Shah Alam Mosque (photo not mine - by Lerdsuwa)
Saturday 22nd November. Visited Selangor’s state mosque at Shah Alam, known as the ‘Blue Mosque’. Claims to have the largest dome in the world. The Malaysia tourist web site says this building is “a symbol of the supremacy of Islam and the sovereignty of Muslims in Malaysia”. Muslims are 61% of the population here. Difficult to imagine York Minster’s web site saying that the building was a symbol of the sovereignty of Christians in Britain (which is 71% Christian), isn’t it?
Visitors, of course, remove their footwear when entering the mosque
Having taken the trouble to come here and shed our shoes at the steps of the mosque, we encountered a notice at the door to the main prayer hall saying non-Muslims were not allowed inside, so I stopped outside the door and looked in, whereupon an attendant, seeing my pale European face, hastened over to make sure I was not tempted to go any further and sully the holy floor with my unbelieving feet.
He did have the courtesy, though, rather than just assuming, to ask me first if I was a Muslim. I said “No.”
Another fruitful day of interfaith dialogue, then.
