Masjid Jamek (main mosque) of Muar...

Sekarang saya betul-betul mahu melepaskan satu rasa nostalgik... Siang tadi, saya ada membelek-belek koleksi gambar lama yang disimpan di dalam komputer laptop lalu terjumpa gambar-gambar Masjid Jamek Muar ini, tempat jatuh bangun saya bermain zaman budak dan remaja dahulu. Ini ceritanya...

Now I really want to let out a feeling of nostalgia... During the day, I went through an old collection of pictures kept inside the laptop computer and found these pictures of the Muar main mosque, the place where I felt, stumbled and got up while having fun as a kid and a teenager once upon a time. This is the story...

Ini adalah menara Masjid Jamek Muar. Suatu masa dahulu, menara ini merupakan salah satu tempat kegemaran saya dan kawan-kawan untuk panjat-memanjat seraya berangan menjadi anggota perisikan ala James Bond 007 yang sedang menjalani latihan komando...

This is the tower of the main mosque of Muar. Once upon a time, this tower is one of the favourite place for me and friend to climb up and down while pretending to be members of intelligence ala James Bond 007 undergoing commando training...

Lihat... Cantik bukan? Boleh kata setiap bahagian masjid yang kelihatan ini (kecuali bahagian bumbung) pernah saya jejaki dan panjat seraya berlari-lari sejak masuk umur 9 tahun lagi!

Look... Beautiful isn't it? You could say that every part of the mosque seen here (except for the roof) have been been under my footsteps and has been climbed while running since the age of 9!

Adapun Masjid Jamek Muar merupakan salah sebuah masjid terbesar dan paling cantik di Johor. Saya tidak pasti bilakah ia dibina, rasanya sekitar tahun merdeka 1957. Rekabentuknya hampir serupa dengan Masjid Negeri Johor iaitu Masjid Abu Bakar di Johor Bahru, hampir 200km selatan daripada Muar...

As it is, the main mosque of Muar is one of the biggest and most beautiful mosque in Muar. I'm not sure when it was built, perhaps around the year of independence of 1957. The design is similar to that of the Johor state mosque, that is the Abu Bakar mosque in Johor Bahru, nearly 200km south of Muar...

Menara dilihat daripada sudut lain. Nampak tak kawasan pejalan kaki yang berbumbung ini? Ia menghubungkan bangunan utama masjid dengan bangunan balai di belakang. Bumbung sepanjang 50 meter ini pernah menjadi tempat saya dan kawan-kawan berlari berulang-alik seraya berlumba-lumba.

The tower seen from a different angle. Can you see the roofed walkway? It connects the mosque's main building to the hall behind. The 50 meter-long roof used to be the place for me and friends to run to and fro while trying to outdo each other.

Pernah ketika berada di Darjah Enam, seorang kawan dengan seronoknya melompat daripada kawasan tembok batu yang kelihatan dalam gambar ke kawasan bumbung seraya menjerit "The Professionals! (Siri penyiasatan British yang popular di televisyen ketika itu, tahun 1982)". Apa yang terjadi, bumbung itu bobos lalu kawan ini terjatuh terus masuk ke dalam parit di bawah!

Once in Standard Six, a friend excitedly jumped from the brick walls seen in the picture onto the roof area while shouting "The Professionals! (A British investigation series popular in television then, in 1982 that is)". What happened was, the roof broke down while this friend fell and got stuck inside the drain below!

Kalau tak salah ingatan, ketika itu bulan Ramadhan. Kawan yang terjatuh itu sedang menjerit kesakitan sementara orang ramai berkerumun datang untuk menolong. Saya dan kawan-kawan lain pula bertempiaran lari membawa diri masing-masing. Maklumlah, budak-budak umur 12 tahun begitu... Takut dimarah orang tua. Dah lah ponteng solat Tarawikh, berlari-lari main atas bumbung sampai seorang jatuh ke dalam parit pula...

If memory serves right, it was the month of Ramadhan (the fasting month in the Islamic calendar). The friend who fell down was shouting in pain why people rushed to help. Me and the other friends scampered all over the place. What do you expect? 12-year-old boys... Scared of being scolded by elders. As it is, we ran away from doing the Tarawikh (extra prayers during the nights of Ramadhan), then we ran and played on the roof until one fell down the drain...

Keesokannya kami berjumpa di sekolah kami iaitu Sekolah Ismail Dua. Kebanyakan yang suka bermain di masjid ini adalah budak Darjah Enam Beruang, kelas budak paling pandai di sekolah. Ternyata kawan yang terjatuh itu lukanya tidaklah seteruk mana. Tetapi dia terpaksa jalan berdengkut-dengkut beberapa hari... Ah... Kenangan zaman kanak-kanak dahulu...

The next day we met in our school which is Sekolah Ismail Dua. Most who like to play at the mosque are the boys from Darjah Enam Beruang, the most brilliant class in school. It turns out the friend who fell didn't suffer so much. But he still have to walk funny for days.... Ah... The memories of childhood once upon a time...

Apapun, Masjid Jamek Muar tetap menjadi tempat untuk kami berjumpa dan berkumpul sampai beberapa tahun akan datang terutama ketika datang untuk bersolat Jumaat... Tapi itu dahulu, cerita lebih 20 tahun lalu. Sekarang banyak yang telah berubah, terlalu banyak...

Whatever, the main mosque of Muar still became the place for us to meet and assemble for many years to come especially when going for the Friday prayers... But that was then, more than 20 years ago. Now plenty have changed, too much...

Salah satunya, Muar sudah ada sebuah lagi masjid besar dengan rekabentuk yang hampir sama. Itulah dia Masjid Jamek ke dua Muar yang terletak di seberang Sungai Muar... Ini bermakna kehadiran orang untuk bersolat Jumaat telah terpecah dua dan tidak bertumpu lagi pada masjid utama yang asal. Malah sudah terdapat beberapa buah lagi masjid sekitar bandar Muar di mana solat Jumaat didirikan. Maka berpecahlah jemaah yang dahulunya cuma bertumpu di satu tempat.

One of it, Muar has another big mosque with similar designs. That is Muar's second main mosque situated just across the Muar river. This means the attendance for the Jumaat prayers have been split into two and no more concentarted at the original main mosque. In fact there's a few more mosque around Muar town where the Jumaat prayers are held. And so the congregation which used to converge at one place is broken up.

Lagipun inilah hakikat perubahan zaman. Bandar Muar pun sudah banyak berubah sementara kawan-kawan semua sudah besar panjang dan menetap di pelbagai tempat di seluruh Malaysia. Allah! Rindu juga untuk bertemu semua tapi apakan daya, masing-masing sibuk dengan keluarga dan kerjaya. Dan ramai yang telah putus hubungan... Mungkin satu hari nanti kita akan berjumpa lagi? Mungkin cerita-cerita di blogspot-blogspot saya ini dapat mempertemukan kembali kawan-kawan lama yang sudah lama membawa diri masing-masing? Insyaallah! Tak lama nanti berjumpalah kembali kita! :]

Anyway it is the fact of changing times. The town of Muar has also changed a lot while our friends have all grown up and scattered in many places around Malaysia. Allah! I missed meeting them but what could I do, everyone is busy with their own families and careers. And many have lost contact. Maybe one day we'll meet again? Maybe the stories posted in my blogspots will gather back old friends who have been busy with their own businesses? God willing! It won't be long before we'll meet again! :]