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They also wanted to know about the history of the mosque . Since Crystal Mosque is quite new , there ’ s not much history about it . It is more about the ambience and architecture . But for the Abidin Mosque , it is very rich in history . They enjoyed listening to the history of the mosque .”
Datin Norhana Ng Abdullah
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BY FATIHAH MANAF
ISLAM IS often associated with some misconceptions , such as promoting violence and act of terrorism . Muslims have now come forward to address these false allegations . One way to do this is by having dialogues with non-Muslims and explaining the fundamental concept of Islam . With more and more non-Muslim tourists choosing mosques as their destination to visit , Muslims or the mosque administration can use this opportunity to debunk their misunderstanding regarding this peace-loving religion .
According to the President of Darul Fitrah Terengganu , Datin Norhana Ng Abdullah , the mosque tour guide programme is the best platform to engage with these non-Muslim visitors .
The programme started in 2012 . Darul Fitrah Terengganu has the experience of managing and conducting the programme at several mosques in Terengganu , such as Crystal Mosque , Abidin Mosque and Floating Mosque .
Norhana shared before the pandemic the programme had attracted numbers of
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international tourists .
She said : “ The tourists mostly are from China and France . From France , we have a good number of Muslims as well . They like to come because here they are free to wear hijab and get access to halal food .
“ We also have the ones from England , the United States , New Zealand and Japan .”
She revealed that most tourists were very excited during the tour and delighted whenever weddings took place at the mosque .
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“ They were curious . They got to see the ‘ akad ’ procedure during the solemnisation and really enjoyed it .
“ They also wanted to know about the history of the mosque . Since Crystal Mosque is quite new , there ’ s not much history about it . It is more about the ambience and architecture .
“ But for the Abidin Mosque , it is very rich in history . They enjoyed listening to the history of the mosque ,” explained the president .
Provide a better understanding of Islam
Norhana said the tourists were happy with the existence of tour guides and volunteers who were there to explain and answer their questions regarding the mosque .
“ Sometimes these people have questions about Islam ,” added Norhana .
She said these non-Muslim visitors , especially Christians , found it interesting to learn what Islam and their religion had in common . She mentioned for them , the explanation and experience were such an eye-opener .
“ So , this is an exciting experience for them to come and visit Malaysia and at the same time learn about Islam and Malaysian culture .
“ Some of them were very surprised to know that our volunteers are university students . They thought Islam does not encourage education .”
According to Norhana , these volunteers are trained and equipped with the information of mosque tours , the etiquette in handling and engaging with visitors , the history , function and background of the mosque and the frequently asked questions about Islam .
She also highlighted that the mosque tour programme was an exciting experience for her .
“ Not only do the visitors learn from us , but we also learn from them ,” she said .
She then stated that Darul Fitrah Terengganu wishes to improve the awareness regarding the programme as she believed Malaysia have yet to acknowledge the importance of the mosque as a tourism product .
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