Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque

The state mosque of Johor was begun in the 1890s and completed in 1900, and it looks unlike most mosques in the country. The architects worked in a Victorian classical manner: a long prayer hall with a colonnaded verandah, blue and white paintwork, arched windows, and four corner minarets shaped like clock towers rather than the usual tapering forms. It stands on a bluff above the Johor Strait with lawns falling away toward the water, so the whole building is visible from a distance, and the breeze off the channel makes the verandah tolerable even at midday. It remains the principal congregational mosque of the state, holding several thousand worshippers, and visitors are admitted outside prayer times with robes provided at the door.

History

The architect, Tuan Haji Mohamed Arif bin Punak, set out to recreate English Victorian architecture, with minarets shaped like 19th-century British clock towers and some Moorish and Malay touches. Sultan Ibrahim ordered the mosque and named it after his father, Sultan Abu Bakar, and it holds 2,000 worshippers (Wikipedia, Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque).

What's there

• The clock-tower minarets - four Victorian corner towers instead of conventional minarets.
• The colonnaded verandah - the long shaded arcade running the length of the prayer hall.
• The strait outlook - lawns dropping to the water with the far shore across the channel.
• The blue and white exterior - painted classical detailing and tall arched windows.

When to go

Mid-morning or mid-afternoon between prayer times, when visitors are admitted. Friday midday is closed to sightseeing. Late afternoon light on the western facade makes the best photographs, and the breeze off the strait makes that hour comfortable. Robes are lent at the entrance; shoulders, legs and hair should be covered.

Practical notes

Visiting hours for non-worshippers are short and enforced, so a wasted trip is easy if you arrive at the wrong time. The interior is plain, which means the interest is largely the exterior and the setting. The grounds are exposed with almost no shade off the verandah. Johor Bahru traffic makes the short journey from the centre slower than the map suggests.

Nearby

The Johor Bahru old town, the Chinese heritage museum and the causeway are a short drive east.

Key facts