Hiliran Mosque

History

Hiliran Mosque mosque is estimated to be 147 years old and was built in 1874. It is understood that this mosque was redeveloped by a local tycoon, Muhammad Abdul Rahman or more affectionately called Haji Mat Kaya in 1925 on 0.6 hectares of land during the reign of Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah (1920-1942).

The early history of Khairiah Religious Secondary School also dates back to this mosque. Khairiah Religious Secondary School was founded on the 8th. September 1942 on the veranda of Masjid Hiliran by Ustaz Hj. Ahmad Fuad and Ustaz Ahmad Zaki Bin Salleh Al-Masri. The inauguration ceremony was conducted by DYMM Sultan Sulaiman on Friday the 5th. March 1943. Later, Madrasah Al-Khairiah was moved to an area near Masjid Hiliran which had been given two houses by Dato 'Andika DiRaja and En. Mohd. Ali Awang Besar. In early 1953, Khairiah Religious Secondary School was reserved for female students only until now. After so long, as the mosque was too old, a local pious and wealthy man, Muhammad Abdul Rahman financed all the construction costs of the mosque on the original site of the old mosque. The uniqueness of this mosque is that the roof is different from the main design of the mosque in the archipelago region which has the element of cut down (dome), instead it is based on the shape of the five -cut silver roof which is one of the famous Malay architecture. He was the founder of the new face of Masjid Hiliran and to enliven it, he invited some local and foreign scholars to teach religion at the mosque. At the beginning of the construction, the Hiliran Mosque was self -administered by Muhammad Abdul Rahman and his family members, in fact he himself appointed an imam and bilal. Muhammad is a wealthy man with business networks in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. His business is based on textiles, timber, spices and so on. The waqf property related to Masjid Hiliran is managed and administered by Muhammad and family members and among those who contributed was his son Muhammad Salih @ Haji Su. In the late 1930s, in addition to lectures, the mosque also held religious and Arabic language classes in a special room of the mosque called Balai Lintang. In 1942, Muhammad returned to rahmatullah and his son Haji Su took his place as administrator of the Lower Mosque. After the death of Haji Su in 1952, the administration of the mosque was placed under the Terengganu Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JHEAT). One of the uniqueness of this Hiliran Mosque is the existence of a well known as Telaga Mandi Gajah Putih which is believed to have been built during the reign of Sultan Zainal Abidin III (1881-1918).

Urban and Architectural

The Hiliran Mosque accords the users with a simple and direct circulation system where upon entering the mosque's main entrance, one will find that he or she is already facing the gibla direction. There are two stairways leading do the upper floor with more area for congregational preyer. The upper floor is used duting occasional prayers such as Eid and Friday prayers.

The State Government of Terengganu has allocated generous remuneration to the activities and religious events at the Hiliran Mosque, Gotong royong (communal work) has been a long tradition and practifed ever since the mosque was built on this site: this keeps the mosque looking well-kept most of the time.