IPOH: Acting Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Shah yesterday called for the many roles and activities hitherto confined within mosques to be carried out in various new premises outside the mosques to enhance the image of the house of worship.
He said, however, that such efforts would not make the role of mosques any less important.
Sultan Nazrin Shah said the passage of time and development of civilisation had made the way of life of the people more complex and incurred the need to address the rising number of the “ummah” (community).
“In the early stage of Islamic development era, the mosques played various roles, functioning as the centre of governance, administration, judiciary, character development, knowledge, culture and civilisation, and organising various welfare, social and community relations activities.
“Much of the time at mosques was filled with various activities, more than that for prayers,” said Sultan Nazrin Shah, who is the Sultan of Perak, at the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Sultan Idris Shah II Mosque, known also as the Perak State Mosque here.
Sultan Nazrin Shah said the responsibility of enhancing the image of mosques rested with those who were prepared to accept the trust and to be appointed as members of the mosque committees and as mosque officials.
“Mosques which are ready in terms of physical development must be nurtured with meaningful content development, shaped by people sincere, devoted and committed to Islamic development,” he said.
He said the people entrusted with the duty of managing and enhancing the image of mosques would be doing an injustice to the Muslim community if they failed to fulfil their responsibility with sincerity, devotion and commitment.
Referring to the Sultan Idris Shah II Mosque, Sultan Nazrin Shah said it was accorded recognition as the Perak State Mosque and officially opened on Nov 15, 1968, by the 33rd Sultan of Perak, Sultan Idris Iskandar Al-Mutawakil-Allallahi Shah II.
“The mosque is 50 years old. During that passage of time, the mosque underwent various phases of renovation and physical expansion, along with the development of various activities,” he said.
Sultan Nazrin Shah expressed his gratitude to all who had played various roles and provided contributions to enhance the image of the mosque over the past 50 years.
“Hopefully, this mosque will accomplish much more over the next 50 years and record more glorious achievements by the time it marks its centennial in 2068,” he said.
At the event, Sultan Nazrin Shah presented the “Tokoh Pegawai Masjid Sultan Idris Shah II” award to three people, the “Bilal” award to Ustaz Yusof Ahmad, 61, the “Imam” award to Ustaz Zulkarnain Ibrahim, 77, and Ustaz Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar, 74, and the “Tokoh Mursyid Masjid Sultan Idris Shah II” award to Datuk Sheikh Muhammad Nor Mansor, 69.
Perak Council of Regency chairman Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa and the Raja DiHilir of Perak, Raja Iskandar Dzulkarnain Sultan Idris Shah, also attended the event.
Also present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu and Perak Islamic Religious Affairs Department director Datuk Mohd Yusop Husin. – Bernama
