History of the 1000 Door Mosque in Tangerang

Masjid Nurul Yaqin/Masjid Pintu Seribu

The Thousand Doors Mosque is located in the city of Tangerang, which is included in the province of Banten, which at that time was the center of the spread of Islam in the western tip of Java Island. So it's no wonder that Banten's tourism potential in the modern era is dominated by religious tourism. One of them is the Thousand Doors Mosque, whose real name is Nurul Yakin Mosque. 

Front of the Mosque

The location is in the village of Bayur, Priuk Jaya, Jatiuwung, Tangerang Regency, Banten. It's quite easy to reach by car, only a few minutes from the center of Tangerang City. This mosque is called the Thousand Doors Mosque because no one knows how many doors this mosque actually has. In fact, the mosque manager does not even know exactly how many doors there are. Because they never counted the number of doors in the mosque. This thousand-door mosque was founded in 1978 by the late Sheikh Al-Bakhir Mahdi, a resident of Arab descent who the locals called Al-Faqir. All development financing he bore alone, Al-Fakir died on the 1st of Ramadan 2012 then. Furthermore, the management of the thousand-door mosque was continued by the four sons of the deceased, namely Khairul Zaman, Khainul Yakin, Fatwa Paku Alam, and Khairullah.

As a tribute, local residents gave him the title Mahdi Hasan Al-Qudratillah Al-Muqoddam. Reportedly, Al-Faqir is also building similar mosques in Karawang, Madiun, and several other cities in Indonesia. The construction of this mosque does not even use design drawings. There is no basic design that can display a particular architectural style. There are very ornamental gates following the architectural characteristics of the Baroque era, but there are also those that are even very similar to the Mayan and Aztec architecture.

Pilgrims will mainly come during the days of Islamic greatness, or just before the month of Ramadan. Hundreds of pilgrims who were seen generally came from Bandung, Kerawang, and Jakarta. Apart from that, there were also various pilgrims from Kalimantan and Aceh.

H. Abdul Karim, one of the administrators at the mosque revealed that most pilgrims choose to come to the Nurul Yaqin mosque during Islamic holidays such as the Prophet's Birthday, Isra, and Miraj, as well as just before the fasting of Ramadan. "There are also many pilgrims who come during Islamic holidays to take part in the event," he said.

One of the dungeons is quite large. Here there is a super large prayer bead made of wood. The diameter of each tasbih is about 10 centimeters. Or around an adult's fist. This room is usually used by Al Faqir for remembrance. Usually, the guide deliberately turns off the lights in the room and invites those present to imagine the moments in the grave that are so cramped, stuffy, and dark. Then he asked to pray together in silence and darkness. All of the alleys eventually lead to an open space that looks like a football stadium. This is where congregational prayers are held.

The alley under the Thousand Doors Mosque

The Nurul Yakin Mosque or better known as the Sewu (thousand) mosque has its own uniqueness compared to other mosques in Banten. Besides having a thousand doors, a giant tasbih is displayed in one corner of the room. There is no written statement, what is the meaning behind the architecture of the building.

Located at Rt 01/Rw.03, Kampung Bayur, Priuk, Tangerang City. The founder of the mosque is an Arab-born propagator of Islam named Al-fakir Syekh Mahdi Hasan Al-qudrotillah Al-muqoddam. One of the uniqueness of this mosque is that the rooms are partitioned to form a room like a prayer room. Each room (mosque) is given a name. There is a Fathul qorib prayer room, Tanbihul Alqofilin, Durojatun Annasikin, Safinatu-Jannah, and Fatimah to Ratu Ayu prayer room. Each prayer room area is about 4 meters.

Mosque Underground Aisle

Apart from the prayer room, another uniqueness is the giant prayer beads displayed in the room. It has 99 grains with a diameter of 10 centimeters. Each item is inscribed with the name Asma'ul-Husna. That said, the tasbih is the largest in Indonesia. On some of the mosque's doors and the front fence, you can see the number 999. According to the mosque management, this number is a combination of the names of Allah and the names of the nine saints (walisongo). Each aisle in this mosque is equipped with a guide. And, one room of the many passages that lead to the basement is called the tasbih room. This room is usually used by Al Faqir and other congregations to perform istiqomah.

Apart from having a thousand doors, in the basement of this mosque, there are tasbih the size of a baby's head, totaling 99 tasbih with the words asmaul husna. Initially, this mosque was not very popular because of the era, however, after it began to be published by many media, the mosque was then visited by many people from all over, not only nationally but also by the international community.

The Thousand Doors Mosque is believed to be one of the places where Islam was spread by its founder. That said, the distribution was carried out by distributing groceries to the poor and orphans. "The history of this mosque is because it has as many as a thousand doors. Besides that, the method of spreading Islam is from several generations by distributing routine groceries every Friday," said Supandi.

Unfortunately, this thousand-door mosque still has a lot of construction to be completed, this mosque still needs the help of the government so that the construction of this mosque can be completed properly. the need for the role of local government to support religious tourism in the Tangerang area to make