Muslim Travel Guide Singapore: Habib Noh Shrine, Gongbei Tomb and Haji Mohamed Salleh Mosque
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Singapore Muslim travel guide visits Habib Noh Shrine beside Haji Mohamed Salleh Mosque. It preserves the route, the 1788-1866 date note, the gongbei tomb description, and the local Muslim heritage details.
To get here, set your navigation for Haji Muhammad Salleh Mosque. The mosque sits next to a small hill where a Muslim sage named Habib Noh (1788–1866) is buried. The building with the dome is his tomb (gongbei).
Haji Muhammad Salleh, a friend of Habib Noh, originally built a prayer room next to the tomb, which was later expanded into this mosque.
I visited at the end of last year, but the tomb was closed for renovations. So, I only visited the mosque and did not go up to the tomb. This time, the renovations were finished, so I could go up.
You have to climb a flight of stairs to reach the tomb's front hall. An elderly volunteer who guards the tomb told me that Habib Noh was a descendant of the Prophet and suggested I look up more information about him.
It turns out this sage grew up in Penang, Malaysia, before moving to Singapore. His family was from Yemen, and he was born on a ship heading to Penang. He often spent time meditating on Palmer Hill, the same small hill where he is buried today.
People say that after he passed away, they tried to move his body to a cemetery, but they could not move him at all. At this point, someone remembered he had said before he died that he wanted to be buried on the hills of Parma. Only then were they able to bury him successfully. Everyone can form their own opinion on this story.
We can enter the tomb chamber by taking the long stairs shown in picture three.
Once inside the tomb chamber, I sat cross-legged. The people around me knelt, whispered prayers, and then raised their hands to make dua.
Behind the tomb chamber is another grave covered by a metal grid, where Habib Nuh's cousin, Habib Abdul Rahman, is buried. He was the first kadi (Islamic judge) of Singapore.
We returned to the mosque, where some introductory religious books were displayed at the entrance (picture nine); judging by the covers, the one on the left likely teaches how to perform wudu before namaz.
The book on the right features an elephant and a meteorite on the cover, so it is likely about the story of the Elephant in the Quran, making it a book of Quranic stories.
The mosque at the foot of the hill has a distinct Southeast Asian style with a clearly visible roof structure, similar to the huts built by the Malay people. It seems like living in a house like this would be very cool.
Inside the mihrab niche, there is also a miniature model of the door to the Kaaba in Mecca (Figure 14).
This place is very close to the busy areas of Singapore, so I usually head over to the Flower Dome after visiting here.
Summary: This Singapore Muslim travel guide visits Habib Noh Shrine beside Haji Mohamed Salleh Mosque. It preserves the route, the 1788-1866 date note, the gongbei tomb description, and the local Muslim heritage details.
To get here, set your navigation for Haji Muhammad Salleh Mosque. The mosque sits next to a small hill where a Muslim sage named Habib Noh (1788–1866) is buried. The building with the dome is his tomb (gongbei).
Haji Muhammad Salleh, a friend of Habib Noh, originally built a prayer room next to the tomb, which was later expanded into this mosque.
I visited at the end of last year, but the tomb was closed for renovations. So, I only visited the mosque and did not go up to the tomb. This time, the renovations were finished, so I could go up.
You have to climb a flight of stairs to reach the tomb's front hall. An elderly volunteer who guards the tomb told me that Habib Noh was a descendant of the Prophet and suggested I look up more information about him.
It turns out this sage grew up in Penang, Malaysia, before moving to Singapore. His family was from Yemen, and he was born on a ship heading to Penang. He often spent time meditating on Palmer Hill, the same small hill where he is buried today.
People say that after he passed away, they tried to move his body to a cemetery, but they could not move him at all. At this point, someone remembered he had said before he died that he wanted to be buried on the hills of Parma. Only then were they able to bury him successfully. Everyone can form their own opinion on this story.
We can enter the tomb chamber by taking the long stairs shown in picture three.
Once inside the tomb chamber, I sat cross-legged. The people around me knelt, whispered prayers, and then raised their hands to make dua.
Behind the tomb chamber is another grave covered by a metal grid, where Habib Nuh's cousin, Habib Abdul Rahman, is buried. He was the first kadi (Islamic judge) of Singapore.
We returned to the mosque, where some introductory religious books were displayed at the entrance (picture nine); judging by the covers, the one on the left likely teaches how to perform wudu before namaz.
The book on the right features an elephant and a meteorite on the cover, so it is likely about the story of the Elephant in the Quran, making it a book of Quranic stories.
The mosque at the foot of the hill has a distinct Southeast Asian style with a clearly visible roof structure, similar to the huts built by the Malay people. It seems like living in a house like this would be very cool.
Inside the mihrab niche, there is also a miniature model of the door to the Kaaba in Mecca (Figure 14).
This place is very close to the busy areas of Singapore, so I usually head over to the Flower Dome after visiting here.
