Masjid Jamek,

The mosque at dusk, in the time of humans

The Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque, also known locally as Masjid Jamek, is one of the oldest mosques in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Situated at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak River, it served as Kuala Lumpur's main mosque until the national mosque, Masjid Negara, was built in 1965. The mosque has since been enlarged with extensions built, and the originally open-air forecourt roofed over. One of the domes of the mosque collapsed in 1993 due to heavy rain, but has since been repaired. However, in a life without humans, will it be able to withstand the next major collapse, or will it prevail as the oldest mosque in the nation?

1 day after people: The mosque notices something peculiarly odd, as the sounds of the morning prayers are not heard over the city for the very first time in its history. What is even more strange is that the mosque does not see even a single soul within its grounds. As the lights start to shine brightly into the night sky, the unmanned power stations citywide fail one by one, and leave the mosque in complete pitched darkness. The mosque now finally realizes that humans are no longer around to help, and it will have to prepare for the hurdles coming ahead.

1 month after people: A month goes by without humans, and now the mosque is now regularly visited by birds, who instead of worshiping now choose to settle in for the long run. While exploring the mosque grounds, they leave corrosive droppings on the domes, causing the white paint to start fading away. Meanwhile, the minaret proves popular with the birds, and thus the interior of the minaret is now covered in bird nests. Surrounding the mosque, the many palm trees now are starting to grow bigger, showing a sign of how soon the reign of skyscrapers will soon be surpassed by the reign of jungle.

5 months after people: A cyclone that badly wreaks havoc in Sri Lanka creates a storm that is blown by the winds eastwards to Kuala Lumpur, eventually letting a massive downpour upon the city center. Being situated on the confluence of the city’s 2 major rivers, it is the first structure to be fully submerged by the massive river surge, sweeping away any loose objects not attached to the building. The prayer hall is completely covered in a body of non-holy water, while the trees surrounding the mosque desperately fight to withstand the current. Some snap and are soon swept away by the strong current. The same flood also brings in a massive coconut tree that somehow gets stuck in the middle of the prayer hall after being forcefully pushed in. Amazingly, the mosque’s foundations are enough to keep it from the entire structure from being swept away and destroyed, and is one of a few low-rise structures affected by the flood that did not get washed away

1 year after people: The seeds brought in from the storm are starting to grow, posing a serious risk for the mosque, as not only it faces an invasion of plants from the outside, but from the inside as well. Meanwhile the white and brown colors of the mosque continue to slowly fade away, with nobody around to paint them

10 years after people: The roots of the trees from the outside of the mosque break through the walls, and eventually start to expand inwards towards the building. The mosque now serves as a refuge for animals, as more birds settle on the already dropping-covered roof. Both minaret towers are completely filled with birds nests that even the growth of seeds is hampered by the many dead leaves and sticks blocking essential water from rain to nourish itself, resulting in some seeds dying of lack of water.

50 years after people: The once decorative fountain of Masjid Jamek now turns into a temporary oasis for freshwater for dehydrated animals. Animals now drink water from the abandoned fountain, draining its water supply, but is constantly replenished by rainfall. During the dry seasons where rain falls less, animals are forced to look elsewhere for fresh water. Closeby to the mosque, the LRT station that was named after Masjid Jamek itself now sees a problem, but by now it is too late. The station was built on top of a bridge, and given the humidity and corrosion of the supports from weathering, it can no longer handle the humongous weight of an entire elevated train station. The bridge breaks apart, and a section of the train station comes crashing down into the river. The rest of the station soon follows afterwards, leaving nothing but a cloud of debris and a brown haze of dust that soon blows south to encompass the whole mosque, creating a sort of artificial dust storm, but goes away quickly after the collapse.

100 years after people: The many shade structures erected across the tree-covered complex are starting to lose their fight against the forces of gravity. One by one, they topple over and get destroyed in the process, with the remains being washed away by yearly floods. The overhanging balconies of the 2 minarets are also sent crashing down to their utter demise, creating a massive bang upon impact.

250 years after people: After 2 and a half centuries of being a source of water for dehydrated animals of all sorts, the fountain finally has had enough, and breaks apart as well, leaving animals no other choice but to look elsewhere for a permanent source of water not infested by mosquitos. Sections of the mosque also start to collapse, in similar fashion to Istana Negara a few kilometers away. The many tiny minarets around the mosque also suffer from the effects of deterioration and weathering, and they soon start to break apart as well.

500 years after people: By now, half of the entire mosque of Masjid Jamek has been sent to the ground, with the only section left being the central section where all the now light gray concrete domes lie, as well as the minarets. But now, one of the minaret towers has decided to call it quits and aims to take down the rest of Masjid Jamek with it, in a similar way to the collapse of the Petronas Towers. During another annual flood, the current causes the minaret tower to lean towards the central section of the mosque, as planned. However, as it topples into the mosque, it only destroys half of the structure as it is too short, saving the most crucial supports that keep the heavier sections of the mosque standing. The minaret’s assasination attempt has ultimately failed.

900 years after people: Nearly a millennium has passed without humans, and the mosque is in dire shape. Only the central section of the mosque has been able to withstand the test of time, as the other sections have long been destroyed. But now, the extremely weakened supports holding up the 3 massive domes, having seen the harmful effects of bird droppings, floods, weathering, corrosion and humidity have finally killed it, and they break apart from the sheer weight of the 3 domes, and they are sent crashing into the ground, finally sending the mosque to its long-awaited demise. Now, Kuala Lumpur has been reverted into what tin miners had initially discovered back in 1857, never to rise again as Malaysia’s most vibrant and largest city,