Mosques in Malaysia

Masjid Negara opened in 1965 as the national mosque, and its design is deliberately modern: a folded concrete roof of sixteen points in place of a dome, a 73-metre minaret, and reflecting pools around the courtyards. It was built to mark independence. Where the Putra and Sultan Salahuddin mosques on this list are great domes, this one set out to look like nothing before it.

Masjid Jamek stands where the Klang and Gombak rivers meet, the spot the city was founded on, and it is the oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur, opened in 1909 to a design by A B Hubback in red and white brick with onion domes and Mughal arches. Of the mosques on this list it is the one set in the old city rather than on a landscaped site of its own.

Standing with the pious spirit and architecture since the 19th century, Kapitan Keling Mosque is a beautiful place of worship at the Jalan Buckingham, George Town. The largest mosque in the city, it is part of the World Heritage Site of George Town. Built-in 1801 in Islamic architecture by the Indian Muslim traders, it sits in the neighbourhood of Tamil Muslim residents known as Chulias.

Located at Tanjung Bungah Road, Masjid Terapung Pulau Penang, popularly known as the Floating Mosque, is a famous landmark and the first mosque in Malaysia built on the sea. During high tide, the mosque appears to be actually floating when someone gazes at the sea. The Floating Mosque was built to replace an older mosque (Tanjung Bungah Mosque) which got destroyed in a tsunami disaster.

The Kota Kinabalu City Mosque happens to be the largest one in Kota Kinabalu City and possibly the second largest one across Malaysia. It has been constructed top man-made lagoon making it appear to be floating in the water. The mesmerising mosque is believed to be an epitome of Islamic architecture having been built in the lines of the Mosque Of Nabawi Al-Munawwara.

Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque is the largest and the second principal mosque in Putrajaya. It looks soul-stirring as it stands majestically in the vicinity of the beautiful Poudre Lake which makes it worth visiting for the tourists and pilgrims. Also known as the Iron Mosque, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque is strikingly modern in terms of both aesthetics and complexity of design and technology used.

The principle mosque of Putrajaya, the Putra Mosque is one of the major landmarks and probably one of the most modern mosques in the world. Facing the Putrajaya Lake, it is a perfect blend of Arabic-Islamic designs. Located next to Perdana Putra, Putra Mosque welcomes non-muslim visitors to explore the mosque during the visiting hours.

Overlooking the Garden of Islamic Arts is the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque, the state mosque of Selangor. Amazingly, it is the second largest mosque in Southeast Asia and the largest in Malaysia. Named after Selangor's late Sultan who commissioned it in 1982, the mosque is also known as the 'Blue Mosque'.

The Crystal Mosque stands on the Islamic Heritage Park island at Kuala Terengganu, built in steel and glass so the whole structure catches the light off the river. It opened in 2008 and is lit in changing colours after dark, which is when most people photograph it. Of everything on this list it is the one that looks least like a mosque from a distance.

Masjid Zahir has been the state mosque of Kedah since 1912, and its five large domes stand for the five pillars of Islam. The design follows the Azizi Mosque in Sumatra rather than anything built in Malaysia, which is why it looks unlike the rest of this list. Alor Setar is far north, so this one suits a Penang trip extended up the coast.

The Ubudiah Mosque at Kuala Kangsar was commissioned by the Sultan of Perak after an illness and finished in 1917, to a design by the British architect behind much of colonial Kuala Lumpur. Its golden dome and four minarets sit on a tight site beside the royal mausoleum. It is the easiest detour here if you are already on the road between Ipoh and Penang.

The Melaka Straits Mosque stands on reclaimed land off Pulau Melaka, raised on stilts so that at high tide it reads as floating on the water. It opened in 2006 and mixes Middle Eastern and Malay forms, with stained glass down both flanks. Sunset over the strait behind it is why almost everyone turns up at that hour rather than any other.

Kampung Hulu is the oldest mosque still in use in Malaysia, built in 1728 and never abandoned since. It has no dome and no minaret in the usual sense: a tiered pyramid roof in the Javanese manner, and a tower closer to a pagoda, which is what mosques here looked like before Middle Eastern forms arrived. Nothing else on this list shows that older style.

The Negeri Sembilan State Mosque in Seremban was finished in 1967, and its roof folds into nine points, one for each of the districts the state takes its name from. It reads more as 1960s civic architecture than as a traditional mosque, which puts it alongside Masjid Negara rather than the domes. Seremban is an hour south of KL, so it makes an easy half-day.