By Lyna Mohamad Bandar Seri Begawan - The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this Friday (September 26). In conjunction with its Golden Jubilee celebrations, the Department of Mosque Affairs, Ministry of Religious Affairs held a press conference yesterday.
Present to address the media was the department's director, Hj Ismail Hj Abd Manap, who said that the first event on the celebration diary is the signing ceremony of the SOAS Mosque Golden Jubilee Monument and recital of Surah Yaasin, Tahlil and thanksgiving prayers that will take place on the same day at the SOAS Mosque in the capital. The event will continue with the mass Friday prayers.
The main event will be the opening of the SOAS Mosque Golden Jubilee Exhibition and the launching of the "Buku Sejarah Ristaan 50 Tahun Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien" that will take place sometime at end of next month at the lobby exhibition hall of the Brunei Museums in Kota Batu is scheduled to be open to the public until end of this year.
The construction of the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque began on February 4, 1954 and was completed within four years on a five-acre plot of land located along the Brunei River in the capital.
It was then officially opened by the then Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, the 28th Sultan of Brunei, on September 26 that year. It can accommodate about 3,000 worshippers.
A book entitled "Rencana Pembukaan Rasmi Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien, 26 September 1958" stated that the beauty of Brunei's new mosque will provide the Sultanate with one of the big centres of the world for Muslims to pray. This mosque, it added, comes from the desires of the then sultan, noting that the richness of his country not only provides material development to the citizens but also strengthens the belief in Islam. -- Borneo Bulletin
