Masjid Sultan, Muscat Street, Singapore

Masjid Sultan, Muscat Street, Singapore

When Singapore was ceded to the British in 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles granted the area around Kampung Glam to Sultan Hussain Shah of Johor, under whose jurisdiction the island fell, and the Malay community. In 1824 the Sultan commissioned a mosque to be built next to his palace.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Singapore had become an important centre for Islamic commerce, culture and the arts. The existing mosque was too small to serve the thriving community and had fallen into a state of disrepair so in 1924 the mosque’s centenary year, a new mosque was commissioned. It was designed by architect Denis Santry who adopted a Saracenic style, featuring minarets and balustrades and took four years to complete. Since then the building has remained unchanged with only minor repair work being undertaken. It was declared a national monument in March 1975.

Today the area is popular with locals and tourists alike with a wide range of crafts, fabrics and Middle Eastern restaurants nearby.