Surau

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Wikipedia

Surau
A traditional surau, built in the rumah gadang style.
General information
TypeReligious building
Architectural styleIndonesian, Malay
LocationWest Sumatra (originally)
Malay Peninsula: Malaysia, Singapore
Thailand

A surau is an Islamic assembly building, originating in West Sumatra and later found throughout the Malay Peninsula, as well as in Thailand. Adapted from pre-Islamic assembly buildings, they currently serve a similar purpose as a mosque, and are used for the five daily prayers, festive prayers, as well as religious classes. A typical surau is located in a village or town, and is built in an architectural style native to the place it is located in.

In modern, more contemporary times, the word surau is synonymous with musalla. It is used to refer to prayer rooms in commercial spaces and educational institutions.

History

Bingkudu Mosque, an archetypal Minangkabawi mosque with its multi-tier, curving form and exaggerated roof height.

The concept of surau originated in West Sumatra amongst the Minangkabau around 1356 as a place of worship for Hindus and Buddhists, both of which were majority religions at the time.[1][2][3] Amongst the Batak people, the term "surau" was used to describe a wooden house that was used for ancestor worship, similar to a miniature temple.[1][2][4] When the Islamic religion was spread to West Sumatra, the concept of surau was changed into a place for Muslims to pray their five daily prayers, akin to a mosque.[1][2][4] Eventually, surau did not stay limited to West Sumatra, but made an appearance in the other parts of the Malay Peninsula.[3][4] They also became known as places for exclusively male education, a trait which was no longer practiced after modernization and the introduction of modern schools.[5]

Some surau were owned by Sufi tariqat, most commonly the Shattariyya, but also a minority were owned by the Naqshbandis.[1][2] During the Padri Wars, the reformist Padris, who were influenced by the Wahhabis of Najd, condemned the building of suraus as places of idolatry and even burned many of them.[6] The Padri opposition to suraus was mainly due to the fact that they were Sufi institutions.[3] Historically, the Wahhabis have opposed Sufism despite their founder Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab praising the act of Tasawwuf.[7]

The Padri War was one of the factors contributing to the demise of suraus in West Sumatra. Another factor contributing to its demise was the introduction of secular schools known as sekolah nagari by the Dutch colonial government in 1870, as well as Dutch-influenced Muslim modernists denouncing surau as being "backwards culture" and incompatible with modern society.[8]

In contemporary times, surau became synonymous with musalla and was used to describe prayer rooms in shopping malls, petrol stations, hospitals and schools.[1][2] Traditional surau in Minangkabau, while still in use, are rarely utilized, which has promoted movements amongst the youth to revive surau culture.[5]

Outside West Sumatra

Malaysia

A surau located in Kuala Lumpur.

Suraus are commonplace in Malaysia, with a presence mainly in towns and villages. They are popular amongst Muslim students, who usually spend the night in the surau to perform iʿtikāf. Surau is also synonymous with musalla and describes the prayer rooms found in various commerical and educational areas.[9]

A surau in Malaysia that is built in an Ottoman architectureal style.

In 2024, Malaysian engineers converted a bus into a "moving surau", a new take on the surau concept, where prayers are held inside the bus which has no seats (except the driver's) and has a carpeted floor akin to a typical mosque floor.[10][11] The prayer spaces in the mobile surau are gender-segregated to avoid free-mixing which is prohibited in Islamic law.[10][11]

Singapore

Surau Al-Firdaus, built in 1967.

The presence of surau is still around in Singapore; having existed since colonial times. Surau Al-Firdaus, located in Kampong Lorong Buangkok, the last surviving village in Singapore, is still active and used regularly for daily congregational prayers.[12] A surau is also present within the grounds of the Singapore General Hospital and is readily in use by both the public and staff at the hospital.[13] The Chisthi tariqat owns a surau at the Kubur Kassim cemetery which is adjoined to a small mausoleum belonging to a Muslim scholar, Khwaja Habibullah Shah.[14]

A surau located underneath an apartment of flat houses.

With the advance of urbanisation, suraus have either been demolished or turned into mosques. Suraus that have been turned into mosques include Masjid Wak Tanjong, Masjid Kampong Delta and Masjid Hajjah Rahimabi Kebun Limau.[15][16][17] A ruined surau stands at the entrance of the Keramat Bukit Kasita cemetery and is now used as a residence for the volunteer caretaker.[18]

Thailand

Suraus are common in Pattani, due to it being formerly a Malay kingdom.[2] One such surau is the Surau Aur, which is built from wood and shows similar architectural design with small Buddhist temples. It is considered the oldest Islamic institution in Thailand that still exists to this day.[4]

A surau used to exist in the city of Ayutthaya, known as Surau Khaek. It was situated at the entrance of the Khlong Khu Cham canal and opposite Wat Thong.[19] The surau, sometimes described as a "Moorish Temple" eventually disappeared from maps after the 18th century.[20]

A possibly unused surau is situated in the Khu Cham Cemetery near Ayutthaya. This surau is also the mausoleum of a Shi'ite scholar named Chen, who became the head of the Islamic council under the reigns of kings Ekkathat and Taksin.[21]

Architectural style

A typical surau in West Sumatra will be built in the architectural style of the Minangkabau people; namely rumah gadang.[4][5] A common feature of Sumatran suraus is their peaked, multi-tiered pyramidal roof, which are adapted from architectural features in Buddhist and Hindu temples.[5] The roofs were originally made of fiber or wood until the 1950s, when zinc was used to make the roofs instead.[5]

In Singapore, a typical surau will have a zinc roof, whole the inside is fully carpeted and equipped with modern lighting.[12]

See also

  • Musollah, a term which describes a typical prayer room or space for Muslims to pray.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Melacak Akar Sejarah Pendidikan Surau: Asal-Usul, Karakteristik, Materi dan Literatur Keagamaan" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fikri, Zainal A. (December 2012). "Sistem Pendidikan Surau: Karakteristic, Isi dan Literatur Keagamaan" [Surau Education System: Characteristics, Content and Religious Literature]. At-Ta'dib. 17 (2): 255–263.
  3. 1 2 3 Kern, R. A. (1956). "The origin of the Malay Surau". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 29 (1 (173)): 179–181. ISSN 2304-7550.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Bougas, Wayne (1992). "Surau Aur : Patani Oldest Mosque". Archipel. 43 (1): 89–112. doi:10.3406/arch.1992.2808.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Lukito, Yulia Nurliani; Iskandar, Hakimullah Arif (2019). Wismadi, A.; Agustiananda, P.A.P.; Fauziah, M.; Kushari, B.; Nurmiyanto, A.; Fajri, J.A. (eds.). "Architecture of Surau and Its Role in Minangkabau Society: the Case of Surau Lubuak Bauak Nagari Batipuah Baruah, West Sumatra". MATEC Web of Conferences. 280: 03003. doi:10.1051/matecconf/201928003003. ISSN 2261-236X.
  6. ↑ Muhammad, Rajab (2019). Perang Padri di Sumatra Barat (1803-1838) (in Indonesian). Balai Pustaka. ISBN 978-602-481-232-4.
  7. ↑ Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1998). Strauch, Sameh (ed.). Kitāb al-Tawḥīd Explained (PDF). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: International Islamic Publishing House. ISBN 9960672573.
  8. ↑ Steiner, Kerstin (2011). "Madrasah in Singapore: Tradition and modernity in religious education" (PDF). Intellectual Discourse. 19: 41–70 – via IIUM Press.
  9. ↑ Rizal, Shah (2019). "The Accessibility Of Mosque And Surau In Malls As Micro Mosque In The City Centre". INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE CONFERENCE OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT & SURVEYING: 171–175.
  10. 1 2 "Surau bergerak, kemudahan dakwah di jalanan" [Mobile surau, easy da'wah on the streets]. Portal Berita RTM. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Syarikat diseru wakaf surau bergerak – Zahid" [Companies urged to waqf the "Moving Surau" - Zahid]. Buletin TV3. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Surau Al-Firdaus Lorong Buangkok". www.roots.gov.sg. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  13. ↑ "Singapore General Hospital - Housemen's Canteen | Singapore | Musollah.com". musollah.com. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  14. ↑ Ocón, David (2 September 2023). "Low-cost digital tools to preserve cultural heritage 'blind spots': the case of Kubor Kassim in Singapore". International Journal of Heritage Studies. 29 (9): 961–987. doi:10.1080/13527258.2023.2231903. ISSN 1352-7258.
  15. ↑ "The Wak Tanjong Legacy: From a Bugis merchant's vision in 1873 to Singapore's most innovative mosque community". Masjid Wak Tanjong. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  16. ↑ "Kampong Delta Mosque at Delta Avenue, circa 1994". National Library Board of Singapore. Retrieved 28 January 2026. The original surau (prayer house) was built, and completed in February 1962. It was named "Surau Kampong Delta", and officially declared open by Haji Ya'acob Mohammed on 1 July 1962.
  17. ↑ "Masjid Hajjah Rahimabi Kebun Limau". www.roots.gov.sg. Retrieved 28 January 2026. The origins of this mosque date back to 1959 when Muslim residents of the surrounding area requested for land to build a surau ("prayer hall"). After the community was granted this plot of land in 1961, each Muslim family in the area contributed $20 to build Surau Kebun Limau, which opened in 1964. The surau was upgraded and renamed Masjid Kebun Limau in 1974.
  18. ↑ Njoto, Hélène; Sevea, Terenjit (2019). "Bukit Kasita: A Burial Ground of Rajas and Site of Architectural Heritage". NSC Highlights (11): 8–13.
  19. ↑ Baker, Chris (2011). "Markets and Production in the City of Ayutthaya before 1767: Translation and Analysis of Part of the Description of Ayutthaya". Journal of the Siam Society. 99: 65–66 – via The Siam Society.
  20. ↑ "History of Ayutthaya - Historical Sites - Surau Khaek". www.ayutthaya-history.com. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  21. ↑ "History of Ayutthaya - Historical Sites - Khu Cham Cemetery". www.ayutthaya-history.com. Retrieved 28 January 2026.