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Masjid Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (Grand Mosque) |
Usually for people to wake up in an unknown territory gives them a creepy feeling but in my case it even drive me crazy due to my curiosity on what the day would offer to my worthy noted adventures in places I'd never been before.
It was one weekend that I just found myself already in one of the hotels in Cotabato City unaware of my purpose coming hundreds of kilometers from Davao City. Prepping up for the day, my eyes were wide open yet my mind was still processing the idea that I was in fact walking on the street of Cotabato City, famous for "violence" resulted from political unrest in the region.
It was one weekend that I just found myself already in one of the hotels in Cotabato City unaware of my purpose coming hundreds of kilometers from Davao City. Prepping up for the day, my eyes were wide open yet my mind was still processing the idea that I was in fact walking on the street of Cotabato City, famous for "violence" resulted from political unrest in the region.
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Towering minarets of the Mosque |
Everyone wakes up
to prepare on their daily routine: students taking tricycles to catch up
with their early morning classes , employees rushing to their
respective offices, street vendors enthusiastically offering their goods to the
windows of passing buses and to alighting passengers, city aides, sweeping the trashes of yesterday's restless past.
While
waiting for our Muslim friends from the DXOL FM Radio, we ran for a quick visit
to the now famous Masjid Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah or popularly known as the Grand
Mosque.
This is largest mosque in the Philippines and was built and financed by Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei and according to our
guide the construction of the mosque have a staggering budget of at least half billion Philippine pesos to finish it .
The
beautiful mosque stand still in the more than 5000 m2 field besides
the Tamontaka River in Barangay Kalangana along Bubong Road. The mosque was pushed to finish before the Eidl’l Fit’r in 2011 and this humongous building can accommodate more or less a thousand
people in a single worship aggregation.
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Spacious musallah or prayer hall inside the mosque |
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The Mihrab , depression on the quiblah wall oriented facing Mecca |
What people fear of are the groups of bandits
that live to put terror in the once peaceful ground. In addition, Muslims are
generally peace-seeking people and just like any other large sectarian group, they are praying to seek guidance from Allah and to morally live freely in harmony .
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The courtyard |
Upon reaching the site, entered the mosque with enthusiasm barefoot as a tradition and respect in
entering the worship ground.
Parts of the Mosque
The first part of the mosque was the intended partition
for the worshiping female Muslims located at the backside of the musallah or
the prayer hall. The musallah is huge that it can accommodate at least a
thousand individuals in a single worship day.
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Ablution fountains or wudu |
Looking within the courtyard, grand and sky rocketing minarets are simply majestic. All stand tall and proud located on each corner of the mosque with a crescent moon attached to each tower symbolizing the faith of Islam Religion.
On the periphery of the courtyard are the ablution fountains or wudu , where Muslims wash their hands, feet, elbows before entering the musallah.
Setting my foot inside this worship ground, made my conviction and belief stronger that Mindanao is not a place of chaos , but a land of possibilities and promise!
I've never been in a Mosque. There is one in a nearby town but not this grand-looking. Reminds me of Aladdin. :P
ReplyDeleteFinally, I saw even a glimpse of a mosque. Very important thing to remember, you must be barefooted in order to enter the worship ground. I'll keep that in mind, just in case.
ReplyDeletethis is the mosque I have yet to conquer myself and thanks for this post, it gives me the right glimpse into what to expect too :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful place. Its just sad that Filipinos already got the mind set that its a dangerous place too.. I hope the authorities would help the city to go back and claim its renowed beautiful reputation again.
ReplyDeleteHow neat. I am always curious how a mosque looks like in the inside without any people in it and see how majestic it was.
ReplyDeleteGood thing you were allowed to take pictures of the mosque. Here in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, people are not allowed to take a picture of the mosque (so insane). But I was able to take some pictures from inside the car that nobody could see me taking pictures.
ReplyDeleteFurther, I just couldn't understand the media for their wrong decipher about Mindanao. Mindanao is a huge island composed with different dialects and governance. For example, there's a bomb explosion in a certain town, but the media posts on their newspapers and generalize the place "bombing in Mindanao". (sigh)
I've also witnessed Muslims here who clean their selves by washing their feet, hands and even their face before praying on sala. (Muslims call the prayer time sala.)
I would love to have the chance to enter a mosque and see it for myself especially the one you featured here which looks so grand.
ReplyDeleteSubhanallah!
ReplyDeleteIt means "Glory be to Allah" ... i hope my translation is correct . Sukran for visitng :)
ReplyDeleteeverything is actually made dirty because of politics and greed over lands and other resources
ReplyDeleteGreat set of photos. Love the first picture. Indeed some kind of work of art.
ReplyDeleteWow, great. I haven't got a chance to see whats inside the mosque but base on what you post, its great and intriguing too.
ReplyDeleteIs this really in Cotabato? beautiful place of worship! I pray for peace in our land of possibilities and promise! love that line!
ReplyDeleteWow, I haven't been to this place but I think it's great especially the arts behind this.
ReplyDeleteI'm really curious on what's inside Cotabato City. I hope, after the signing of Bangsamoro Framework Agreement by the Government and MILF group, peace will prevail in this land.
ReplyDeleteGrandiose it is! wait till you see the awe-inspiring of Architectural Mosques of Malaysia :)
ReplyDeleteI've been living in Mindanao for 16 years now. It's a beautiful place, all right. One of my best friends lives in Cotabato.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are enough for me to let me eyes wander and tour the grand mosque. It's good that you didn't meet the large crowd worshiping in the area so you had the chance to take clear spaces.
ReplyDeleteso grand!Ito ung gusto kung puntahan this summer eh, but wala akong kasama :( mi plan kabang bumalik? hihi sama moko ha!
ReplyDeletesa june if matuloy , I will be attending a muslim wedding .. friend ko sa cotabato... (crossing fingers)
ReplyDeleteI thought your in another country. I never heard about the Grand Mosque in ARMM. I'd like to visit the place if given a chance.
ReplyDelete