Masjid Acheh, Penang

Oleh MALINDA ABDUL MALIK

utusanpenang@utusan.com.my

Masjid Melayu Lebuh Acheh masjid tertua di Pulau Pinang yang terletak di Georgetown.

PULAU PINANG 12 Sept. – Jika menjelajah ke seluruh Tapak Warisan Dunia di sini, mata pengunjung pastinya tidak akan terlepas daripada melihat sebuah masjid yang begitu unik seni binanya. Itulah Masjid Melayu Lebuh Acheh, iaitu masjid tertua di negeri ini dibina pada 1808.

Ia dilengkapi menara bersegi lapan, kolah wuduk, tandas, perigi, anjung dan kawasan makam yang mencerminkan gabungan pengaruh seni bina Moorish (seni bina yang berasal dari utara India) dan China. Masjid Lebuh Aceh merupakan antara tempat menarik yang selalu dikunjungi oleh pelancong asing dan tempatan.

Selain itu, ramai masyarakat Acheh dari Indonesia melawat ke situ kerana berasa terikat dari segi emosi berikutan ia dibina oleh nenek moyang mereka. Berdasarkan fakta sejarah, pembinaan Masjid Melayu Lebuh Acheh bermula pada 1792 apabila Tengku Syed Hussain Al-Aidid, seorang kerabat diraja Acheh dari Sumatera membuka sebuah perkampungan masyarakat Islam di Lebuh Acheh di sini.

Artikel Penuh: http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0913&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Utara&pg=wu_01.htm#ixzz3WXsBbVKZ 

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from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebuh_Aceh_Mosque

Lebuh Aceh Mosque is a 19th-century mosque built by the Acehnese situated on Aceh Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia.

Next to the mosque lay the cemetery of the mosque's original benefactor, Tengku Syed Hussain Al-Aidid and members of his family. The houses surrounding the mosque today is part of the original Muslim settlement of the mid 19th century.

Another interesting mosque in Georgetown area that are open to visitors is the Kapitan Keling Mosque.

The Acheh Street Mosque was built in 1808 on land donated by an Achenese aristocrat, Tengku Syed Hussain Al-Aidid. It all began in 1792 when Tengku Syed Hussain opened a Muslim settlement in the area near Lebuh Acheh. Over the following years, this settlement became the centre of Islamic studies in Pulau Pinang, frequented by traders from the surrounding Malay archipelago, Arab and India.

The mosque was built alongside houses, shops and a Madrasah for Quranic Studies. One of the religious figures of the time was Sheikh Omar Basheer Al-Khalilee, who was succeeded by his son Sheikh Zakaria who later was appointed as the first Mufti of Pulau Pinang and in 1888, Sheikh Yahya, his older brother, was appointed as the first Kadi of Pulau Pinang.

Following the demise of Tengku Hussain in mid 1800's, the Lebuh Acheh Muslim settlement continued to thrive and was at one time referred to as the Second Jeddah, as pilgrims from nearby congregate here before departing to Mecca by sea. Every time the Haj season begins, the Lebuh Acheh area is thronged by pilgrims and their families. However, all this ended with the establishment of the Lembaga Tabung Haji in the 1970s