A
few years ago, I went for a visit to Pekan, the royal town of Pahang. While
there I saw the oldest mosque there, the Sultan Abdullah Mosque was left in
ruin. It was a beautiful mosque built by the British colonial authority in
1929. It was the first and the oldest constructed in the Moorish architecture
as most great mosque were built during that era. I was sad seeing that beautiful
mosque left to rot. I then wrote to the Pahang state authority to do whatever
necessary to preserve that historic mosque; a piece of history of the state of
Pahang. I soon forgot about it and on my recent visit I saw that they have
renovated the old mosque and turn it into a museum and at the same time
retained the name of the mosque. It is now call the Museum Masjid Sultan Abdullah.
A month earlier on a visit to Pekan I saw the mosque had been renovated but did not have the time to visit it; I was concentrating on
another museum the Museum Sultan Abu Bakar nearby. Last July 20, 2017 I decided
to make an exclusive visit to the museum with a view of blogging about it. With
the help of the friendly staffs I make my round of the museum. I was told that
other than been a museum a section of it is still used as a prayer place. A beautiful thought indeed; and I am glad that they did it as it provides
a continuity of what the place was once; a place where the royal and the
ordinary folks did their Friday Prayer as well their daily prayer in such a
prestigious space in the new mosque at that time. 
After doing my round there I did an optional prayer and felt enlighten in been able to pray in such a magnificent prayer space in the newly renovated part of the mosque. In this new museum many artifacts of historical significance like old handwritten Quran, musical instruments, traditional tools for communication at prayer times, ceramic plates with Koranic texts are display turning it into a museum of Islamic history of sort.
One exhibit that I thought is very important is the Tombstone of a grave found at Teluk Che Munah, Kampung Permatang Pasir, Pulau Tambun in Pekan on June 1953, that dated back to the year 1028 AD. It predates the Inscribed Stone found in Terengganu dated 1302 AD. The state authority has done a great job in converting this old and historic mosque into a museum and named it as the Museum Masjid Sultan Abdullah. The collections on display are done in a professional way thus it now has become a place to learn or do research on the history of Islam especially that has to do with the arrival of Islam to the state of Pahang. I am impressed with the layout of the newly renovated space. It has indeed turn the whole prayer space into a living museum on the history Islam and in doing so has made the old mosque building as relevant as ever.
Students or researchers on Islam especially so on the coming of Islam to this part of the world would be wise to visit this new museum. It a storehouse of knowledge on Islam as well a marketplace of information and ideas on the history of Islam. I left the place happy that the building that was once left to rot has now became a magnificent building of knowledge in this part of the world. Folks it worth a trip to Pekan to visit this important Museum which is just 45 kilometers away from Kuantan.
Have a nice day.
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