Hajjah Fatimah Mosque

Hajjah Fatimah was a Malaccan businesswoman of Bugis descent who funded this mosque in 1846 on the site of her own house, and it is one of very few mosques anywhere named for a woman. The design is a mixture: a European-influenced minaret said to be modelled on a church spire, built by a British architect, on a building otherwise in local idiom. The minaret leans about six degrees off vertical, which it has done almost since it was built.

History

The mosque was built in 1845-1846 with funds from Hajjah Fatimah, a Malaccan noblewoman, at first largely of wood; it was rebuilt in concrete in 1920, its prayer hall was rebuilt in the 1930s by the French contractor Brossard et Mopin with Malay craftsmen, and it became a national monument on 28 June 1973 (Wikipedia, Masjid Hajjah Fatimah).

What to look for

• The leaning minaret - about six degrees off vertical, and long since stabilised.
• The church-like spire - a minaret modelled on European ecclesiastical form.
• The founder - one of very few mosques named for the woman who paid for it.
• The mausoleum - Hajjah Fatimah and her family buried in the grounds.

When to go

Year round; visitor hours are outside prayer times. Friday prayers close it for longer. Mornings are quietest.

Practical notes

Visitor hours are limited and not always observed as posted. Dress rules are enforced and robes are provided. The mosque is small and an hour covers it.

Nearby

Kampong Glam is northwest, and the Sultan Mosque is beyond it.

Key facts