Abdul Gaffoor is located in the heart of Kampong Kapor, an area which was originally settled by South Indian Muslim merchants and Baweanese syces and horse trainers, who worked at the nearby Race Course. This mosque testifies to the thriving Indian-Muslim community who lived in the Serangoon Road area. Today, it is the place of worship for many Indian Muslims in Singapore and visited by many tourists and local Singaporeans.
The original building was a wooden structure raised by a Shaik Abdul Gafoor Shak Hyder in 1859. The history of the present mosque started with the establishment of the Dunlop Street Mosque Endowment, which designated a piece of land at Dunlop Street to build a new mosque in 1881. Amongst the trustees of the Endowment was Shaik Abdul Gafoor bin Shaik Hyder, who was a Chief Tamil clerk with a legal firm. In 1887, in his capacity as mosque trustee, Shaik Abdul Gafoor applied for permission to construct the mosque. He also raised funds from his rentals of his own shophouses and sheds nearby and used the income to erect a new mosque. He also made a will in which the wakaf properties listed included the mosque and adjoining houses at Dunlop and Mayo Street.
The new mosque was completed in 1907. Built in a fusion of Southern Indian and Moorish styles, it showcases the beautiful coloured glass cupola, with many Roman and Saracen pillars. The mosque complex today includes the row of shophouses along Dunlop Street, which are being restored for the mosque’s expanded activities. The Abdul Gaffoor Mosque was gazetted as a national monument in 1979.
* Only worshippers can enter the prayer hall.
Owned by Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS)