Mosque Bandaran KK can be tourism product: Arifin
Published on: Saturday, August 15, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Mosque Bandaran Kota Kinabalu here has huge potential to be another Islamic tourism product for Sabah with its unique historical background and religious activities.Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif said the historical value of the mosque would attract foreign visitors here besides the City Mosque and State Mosque."I hope the City Hall Islamic Missionary Body would look into this proposal and find ways to make the mosque atop a hill near Padang Merdeka as another mosque to be visited by tourists.ADVERTISEMENT "The history behind the mosque is extraordinary and meaningful as it was originally a SDA church and the design of its main building is still maintained and manned by the United Sabah Islamic Association (Usia)."Furthermore, the mosque is active in its religious propagation works and activities which makes it more suitable to be made as another Islamic tourism product to be visited," he said.Arifin said this when launching a new logo for the City Hall Islamic Missionary Body and presentation of letters of appointment to main committee members of the organisation.Based on historical information, the mosque, originally a SDA church, was bought by Usia for about RM1 million under the instruction of the then Usia president the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun in the 1970s.ADVERTISEMENT The handing over of the building key to Usia secretary-general at that time was Datuk Abdul Hamid Egoh who received it on Dec 20, 1974 and it was made a mosque to facilitate Muslims here to perform prayers.Arifin also announced a contribution of RM10,000 to the City Hall Islamic Missionary Body and contribution to Maahad Tahfiz Ar-Rahmah Centre from Keningau.
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Members of the main committee comprised those from state and federal government departments and agencies in Sabah.Also present were State Mufti Datuk Ustaz Bungsu Aziz bin Jaafar, City Hall Director-General Datuk Yeo Boon Hai @ Mohd Arling Abdullah, City Hall Deputy Director (Corporate) Bahari Hassan, City Police Deputy Chief Supt. Mohd Azhar Hamin and senior officials.For instance, Arifin said a mosque in Labuan is also an Islamic tourism product that has 60 volunteers who play the role of being 'Malim Mosque' or tour guides for the mosque that has its own centre of learning and development of knowledge.He said the City Hall Islamic Body committee should also focus on carrying out activities in mosques and suraus here as it is the basic propagation of Islamic teachings and values.He also called on the committee to look into cleanliness and physical condition of mosques and suraus as well as those in shopping malls.On another aspect, Arifin said the committee should also address the shortage of Muslim cemeteries here and look for several new areas that are suitable to be made a 'Muslim Cemetery Park' that is more organised and equipped with proper landscaping."Presently, the Muslim cemeteries here are congested and I hope the committee would look into this including finding several new areas that could be transformed into a proper Muslim cemetery park."The concept would ensure the cemeteries are clean, systematic and the surroundings would not look scary or creepy so that people can visit the cemetery park not only during Hari Raya but also any other day," he said.Arifin advised the committee to work hand in hand with relevant Islamic authorities here such as the Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jheains), Usia and Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) in addressing congestion at Muslim cemeteries.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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He said he has been entrusted with looking into the shortage of cemeteries by the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and looking into creating Muslim cemetery parks in each district in Sabah.He said the committee should also look into setting up more centres of learning on Islamic values and teachings for Muslim converts, apart from one such centre at Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) Toh Puan Rahmah in Sembulan and one Maahad Tahfiz centre in Kepayan.