HISTORY OF UPM MOSQUE ESTABLISHMENT

The Serdang Agricultural Complex has been opened by the government since 1922. Since then, a community has been born in the area. However, there is no mosque or surau construction around the area. This lasted until after the outbreak of the Second World War. At that time, the Muslim residents here had to choose either not to perform Friday prayers or went to Sungai Besi in Kuala Lumpur by truck to pray Friday prayers there. This is because the Muslim population is still small, and no one wants to help establish a mosque or surau here. The need to build an Islamic Center on the campus of University Putra Malaysia Serdang has been triggered since 1973. In response to this need, a plan has been submitted to the government. Although the project was approved by the government under the Third Malaysia Plan (1976-1980), it could not be implemented due to several factors such as site problems, lack of provisions, and so on.

Efforts to re-mobilize the project were carried out starting in 1979 (during the study of all RMT). Action has been taken to appoint consultants to procure the site from the Selangor State government and relocate the slums from the site. While the action was being taken, the Central Government in 1982 decided to freeze all University development projects due to the economic recession at that time. Since the need for an Islamic Centre was so urgent, the Central Government in 1986 approved the project to be implemented, and with the approval, construction work began to be carried out in early 1987.The Islamic Center construction site is located at the front entrance to the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) campus. This location is very suitable because it can connect the university campus directly with the outside community, especially the Taman Sri Serdang community, and facilitate Muslims around it to attend Friday prayers.

In 1948, when Mr. C.W. Hartley was in charge of Serdang, he supported the proposal to establish a Surau to serve as a place for Muslims to gather and pray. This Surau was then used as a temporary mosque with permission from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department. As usual, the building is made of wood and planks. To lead the members of this temporary mosque, Mr. Hj Mukhti bin Ahmad Jamil has been appointed Imam and Khatib by the Selangor Islamic Department and given a lecture.

In the First Five-year Development Plan, the Federal Government had allocated development money of RM 25,000.00, and the residents themselves raised money of RM 13,000.00.From this money, the Kariah Serdang Mosque was erected, which was officially opened in 1964 by DYMM Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Alhaj Sultan of Selangor Darul Ehsan.

After the events of May 13, 1969, many people used the mosque until the situation became crowded.This situation forced the Serdang Mosque Committee to build additional buildings. Spending money on building additional buildings is collected from people's donations

around. In addition, from the institutional context, UPM is the only Public Higher Education Institution that provides the most financial assistance, equipment, manpower, other facilities, and expertise.

The increase in congregation members continued to soar at a very rapid rate, forcing the Mosque Committee to request assistance from the government through several channels to build a new and large Mosque. But this has not worked. Therefore UPM has taken its own initiative through UPM development projects under the Malaysia Plan. This effort was initiated by the first vice-chancellor of UPM, Y. Bhg. Prof Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Mohd Rashdan Bin Hj Baba and Y. Bhg Prof. Dato Mohd Noor Ismail, who was deputy at that time, continued the efforts by the UPM vice-chancellor, who later was Y. Bhg Prof. Tan Sri Dato Dr Nayan Bin Ariffin and during his administration, the construction of the mosque building could be started in 1987 and completed in July 1989.

The UPM Mosque is located in an area of 9 Hectares and is part of the UPM Serdang campus area. In terms of Administration, the UPM Mosque was placed under the administration of the Islamic Centre, a newly established center at UPM on October 1, 1988. The authority to administer this Mosque was found to have obtained special permission from the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (JAIS). UPM Mosque building consists of two floors.The ground floor is exclusively for men, and the upper floor is exclusively for women, and overall, the Mosque can accommodate a congregation of 9500 people at a time.

Updated:: 17/08/2026 [asmunir]