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Mosques – cultural symbols of the Cham people in An Giang – attract visitors with their unique and impressive architectural structures that are no less magnificent and splendid. Join Tieu Dao Tu to visit each mosque in this special borderland!
Mosques – Cultural Symbols of the Cham People in An Giang
The land of An Giang is special not only for its natural beauty of hills, rice fields, temples, and festivals; this land also attracts visitors with its beautiful mosques that resemble the Middle East. With a large Cham community following Islam, An Giang has many mosques and small mosques, the most prominent of which is the Mubarak Mosque, recognized as a national heritage site.
Especially when you come to Tan Chau in An Giang, it is very easy to encounter mosques of all sizes running along the Hau River road (parallel to provincial road DT952). Every less than 1km, a small mosque will appear, and a little further away, there will be a large mosque (the Cham people collectively call them this to refer to the central mosque, where they gather during major national holidays).
The reason why more and more small mosques are being built is that Islam has a ritual where every day at 4 PM, when the bell of the mosque rings, each family will have a representative (usually the eldest male in the family) gather at the nearest mosque to pray.
Therefore, building more mosques makes it more convenient for the Cham ethnic people to follow the rituals of their religion. Mosques have long become a distinctive cultural feature of the Cham community following Islam in An Giang.
Join Tieu Dao Tu to explore the inside of some famous mosques in this special land of the Mekong Delta!
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Famous An Giang Mosques
1. Mubarak Mosque – The Pride of the Cham Ethnic People in An Giang
Located in Chau Giang hamlet, Chau Phong commune, Tan Chau town, An Giang (formerly belonging to Phu Hiep commune, Phu Tan district). It is also known as the Mosque Mubarak, an ancient mosque of the Cham people in An Giang, built in 1750 by the architect Mohamed Amin. To this day, the mosque still stands on this land and has been recognized as a National Historical-Cultural Relic since December 5, 1989.
Mubarak Mosque impresses with its large building featuring a dominant white color with turquoise trim. From the outside, the main gate is a very magnificent arch, in the form of a wide building with many straight, long corridors.
On the roof of the mosque is a large two-story tower with an oval-shaped top. At the base of the tower is a crescent moon and star, symbolizing Islam. Along the corridors are walls decorated with patterns and Cham inscriptions extracted from the Holy Quran.
The mosque is the cultural activity center for followers of the religion and regularly gathers many people for prayer. Therefore, the interior space of the Mubarak Mosque is designed to be spacious with many entrances and 08 large, sturdy cylindrical pillars placed symmetrically, serving as a gathering place for worshipers.
Inside, the mosque is not only large and airy but also has a mihrab (a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca). The mihrab is designed in a deep recessed arch style, helping believers always face the setting sun when praying. This is a space reserved for the imams (prayer leaders) who are responsible for guiding the congregation in their rituals. Next to the mihrab is a high pulpit, also known as a “minbar,” the area for those who preach religious doctrines during the weekly Friday services.
The cemetery of the Cham Muslims in An Giang province is located adjacent to the mosque, where burials are multi-layered, without distinguishing social status – rich or poor – through large or small graves.
During the festivals or Tet holidays of the Cham ethnic people, Muslim believers from all over gather here in large numbers, creating very unique and interesting traditional cultural festivals for the Cham community in An Giang.
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2. Masjid Jamiul Azhar Mosque – The Most Beautiful Mosque in An Giang
When mentioning the mosques of An Giang, many people will immediately think of the Masjid Jamiul Azhar Mosque because this building is the largest and most beautiful, attracting many visitors, especially young people who come to visit and take photos.
This mosque is less than 1km away from the Mubarak Mosque and was built from 1959 to 2012, with a further expansion and renovation. On August 3, 2014, the mosque was completed and officially inaugurated.
This is considered one of the oldest mosques in An Giang. It attracts visitors with its impressive architecture and characteristic white and turquoise colors. Moreover, the main entrance is quite deep, about several tens of meters, and the inner grounds are larger than all other mosques in An Giang. As a result, the central mosque building is more magnificent and splendid than ever.
On either side of the entrance from the gate are simple stone tombstones engraved with the names of the deceased, creating a mysterious atmosphere for the mosque.
In addition to the characteristic Islamic patterns and architecture similar to the Mubarak Mosque, this place impresses visitors with the unique and airy scenery around the main mosque building, bearing a strong Middle Eastern style. This is why many impressive photos of young people have been taken here.
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3. Mas Jid Khay Ri Yah Mosque, An Giang
The Mas Jid Khay Ri Yah Mosque in Nhon Hoi commune, An Phu district, is a place of religious activity for the Cham community following Islam (or Cham Islam) living in the area. It is also one of the attractions for tourists visiting the 200-hectare Bung Binh Thien (Bung Binh Thien – one of the largest freshwater lakes in the Mekong Delta). Bung Binh Thien and the mosque are about 30 km north of Chau Doc city, bordering Cambodia.
Sharing Islamic architecture with a dome design and the crescent moon and five-pointed star symbol, the interior is simple, almost empty, with minimal decoration to allow devotees to focus on prayer. Inside the mosque, there are carpets instead of chairs because the postures during worship involve standing, kneeling, and prostrating. The only picture hanging on the wall is of the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, believed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.
However, a distinguishing feature of the Mas Jid Khay Ri Yah Mosque is its overall color scheme of white and gray blended with light blue. The interior of the mosque is minimalist, with a concrete-paved courtyard and no tombstones like the mosques in Tan Chau, An Giang.
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4. Jamil Mukminin Mosque
The Jamil Mukminin Mosque, located at Cha Va canal, Vinh Hanh commune, Chau Thanh district, An Giang province, is unique among the mosques in An Giang. This is because it has a white and black color scheme, the only mosque in An Giang with these colors. White symbolizes peaceful beauty and refinement, while black symbolizes humility. The overall view inside includes the mosque area (on the right) and the teaching building (on the left).
The Jamil Mukminin Mosque area is a long-standing residential village of the Cham people in Vinh Hanh. The locals here call them the “Cha Va” people, and the area is known as “Cha Va hamlet” or “Cha hamlet.” When they settled here, they cultivated rice, fished with nets, and raised livestock, building the mosque for ceremonies and establishing classes to teach traditional Cham language. The main mosque was newly renovated on February 22, 2020, and some construction is still underway. At the Jamil Mukminin Mosque, the space is more open and airy, with rice fields behind and a river connecting to vast fields in front.
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Notes When Visiting An Giang Mosques
The mosque is the most sacred place in Islam, so you need to be aware of and pay close attention to these issues when visiting the mosques of the Cham people in An Giang:
- You must wear modest and polite clothing such as long pants and long-sleeved shirts. Absolutely do not wear shorts, tight-fitting clothes, or see-through clothing.
- Do not wear slippers or shoes on the steps or in the mosque area; leave them on the ground outside.
- Islamic mosques are not tourist attractions, so you absolutely must not enter the mosque without permission. If you want to enter the mosque for sightseeing and photography, you should ask the security guard for permission.
- You are not allowed to enter when the mosque is holding prayers to avoid disturbing them. Therefore, noon is the most suitable time for visiting and taking photos, as mornings and afternoons are mostly prayer times.
- One side of the mosque’s outer grounds will face the stone stele area dedicated to the deceased; we should also limit taking photos in that area.
Above is some information about the most beautiful and impressive mosques in An Giang.
An Giang is a land that impressed me because it possesses diverse cultures, unique natural landscapes, and rich cuisine. I have a “Mysteries of the Seven Mountains” series about my trips in the That Son (Seven Mountains) region of An Giang. If you are interested, you can visit here to see more!
