MASJID JAMI' PASAR USANG, AIR TIRIS, KAMPAR, - A TOUR

  A  TOUR -  AN  OPPORTUNITY   TO   REVISIT    MASJID JAMI'
                                                                         PASAR USANG , AIR TIRIS, KAMPAR
                                                                          8th,  JUNE 2011

MASJID JAMI AIR TIRIS- PASAR USANG

Everything was destined  to happen. When an opportunity strike  onto you, you might as well grab it and that what i have done. On the 8th of June, that morning after my morning tea at nearby  ' warong '  a small coffee stall  that was erected for the '  Istiqma',  Ustaz Kamal  asked me whether i would like to go for a ' sight-seeing ' around Air Tiris ?
Without hesitated,  i gave a  ' yes ' to the invitation. Going to  Air Tiris  is actually  doing a visit to a unique mosque in Riau. The  Masjid Jami' Pasar Usang or Masjid Jamek Air Tiris is only 54 km away from PekanBaru  town .


Actually, i had been to Air Tiris  twenty years ago. but i can't remember it clearly now. Many thing had changed. Pekanbaru is growing and changing. Even Air Tiris was blurred  in my memory.. Pasar Usang, a place that   used to be a small market place , situated in ' banjau' or ' dusun' Air Tiris..  Ustaz Abdul Rashid  Andika Doris, a local resident, was  willing to give us a  tourist's drive for free.


BRIEF NOTE ON MASJID PEKAN USANG, 
AIR TIRIS, KAMPAR. 

 This Jami' Masjid Pasar Usang, as its formerly known, is  architecturally similar  to the mosque of Masjid Kampung Laut  in Kelantan, Malaysia  and  of Great Demak Mosque that found in Demak, Central Jawa The Kg Laut Mosque is believed to be built in  1730's  whilst the  Demak Mosque was built in 1479. It was also believed that the two mosques  were built by the architect , who had learnt the art  from the architect of Masjid Agong of Demak. or perhaps it was probably modelled after the Majid Agong of Demak.Both  mosques have roof shaped in two- tier and very much resembled each other.The masjid Jami' Air Tiris has 3- tier roof and also look alike. This kind of model was typical of Javanese  architecture of that time.

MASJID JAMI' AIR TIRIS
built in early 1900

The Masjid Kampong Laut in Kelantan  had undergone  two big flood. The first that occurred  in 1926, which known as ' Bah Air Merah. '.The second flood happened in 1966 which severely damaged the building when  some portion of the mosque was swept away..The ground underneath  was washed away by the flood. The mosque of Air Tiris too  was hits by flood , but mysteriously escaped unharmed.The mosque is situated near the Kampar riverbank.In olden days, the main transportation was through river ways and thus for Pasar Usang, its was a weekly market  on Saturday that attracted nearby merchants to flocking  around Air Tiris village They have their schedule of rotation for ' Hari pasar' or in Malaysia nowadays known as      ' Pasar Hari '. On Monday and Tuesday, was  'Pasar hari'  for  Kuok and Salo villages , on  Wednesday was for Bangkinang and on Thursday was ' pasar Hari ' for Rumbio. Friday was a holy and worshiping day.They prepared for ' solatul Jumaat ' or Fridays' Prayer. Unfortunately Pasar Usang was burned  to- ground  by  the communist guerillas insurgence  in 1949 .Pasir Usang Market doesn't make a come back due to the opening  of land transportation hence the ' pasar Hari' was shifted inner inland  along the roadside of Riau - Sumbar road.As i personally observed, there are two strong traits of Air Tiris's residents.. One of it, they have the blood of merchanst and traders flowing in their veins and heart.. Another one was their strong inherent to Islam's teaching.They have famous saying that always sing on their lips    " Pepatah petitih  Adat, Adat  bersendi syarak, syarak bersendi kitabullah " literally meaning  'Customs  based maxims ,  Custom is based upon  religion's rules, the religion's rule is based upon  ' Allah's book ( Al- Quran ).

 

Kampong Laut, Kelantan.
built in 1730

MASJID DEMAK IN JAWA
built in 1479

 MASJID AIR TIRIS OR MASJID PASAR USANG.

ME WITH OUR GOOD USTAZ ABD RASHID DADDI 
WITH PASAR USANG MOSQUE IN THE BACKGROUND.

The Air Tiris Jami' mosque was first inspired by Dt.Ongku Mudo Songkal, when he once strolling on  Pasar Sabtu, the weekly market.During the Dzuhur prayer, he was then realized, it was   difficult to  perform prayer since there was no masjid around .  The idea then was brought to the attention of Ninik Mamak XII,who later agreed to built a mosque.

The unique of this mosque are on the architectural design and the mystical stories associated to the building of it As for example, the huge main  pillar couldn't be lifted although were  pulled by almost whole village workers. This happened in the presence of the Mr. and Mrs' controleur'  who were  both not  a  moslem. After with much polite and courtesy excuses were given to  Mr and Mrs controleur, in the end, they were agreed to leave the ceremony of erecting thepillar.The pillar, at last was erected easily then.
 

MASJID PASAR USANG atau  MASJID AIR TIRIS.
 DI dirikan atas ilham seorang ulama' yang penuh keramah, Dt.Ongku Mudo Songkal. Ilham ini kemudian nya di persetujui oleh Ketua Negeri ketika itu iaitu Ninik MamakXII Kenegerian Air Tiris.. Di bangunkan sekitar tahun 1901. Keunikan Masjid ini adalah kerana telalu banyak berlakunya kejadian ' keramah' semasa kerja kerja dilakukan.Sebagai contoh, Tiang paling besar tidak terdaya di tarik naik menegak, walaupun telah di tarik oleh orang ramai. Ini terjadi kerana telah hadir dua tetamu yang masi kafir dalam upacara ter5sebut. Perkara ini di sedari oleh Dt.Ongku Mudo Songkal, maka dengan penuh hikmah dan helah, beliau  berjaya memujuk Tuan dan nyoya ' Controleur ' yang bukan Islam itu meninggalkan majlis. Tiang itu dapat di tegakkan dengan mudah kemudiannya.

Kehebatan masjid ini juga, ia dibangunkan tanpa menggunakan walaupun sebatang paku. Ia di dirikan dengan menggunakan cara sambungan kayu dengan menggunakan pasak. Ukiran seni pahat dan ukir menampakkan kemahiran yang penuh ' berilmu'.

Dua kali terjadi cubaan untuk membakarinya tetapi menemui kegagalan.Pada tahun 1949 Pasar Usang telah di bakar hangus kebumi oleh kaum Gerilya komunis tetapi mereka gagal untuk membakar bangunan Masjid.
Begitu juga pada tahun 1964, Masjid ini telah terselamat dari sebarang kerosakan apabila di landar banjir besar yang telah meranap kebanyakkan rumah di sekelilingnya. Semua ini adalah tanda kekuasaan ALLAH ta'ala jua.

{Not a single joints were  wedged using a nail .All were jointed by using wood in the technique of ' pasak' }


Motif ukiran asli Melayu Kampar yang terdapat pada dinding Mesjid Djami' adalah motif BUNGA TENGAH (bunga matahari ) dan motif anyaman terawang. Motif ini melambangkan keindahan, kebesaran dan keceriaan.




Motif Anyaman Terawang yang banyak terdapat pada anyaman tikar mengkuang yang di buat sajadah solat, kantong dan sumpit( beg ).Motif ini melambangkan kehidupan yang diisi dan diselang seli serta saling mengisi kepentingan lahir dan batin,dunia dan ukhrawi.



Ada 4 tiang penyangga yang dibuat dari kayu KAPINI dengan ukuran tinggi 20 m.Salah satu tiang tersebut di ukir dengan kalimah BISMILAHIRAHMANILRAHIM.

UNIQUENESS OF THIS CALLIGRAPHY

Tiang inii terdiri dari kayu kulim,putat,ubau dan lain.

KALIGRAFI BISMILAH  ini 
  jika ingin membacanya ,hendaklah di tutup bahagian sebelahan nya dan terbuka sebelahnya pula.Nanti anda akan dapati kalimah " 
BISMILAHI
RAHMANIRAHIM"
Nama ukiran seperti ini dinamakan ukiran
SENI BAYANGAN.

SIDE DOOR ENTERANCE

Batu Kepala  Kerbau

WHUDU' PLACE., WHERE THE PRAYERS TAKE THEIRS ABLUTION.

The uniqueness of  the calligraphy was that it's symmetrical carved .If you close one of its side, you'll have words " BISMILAHIRAHMANIRAHIM.

                                                                                                           And this is the Kampar river. Its not far from the mosque.From this bank, the merchants unloaded thiers goods for 'Pasar Sabtu "

KAMPAR RIVER.THE MAIN TRANSPORTATION IN OLDEN DAYS.
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