Have you ever considered travelling during Ramadan? Lets explore travelling to Malaysia during Ramadan by reading about Aarifah Sulimans experience.
About the Author:
Aarifah Suliman is a CA(SA) from South Africa. She has had the opportunity to live in 3 countries across 2 continents in one year. She has spent time in Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Qatar.
Ramadan Around the Globe
The mosques are so welcoming of children. In Malaysia iftaar is provided by the mosques or you can buy them at the bazaars just outside the mosque so you are sorted for iftar.
There is very little time between Maghrib and Esha so I ended up spending that time at the mosque. The mosques are welcoming of children of all ages. After Esha all the food places are still open and you can even order sehri on Grab.
We stayed for 4 months so we took Ramadan easy during the day. I would suggest if people are doing activities during the day that they travel solely by Grab so they are not standing outside waiting for public transport. I would also suggest that they do things indoors so that it’s air-conditioned.
Also to take into account you go to the mosque from an hour before maghrib and you are there till about midnight.
The Ramadan bazaars outside the mosques are definitely worthwhile. The iron mosque in Petaling Jaya is so lovely. There’s a bazaar and a big garden to sit and have iftar in.
Do you think being in Malaysia distracted you from making Ibadah and honouring the month of Ramadan?
Actually the opposite. More time for Ibadah because no kitchen work.
We would go to the bazaar and get food. We would then sit in the designated eating areas as a family and make Ibadah leading up to Maghreb. We tried to go to a different mosque every night.
Some mosques that are a definite must try:
- Masjid Negara. National mosque. They give iftar. No bazaar. Atmosphere in the mosque is great.
- Masjid Jamek
This is the oldest mosque in KL. The ladies section is a bit small, they give food and there’s a few shops nearby.
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Masjid Wilayah
Provincial mosque. They give a lovely iftaar. I would suggest if you are travelling with your family it will be so amazing to take a picnic basket and do a family picnic iftaar. Many local families who come here do this daily.
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Petaling Jaya
This masjid is about an hour out of KL so budget for that. There are 2 mosques so I would suggest asr at one and Maghrib and Esha at the next. So as at the pink mosque. Here you can also see how the drive through fitra takes place. At the iron mosque they have a bazaar so you can get a lovely iftar here and eat in the gardens where they read Maghrib before going into the mosque for Esha. The gardens are lovely here.
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KLCC mosque
You can buy iftar from the KLCC mall or you can eat mosque’s food. Sit in the outside courtyard as family whilst they make zikr till Maghrib. Ladies read salaah downstairs and men upstairs.
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Masjid tengku ampuan jemaah bukit jelutong
They have a whole tent that looks like a wedding. The mosque inside is amazing
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Sultan salahuddin abdul aziz mosque
The bazaar is close by but not at the mosque. The mosque has lovely gardens as well.
The last two mosques are in Shah Alam so it might be a bit of a drive but worth it
Masjid Bhukari is the closest to Bukit Bintang which is where most of the people stay as tourists. It’s a more local mosque but close enough if staying there. They give iftar and have ladies facilities as well.
Attire for ladies and men
Ladies will have to wear long sleeves and socks in order to enter the masjids and men will have to wear a long pants or a kurta in order to enter the mosques.
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