Masjid Abdul Gaffoor

Masjid Abdul Gaffoor (Tamil: மஸ்ஜித் அப்துல் கஃபூர், Jawi: مسجد عبد الغفور, also spelled Abdul Gafoor) and occasionally known as the Dunlop Street Mosque, is a historic mosque located in Little India, Singapore. Named after its founder Shaik Abdul Gaffoor, it was originally built in 1910 as a replacement of an older mosque located along Dunlop Street. It was gazetted as a national monument of Singapore in 1979. History Originally, a mosque known as Masjid Al-Abrar was built in the 1850s along Dunlop Street to serve the Indian Muslim immigrants in the area. This mosque was under an awqāf endowment, which was titled the Dunlop Street Mosque Endowment and dated to 14 November 1881. Shaik Abdul Gaffoor, one of the trustees of the endowment, obtained a letter of approval to construct shophouses around the mosque. The income from these shophouses were eventually used to construct a new mosque in the same area along Dunlop Street, which was completed in 1910. At the time of the death of Shaik Abdul Gaffoor in 1919, he was the only trustee of the Dunlop Street Mosque Endowment and hence the ownership of the land was passed to the Muslim and Hindu Endowment Board in 1927. After the independence of Singapore, the mosque and its properties fell under the management of the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS). Masjid Abdul Gaffoor was gazetted as a national monument of Singapore on 13 July 1979. However, the mosque fell into disrepair by the late 1980s, and so some fundraising campaigns and emergency appeals helped to accumulate $2.5 million to improve on the awqāf land along Dunlop Street, which included a meticulous restoration of the mosque while some of the associated shophouses in the waqf were converted into a madrasah. The massive restoration project started in the early 2000s and was completed by late 2002 with the mosque reopening on 16 May 2003. Before the restorations, the lost blueprints for the mosque were rediscovered in 1998, which included a layout of the basement floor. The restoration received the Architectural Heritage Award from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in 2003. The mosque is a Sunni mosque that is affiliated with the Ḥanafī school of thought. It is one of three Hanafi mosques in Singapore, the other two being Masjid Angullia and Masjid Bencoolen, both of which are also Indian mosques. This is because the Hanafi doctrine is prominent amongst Indian Muslims. Architecture Masjid Abdul Gaffoor has a unique symmetrical design and layout. It is built in a mix of Indo-Saracenic architecture and Roman styles as well as blending traditional Islamic and European features together. The prayer hall sits raised above ground level, surrounded by verandahs and balustrades on all sides and accessible by a staircase. The balustrades have circular and pointed openings at the base, topped with ornate cinquefoil arches. The main entrance is framed by pairs of graduated cinquefoil arches on both sides, with detailed carvings throughout, while a panel with calligraphic writing sits atop the exterior side of the entrance doorway. Higher up sits a carving of a sundial flanked by small Corinthian columns; its twenty-five rays are decorated with Arabic calligraphy that representing the names of the prophets which are mentioned the Qur'an, which number twenty-five. The central, main dome of the mosque consists of a hexagonal cupola on a platform that tops the main prayer hall, while a further smaller onion shaped dome with a crescent and star emblem sits atop it. Due to sitting in the centre of the main prayer hall in a symmetrical manner, the main dome is not visible to the naked eye when seen from ground level. The windows are made from stained glass, akin to the those visible in churches. Arabic calligraphies adorn the interior walls of the main prayer hall. The ablution area of the mosque is still preserved, although the pool has been dried up and is now fitted with taps and modern plumbing systems. Along the courtyard are several shophouses which were part of the original 1881 Dunlop Street Endowment and hence are properties of the mosque. Gallery Transportation Masjid Abdul Gaffoor is within walking distance from the Rochor MRT station, located on the Downtown Line. See also List of mosques in Singapore References External links Google Maps StreetView of Masjid Abdul Gaffoor along Dunlop Street Urban Redevelopment Authority article on the restoration of Masjid Abdul Gaffoor