’s Masjid Abdul Gaffoor was built already in 1881. The mosque’s building right was part of a deed, which also allowed local Muslims to establish a Muslim burial site too. The owner of the mosque and the site is the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) Sunni Muslim organization. The mosque’s construction works were finished finally in the Twenties. Due to its uniqueness, the Masjid Abdul Gaffoor has become an official national monument in 1979.
The unique motives of Masjid Abdul Gaffoor include its sundial that can be found in front of its main entrance. This is a beautiful elaborate mechanical device, which has the 25 sunburst written by professional calligraphers. The area of the mosque looks great with a restored colourful row of houses belonging to the mosque used for teaching Quran and Quranic subjects. Other great unique motive is the framed family tree, which can be found nearby the prayer area containing the family trees of all 25 prophets and their families enlisting their last or latest descendants. Besides, the mosque looks outstanding with its many decorations, miniature minarets and great green and yellow colours
The beautiful Masjid Abdul Gaffoor mosque represents outstanding inscriptions written by traditional Quranic calligraphers in the way they are represented in the Holy Book of Koran. The cupola is over the main praying hall (which is for the men). As is usual with every mosque, they can only be visited by Muslims themselves for praying reasons. The Masjid Abdul Gaffoor is only one of the many picturesque and important mosques that can be seen in Singapore. The beautiful mosque can be nicely seen and photographed from the outside, together with its sundial.